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After graduating KRHS, I got a degree in Biology from Franklin Pierce College in Rindge NH (1984). During my summers off from school I worked for Pack 2000 making plastic bags. During a 1 month class at FPC I took a Tropical Island Ecology class. We went to an island off the coast of Puerto Rico and camped on the beach for 3 weeks. We explored the island and learned about the history of the area, the local habitats, went snorkeling every day, ate too much Chunky soup with rice, and in the evenings drank rum at the campfire while singing to rock n roll guitar music played by a member of our group. While at FPC I was a member of the school fire department and the local town of Rindge Fire department.
After FPC, I worked for 2 companies in several medical research positions, which were located in the Boston suburbs up until Fall of 1990. During this time I became a lover of scuba diving and underwater photography. I took marine classes at local colleges. For a while I had a boyfriend who worked at a university marine lab. Once I even got to go on a week-long university research cruise (NOAH ship) and helped the marine department with their research experiments. Most of my diving was off the NE coast, and in the tropics. Friends said I should try to publish some of my underwater shots but I never did try. I also enjoyed photography, skiing in NH, having fun hiking, backpacking and in general enjoying the NH White Mountains, and bike riding down on the Cape. In the spring of 1990 I went to an Earth Day event, and after the event, I decided I had to get out of the lab. It was either going to be working in marine biology or land management. I loaded up my Fore Runner with all my favorite items and spent 2 weeks zigzagging my way to across the country to north Idaho. I hit many of the big national parks on my route. I took many photos during the trip. I camped in my tent for about half of the trip.
Starting in Nov of 1990 I began my new life in Priest Lake Idaho and I came to work for the Priest Lake Ranger District (PLRD), (which is part of the Forest Service Organization). First off, I am not a Ranger. That is the person at the top of the district's organizational chart. My district is part Idaho, part Washington, borders Canada, and has Wilderness, Grizzly Bears, Caribou, & Wolves. For the First few years I worked for the Wildlife biologist, where my job was mainly to do habitat monitoring & improvements. During this time I took the beginning level fire fighting classes went on my first wildfire assignments, and worked on prescribed burns with the Fire crew. In 1997 I got a job with the Fire Management function. AT PLRD Fire we hire seasonal employees, do a lot of timber slash treatment and reduction projects mainly using chainsaws, and suppress wildfires as needed. In my job, my duties are split between administrative, and leading and participating in project work on district. On fire assignments I work with Fire Crews & Engines, Helicopters, and I am a member of an Incident Management Team where I serve working in the Planning department. Over the years I have worked in many states including Alaska, California, and Florida on fire assignments. Twice I have even worked on hurricane support in Florida and Louisiana. Traveling on the government plan can be fun when I can get re-acquainted with people I have met on assignment before.
From 1993 to 2000 I was an EMT with the local ambulance service at Priest Lake. To this day I still perform volunteer inventory tasks for the ambulance service. In May 2000 Larry and I met and started going out. Larry's family background is mainly of hunting & logging. Larry works for his cousin who owns a logging business. In Sept 2001 we had bought our home and had just moved in when 9/11 happened. On Oct 15, 2004 I killed my (first) big bull elk. In Dec 2005 we were married and I became a member of his huge family. For the most part Larry's family lives in the local area. On Oct 20, 2009 I shot a big bull moose. My husband & I enjoy home improvement, gardening, picking huckleberries and wild mushrooms, wood working, hunting, fishing, camping, the family, and the especially the grandkids. We have 2 dogs, 3 cats, about 30 chickens, and 2 young bunnies (the newest addition as Easter presents for the grandkids).
