Hey everyone, welcome to my blog!  Since this is my first entry, let me give you a little background on me, and what you'll find here in the upcoming months. 

Last August I left a great career with the American Red Cross of Alaska to go back to school to study Historic Preservation.  Going back to college at 35 isn't exactly what I always dreamed about, but so far it's been pretty cool!

Why did I do this you ask?  I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands.  I’m the kind of person that likes to buy a piece of furniture from the store in a box, just so I can take it home and put it together.  I find this to be great therapy and very relaxing.  For many years I’ve daydreamed about what life would be like to be a carpenter, or to work construction, or something similar that is physical and demanding.   For the last 14 years I frequently found myself staring out my window, over my desk, dreaming about being outside and doing something more active.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVED my work in the non-profit world.  The American Red Cross of Alaska is the best.  It was a very hard decision to leave, but you know what they say, I'd always regret it if I didn't go after that dream.

I didn't really know where to start or where to look.  If I was going to do something in the trades, it still had to have some deeper worldly meaning for me.  Then I stumbled upon the Historic Preservation world and the HP program at CMC.  This had serious potential.  The way I saw it, not only would this path provide me with a hands-on trades based career, but indeed it would be advancing the human condition as well.  Not everyone might agree with that, but I believe that the community that surrounds us has an extremely important influence on our lives.  When we live among beauty, we see beauty, and we become beautiful.  I also believe that knowing where we came from, and knowing our history, is crucial to moving forward and growing both as individuals, and communities.  In this way, I see Historic Preservation as a very important piece in all of our lives by strengthening our communities, and our sense of self, both past, present and future.  I loved the idea of Historic Preservation, and couldn’t seem to let this pass.

So I did it, I left my job at the Red Cross in Alaska, and moved to Leadville.  I’m jumping in to this field with everything I’ve got, and I am so excited about it.  While it’s difficult to adjust to college life at 35, it’s so exciting to think about the possibilities of where I’ll end up in 2 years once I’ve completed the program.  I’m sure there will be stumbling blocks and challenges along the way (like Math!) but these challenges will only make the process that much more rewarding.   I am grateful that CMC has seen the importance of offering this program, as there are very few in this country.  I know this field will grow in the coming years, and I can’t wait to grow with it.  So for me at 35, starting over is an exciting challenge I am glad I had to courage to do.  

So stay tuned as I tackle my classes and learn how to hammer, saw, and build cool stuff along the way!