The year was 1997. The place, the 101 South. I looked out the window of the charter bus at the lights of Los Angeles and promptly told my Health Occupations teacher that no, I could never see myself living somewhere like that. Twelve years later, here I am, living mere minutes from the spot where I made that declaration. Life is funny...

Before I had any inkling that yes, I could live somewhere like this, I spent the first 24 years of my life in West Texas -- Midland and San Angelo, to be exact. And yes, it really is like it is on Friday Night Lights. I have four wonderful parents, four wonderful siblings, and innumerable wonderful cats and dogs. Although I love Southern California, I sometimes miss West Texas terribly -- especially the sunsets and the Tex-Mex.

In San Angelo, I attended Lake View High School (Go Chiefs!), where I held such distinctions as “Most Likely to Become Director of Nurses at a Nursing Home,” “Most Likely to Teach Health Occupations” and Texas medical math champion. Common sense says that I work in the medical field, right? Yeah, my enthusiasm for that kind of went out the window when I didn’t do so well in a Physiology class my second semester at Angelo State... In the end, I graduated from Texas Tech University with a B.A. in Public Relations in 2002.

A year later, I was on my way to Los Angeles to pursue a career writing for television, convinced that I was going to get my dream job within days of crossing the Los Angeles County line. Alas, my path has turned out to be, um, slightly different: I’ve recruited patients for both a gynecologist and a hair plug surgeon. I’ve been bound, gagged, and held hostage by a (fake) terrorist. I’ve worked as a (fake) CIA agent. And I’ve stood at the corner of Hollywood and Vine in Little Bo Peep lingerie – in a completely non-prostitutey way, of course. For the past two and a half years, I’ve worked as the assistant to two (non-fake) development executives at Lifetime Television.

When I’m not at work, you’re most likely to find me in Silver Lake. Not only do I live there with my two awesome roommates, but it’s my favorite area of L.A. hands-down. I spend my free time baking, catching movies at The Vista and Los Feliz 3, and trying out the local restaurants. I also enjoy pub trivia, watching college football and basketball, and hiking Runyan Canyon... But only if I start at the Mulholland end.