I was born in Pueblo, Colorado and to this day I consider this to be my “home.” I’m a lifelong Denver Broncos fan and proudly wear my orange and blue even living here in the Lions den of metro-Detroit! My heart is definitely hung in the Colorado Rockies and I’ve enjoyed the couple visits I’ve taken back to my home state!

When I was quite young, my father took a new role with his company, State Farm, and we moved to Normal, Illinois. Fun fact, the woman I have now been dating for 6 years and I lived just a couple blocks apart in Normal when we were toddlers! 🙂

We spent a few years in Normal and then dad took on another new role and we moved to the Chicago suburbs. Just after 6th grade, dad took one more job change that moved our family back to Bloomington/Normal, where the corporate headquarters for State Farm are located. I went to Central Catholic High School and graduated in 2000.

During the last part of my high school career I had an opportunity to work at State Farm as a college co-op. After graduating from Central I continued to work at State Farm and attended our local community college. I knew that college was an important step to get ahead in life, but I was comfortable taking a slower path to get there and enjoying life along the way! A bit of a wake up call came in late 2004 when I found out that my role with State Farm would be transitioned and I was no longer going to have that full-time income. I had finished my associates degree at Heartland Community College at this point and started to look toward finishing that all-important Bachelor’s degree and working toward life’s “next steps” for myself.

My heart was a bit set on University of Colorado Boulder. Mom and I road tripped there during the spring break to visit campus. It was a real adventure of a drive back, to say the very least! Exploring all of my options from a standpoint of both where I wanted to go and what made sense for my parents and I, I eventually landed on Western Michigan University.  After all, they are the Broncos as well!  WMU offered an excellent business school with the Haworth College of Business and I knew I could focus on computer information systems. As well, the campus offered incredible beauty and a wonderful program for out of state transfer students! My time spent at Western Michigan University was very well spent and to this day I am glad that I decided to head there! I am proud to be a WMU Alum and have been excited to see the growth and change occurring in the campus since I graduated (even on the football field!) Go Broncos!

In 2005 I set off on my own, truly for the first time in my life and went to Western Michigan University located in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I was laser focused to complete my studies in 2 years, working incredibly hard to excel in academics. I also made time for relationships and memories along the way and to this day keep in contact with my friends from WMU!

After graduating college I was fortunate to get my foot in the door as a temporary employee for TRAM.  This temporary status was short lived and in less than six months, TRAM hired me full time as a Network Administrator, my first role post college.  And that, my friends, is why going to college still matters!

Shortly after accepting my position at TRAM, I relocated for a 2nd time on my own and moved to Farmington Hills, Michigan. I spent the next 4 years splitting my time between working in Plymouth, Michigan and Tecumseh, Ontario Canada.  TRAM has a subsidiary located there.

In 2010, I purchased my first home and also started to really get to know Melissa, from a distance (she lives back in Bloomington/Normal, IL with her two children).  The distance between us made the start of our relationship quite difficult but we both agree that the distance has also helped to make our relationship into what is today.

2011-2013 marked some incredibly difficult years in our lives, first as Melissa’s dad suddenly passed from Pancreatic Cancer, then my father broke his ankle just six months after his retirement entirely reshaping his plans for retirement and the rest of his life. After that, Melissa’s mom was diagnosed with cancer and underwent treatment and at the same time Melissa’s family was rocked by the passing of her uncle. My mom underwent eye surgery…it was a really challenging time needless to say! All of these challenges and set backs serve as reminders of how valuable our lives are and so we keep on pushing forward with a focus on the things that truly matter!

In 2012, I received a call from a recruiter one evening while at home. At first, I thought the call must be some sort of joke but I soon learned that it was, indeed, serious and before I knew it I had been offered and accepted a role in a small and quickly growing engineering consulting company within the IT department. I’ve spent the last couple years at P3 and have learned much about working within a very rapidly growing company, dealing with those growing pains and working in an entirely different corporate environment than those experiences I had prior to this role.

Outside of work I enjoy spending time with my girlfriend, as often as we are able to travel between our homes to get together, being a dog dad to a feisty, smart and anxious english springer, Morgan and updating/upgrading my home. We’ve become beer snobs over the last few years and have taken quite a few trips to check out some amazing craft beers, both in Michigan (the beer state!) and in other locales! I like to cook and I LOVE Football! I hit golf balls when I get the chance but am better at watching the pros play!