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Please check out my personal daily journal at livejournal.com
Hi, my name is Jen. I am a unique person, as I have many unusual hobbies and interests. I am in my mid-30's, but still act like a teenager a lot of the time. I am a Christian. I am married to a wonderful man, John. We were married in a private ceremony on August 19, 2006, and bought our first house around the same time. I have 1 very spoiled cat, a loving grey troublemaker named Stormy who adopted us in a thunderstorm in May 2006.
Stormy had major surgery to have her teeth removed (all of them!) due to an allergy in Feb 2007. Look at the toothless cat! (No worries, she eats normally, and used to steal kibble from Fratzi!)
Our beautiful 13 year old baby, Fratzi, left us in 2008. We miss her terribly!
We also have a pretty little painted turtle named Flash... She eats right out of our hands, and greets us by swimming to the side of the tank whenever we enter the room! Flash is also accompanied in her tank by many small fish...
My main job is as a worker in several group home facilites for mentally challenged adults. I have worked with these folks for over 15 years, and they are like family! I also have/had some seasonal "hobby jobs". My biggest and best one was as a part-time Technical Observer for the ChampCar World Series. This meant I was in pit lane for several World-Class auto racing events each summer, just inches from the cars as they came flying in for service, until the series ended in 2008. I also did the same job for the Toyota Atlantic Championship in 2009. I also am a professional circus performer and trainer. I have been performing since I was 3, and specialize in unicycle, rolla bolla, bullwhips, and am semi-retired from high wire walking. I used to walk high wire professionally with The Sky Merchants, and we worked 25 feet up WITHOUT a net (that's me on top)...
I even won a National championship unicycling in 1991!
(Notice that only one of my feet is on the pedals in this photo!)
And I have even combined both loves, this is me on a 22 foot high wire on a 6 foot unicycle...
I love music of all types, ranging from classical to heavy metal, with my faves being progressive rock, melodic hard rock, loud praise and worship, classic rock, instrumental stuff, and 80's pop. Yes, I do like opera and disco... About the only thing I don't listen to much is rap and hip hop.
John and I have a lot of music in our relationship. He is a professional bass guitar player and was an original member of the band Petra, and I play flute and piccolo in the Peru Circus City Festival Band (you can hear us here: Circus band music ). We both also play in our church music group "On A Wing And A Prayer", where I also add various percussion instruments to my duties. I also tinker around on piano and a few other instruments. I am fully classically trained on flute and piccolo, and John is self taught on guitar and bass, so we cover a wide spectrum in our repertoire...
On top of all that, I am a marathon and ultramarathon runner! I am a 6-time Alumnus of Team In Training, helping raise funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and have also done some cycling for the Lance Armstrong Foundation and support breast cancer research in honor of my friend Taffy. I have finished 25 full marathons (26.2 miles), best time Chicago 2002 with a time of 4 hours 21 minutes 40 seconds, and also finished 10 ultramarathons (anything longer than a standard 26.2 mile marathon!) Best 50k time 6h11m37s in Sept 2009, and my longest ultramarathon was 50.1 miles in 11h59m40s in a 12-hour timed race in June 2007. Fastest marathon in 2009 is 4:57, at the Veterans Marathon in Columbia City, Indiana in November. I've won 2 ultramarathons , a 12-hour and a 50k!!! In 2008, I completed my first double marathon, Indianapolis Marathon Oct 18 and Grand Rapids Marathon Oct 19, 2008, as well as having finished 3 indoor triathlons and two sprint triathlons so far.
Whew, I think that is enough information right now! I basically try to keep myself busy to keep myself out of trouble....