I grew up in IN and went to college in OK where I met my husband.  We got married in 1993 and moved around with the military for 7 years.  We ended up in Blythewood, SC in 2002 and have been here ever since.  I have been very fortunate to be a stay at home mom to three incredible people. It’s been an exciting adventure to be their mom and watch them grow up.  I am so proud of all three of them.  God has blessed me abundantly. I am also a first time Nana! Being a grandma is the best thing ever. Little Tucker has brought so much joy to my life this past year.

Currently I am a freelance sports photographer for GoFlashWin.com  I also shoot a few portraits. My passion behind the camera is landscape photography. My hope is to do more landscape photography in the near future.

I have always loved bicycling and went on several cycling summer camps when I was young.  The idea of crossing the country via bike was planted when I was 16 years old and went on my first tour in 1986 with a group out of Upland, IN.  We road through Vermont and New Hampshire. I was hooked. This was the real deal… traveling through whole states and seeing different parts of the country that I never would have seen. I loved it. It was determined then, that yes, one day I would ride from ‘sea to shining sea.’

As things happen in life, this dream was shelved. I didn’t even own a bike for over 20 years. When I finally got a bike I hardly road it because I allowed the busyness of a mom’s schedule to overtake me. In 2012, I dusted my bike off and took my first 4 day self-guided tour in SC from the  “Mountains to Sea” with no training and brand new to the clip-in pedals. I used the backroads in SC and slept in hotels.  It was on that trip that the spark of riding across the country was rekindled.  I wanted to make this a reality before 2020, before I hit the big 50.

In 2014 I planned another self-guided tour. This time I road down the coast from Nags Head, NC to Hilton Head, SC, for 560 miles… My ‘Head to Head‘ tour. While on this trip the planning for our Coast to Coast trip actually started to take root. A girlfriend, Donita Walters, from high school contact me, via Facebook, and we agreed to do our first Coast to Coast trip together in the summer of 2016. Gotta love Facebook!

in 2016 after a year and a half of planning I heading to CA to meet up with Donita to start our bike tour across the country. I left a few days before her so that I could stop at some parks along the way and take some photos. We were to meet up on May 29th and begin our journey together. Unfortunately on May 24th on Donita’s last training ride she was struck by a car. She broke her pelvis and her neck and had a whole list of other injuries (see her bio of her inspirational story). Our trip was not going to happen. My sister was with me (she was our support driver) and we had to come up with a new plan. We took a month and I rode some in each of the 10 states that Donita and I were suppose to ride. I was happy about my accomplishments from the trip, however, it didn’t fulfill that dream that I had as a 16 year old to ride every mile across Our beautiful country.   

July 14th, 2016, when I returned home from my abbreviated Coast to Coast tour I took my first after tour ride. 4 miles from my house I was hit by a car. What are the odds of two friends being hit by a vehicle while riding a bike? I faired way better than Donita did. I walked away from it with road rash and bruises, some ligament issues, and no broken bones.

Donita and I got together in CO in 2020 to see how she would do riding in the mountains. Let me tell you what, she is a beast of a cyclist! This girl can ride and there is no stopping her. Me on the other hand was huffing and puffing and grasping for any oxygen that the mountain air could offer me. We talked then about revisiting our Coast to Coast goal and if we could make it happen. She was all in and started her planning. Me, I have been on the fence only because of my life circumstances at the present moment; the main one being my momma has stage 4 cancer. I have been going back and forth to IN to spend as much time with her as possible over the past 18 months. I have been planning and doing what training I can since February like I am going. My hope is to join Donita on this fun adventure. Will I be able to ride every mile with Donita? I am not certain of this at this time. I do hope to join her at some point, but for now my focus is helping my mom out as she continues to fight. Her fight is my fight right now.

When I do start this adventure I would love for you to follow me.  Your comments, prayers, well wishes and support will help keep me motivated.