I was born in Anchorage, Alaska May 20, 1956. My father was in the Air Force so it seemed like we moved around alot. He retired when I was 5 years old and he moved the family back to Montana. We stayed awhile then moved to Washington and back to Whitefish, Montana when I was 14.

Food and restaurants were a way of life for our family. My Grandma Rose ran the Temple Tea Room in Kalispell, my parents ran Blue Bay on Flathead Lake in the 1960's,the Towanda Hotel in Hot Springs, the cafe at Casey's Bar in the 1970's, the Flathead Valley Community College cafeteria in the mid 70's. My mother even cooked a couple of years at the Marion school. I had some deep "food" roots planted in me at an early age.

In 1975 I married my high school sweetheart, Bruce. A year after we were married he joined the Air Force and our military career included travels to Texas, Washington, California and Germany. In 1985 we moved back to Whitefish where we could raise our 3 children in a small town and wanted them to know their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. It was important for us to be around family.

Not having to work for ten years I decided to go back to waiting tables, restaurants was what I knew. Then it happened...I ended up becoming the general manager for The Remington in Whitefish from 1989-1999. It was a good thing I had all that family around because I had them working for me at one time or another.

It was also at the Remington that many friendships were created. I was told as a manager I couldn't be friends with my employees. I thought that was crazy, "if I am going to spend more time here than at home, these people are going to be my friends". In 1999 The Remington sold and 42 employees became dislocated. They either went to school or found jobs elsewhere. I decided to go back to school and got my small business certificate and added "graduated from Flathead Valley Community College in 2002" to my resume.

Today I am in business for myself which allows me to enjoy more time with my family and friends. And more time for cooking. Bruce and I both love to cook, in fact Bruce cooks more than I do now. We love trying new recipes, love to entertain and enjoy watching the food channel.