All About MeLissa

MeLissa was born and raised in Colorado by her parents Larry and Ginger. She and her two younger brothers, Christopher and Douglas, were quite fortunate to have their mom stay home to watch over them. Since dad was also easily accessible at his appliance store, love and support was always readily available.

MeLissa excelled in both academics and extracurricular activities. She was well-known for her talents as a vocalist and her dramatic abilities (she even won drama student of the year for her portrayal of Cinderella's wicked stepmother in 7th grade). She participated in activities with an academic slant such as Knowledge Bowl and Mathcounts and served for many years in student council. MeLissa also is known for her exceptional domestic skills. Of all the activities in which she participated, she liked show choir best (she even still has one of her outfits though she doubts she'll ever wear it in public...).

After graduating from high school, MeLissa (who was voted Most Likely to Succeed Girl) attended the University of Southern Colorado in Pueblo, Colorado, where she obtained her Bachelors of Science and Masters degrees in Business Administration through a dual degree program (i.e., she took graduate level classes and got credit for both her undergrad and graduate degrees). MeLissa was active in student government, participated in dramatic productions and performed in the university's wind ensemble - she always thought before she graduated that she never had enough time to get everything she wanted to done!

Prior to graduation, MeLissa embarked upon a foreign exchange in France. She spent half of her time in Southern France near the Mediterranean and half her time in the Alsace region near Germany and Switzerland. She also spent enough time in Paris to fall in love with its antique architecture and picturesque cityscapes. She returned from her trip fairly fluent...so much so that sometimes she'd lapse into speaking in French much to the chagrin of her family who were quick to remind her that they couldn't understand a word she was saying! Lucky for Mark, she pretty much only does this when she's dreaming in French now...which he does find amusing!

MeLissa began preparing for the CPA exam after she returned from France and received her degrees. Despite a nasty car accident which took place one night as she returned home to Lamar from her CPA review course in Colorado Springs, MeLissa walked out of the CPA exam confident that she'd passed. Some who weren't aware that MeLissa's always been pretty good at "knowing" what kind of a grade she'd achieved, said it sounded "like a pretty big Christmas wish-list.") Shortly after the exam, MeLissa found her first job in Colorado Springs - her preferred location. Eventually, she ventured into the area of tax preparation...

In August 2003, MeLissa moved to California with Mark so that he could follow his dream to become a chiropractor. In California, MeLissa was hired by Pacific Gas and Electric Company where she served in both the Capital and Corporate Accounting Departments. She transferred to a position with Safeway's Tax Department a while later.

Since June 2006, MeLissa has been self-employed as a wedding and event consultant. She owns Winsome Events - a professional consulting firm serving the Bay Area and beyond. She really enjoyed her new "job" which used both her creative and business talents and offered more fun opportunities for interacting with people than accounting typically does. She also appreciated the flexibility it offered so that she could be more responsive to Mark's needs.

Since discovering in September that she and Mark were going to be parents, MeLissa has returnd to her tax preparation roots (accounting is a little more dependable as far as paychecks go). She hasn't yet decided whether she'll continue to pursue the wedding business once the baby arrives...only time will tell. For now, she plans to offer primarily Day-Of Coordination services.

Aside from her work life, MeLissa enjoys nurturing and caring for her animal friends which have been numerous over the years. Of special note are Sonic the hedgehog (whom she briefly adopted from her brother's ex-wife) and, more importantly, Woodstock, Robin and Cocoa, her three birds. Woody (a blue Parakeet also known as a Budgie) and Robin (a Nanday Conure) were with MeLissa from 1994 through 2004 when they passed away within 4 months of one another prior to our wedding. Cocoa was part of her family for a much shorter time, but also was a joy. They are all deeply missed.

Filling some of the void left by these three dears are Pixie (and for a short time, Banshee), MeLissa and Mark's kitties, whom they adopted in 2004. Although she is no longer with us (she ran off in January of this year and hasn't been seen since), Banshee has an amusing back story which we encourage you to enjoy.

MeLissa enjoys traveling and is counting the days, months and years (well, actually, we're down to days and months, we think!) until Mark is finished with school so that she can introduce him and their new addition to Europe (especially her adopted family members in France) and so that they can travel to other exciting destinations together. At the top of her list are New Zealand, Italy, and Ireland.