KCC Profiles: Tanya

I am stalling this week on finding my next victim....so here goes:

Who is Tanya?

I was born in San Diego, then moved to Florida, Texas, and back to California before I was six. I spent elementary and middle school there before moving to Waco,Texas for high school and College Station, Texas for college at Texas A&M University (go aggies). While interning back in San Diego between my 3rd and 4th year in college I met Dave. He had just moved out to San Diego and was hired by my Aunt who introduced us. We traveled a lot between California, Texas and New York (where he is from) while I finished school, and I accepted a job in Eastern Long Island (Southampton) after graduating because I thought the Hamptons would be a nice place to start out my career. So we got engaged, picked up the dog (oh yeah - we bought Sydney somewhere in there) and the stuff and moved 3,000 miles. Adjusting to Long Island was rough for a warm weather girl. We were newly married and I liked the snow and our house, but we were commuting an hour and a half each way to work, living in an up and coming area that was pretty terrible, and after Christmas the weather got old. Dave knew it might be time to leave again when I started ordering welcome packages from cities all over the US. I started applying to jobs, and eventually narrowed our search to Savannah and a couple other places. After visiting for my interview, we knew this is where we needed to be, so Dave found a job, we put the house up for sale and to the dismay of Dave's family - moved 900 miles South. We've been here since 2006 and we love it. That's the short version.....add in another dog, three chickens, 10 or so different residences, a few jobs and lots of travel - though there is so much more of that I want to do.

What are your hobbies and interests? 

I read all the time. I read to learn, I read to relax, I read to go to sleep - I don't know what I would do without my Kindle. I swim, I run (small distances), play tennis, and once I get over last year's crash, I'll bike again. I love music and concerts. Dave and I often plan trips around going to see bands that we like. I am crazy for good, wholesome, local food and enjoy cooking and wine. I garden, and Dave and I hike and do house projects on the weekends.

What do you plan to do when you retire? 

So much. I love to travel - but for now that revolves around seeing family - so post-retirement will involve going to visit my list of places to see before I die. I also dream about having a bed and breakfast on a farm somewhere - serving good food to interesting people, gardening, and doing projects around the property.

Freeform:

When we moved to Texas I saved up my money and bought an old black and white paint mare. Our house bordered corn fields and I would be gone in the morning and not come back until late. She was the most gentle animal I have ever known. She died with her head in my lap and that is (and might always be) my saddest memory. If I ever have that farm, you bet there will be another old paint mare on it somewhere.

Times are tough right now, what is one piece of advice that you'd give to new college grads in any field?

Save a little bit of money and go travel - if you can learn some things while you're gone - do that -  it might differentiate you from all of the other jobless. Once you start working, you do not get that opportunity again. Life is short.

Why I love Kern-Coleman.

The flexibility, the people, the close parking.