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Kezia is a Michigander through and through.  Jeff thinks they must put something in the water in Michigan to make us all love it so.  They do, lead.  Kezia grew up in the small farm town of Mason where cows reside within the city limits.  She attended the University of Michigan where she played saxophone in the marching band, danced with dance marathon, volunteered at Mott Children’s hospital, dangled her friend Rachel over a balcony, and could literally see the sky through her roof one winter day.  She then lived abroad in Scotland for 6 months to sell candles and picture frames...oh and to experience Scottish culture and countryside (though she wasn’t drinking whiskey back then...what a shame).  Then back to Michigan to stand on the side of the road at night (for a transportation research study…get your head out of the gutter).  After 18 months Kezia trekked to Nashville and Vanderbilt for her doctorate in Clinical Psychology (yes she has already completed a thorough evaluation of Jeff and has decided to ignore it).  There she explored the hills and rivers of TN and fell in love with Bluegrass and Americana/Folk music.  She moved to Boston for her internship and post-doc at Boston Children’s Hospital…and some exploration of the mountains and ocean beaches of New England.  Finally she arrived in Chicago, coming back to her Midwestern roots and teaching at North Park University and counseling a few patients.  It’s been a lot of moving over the course of the last decade; and though Chicago is flat, it is next to water and near family so she might just stay put for a bit.  Plus she found this cute guy!  Kezia feels most at home in Nature...we are always looking for new hiking and camping not too far out of the city.  She enjoys music, sewing, her faith, and meditation to relax.   

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Jeff grew up in Ohio, much to Kezia’s chagrin, but to her delight does not root for “The” (not to be named here) state university.  He escaped to the shores of Lake Michigan to attend Northwestern for school.  He laid down roots in Chicago and has been here ever since.  While it might seem his travels are less than the constantly moving Kezia, this could not be further from the truth.  Jeff has a passion for travel and has visited countries all over the globe...typically for 3 weeks at a time so he really gets to know place.  He’s gotten locked out of a hotel room in Thailand, gotten intentionally locked in a pub in England, nearly fell off Machu Picchu (okay not really but I hear you really shouldn’t look down!), evolved in the Galapagos, fell in love with Port in Porto, lived in a school bus in Central America, drank black balsams in Estonia, searched for secret shrines in the sewers under Prague, gazed mesmerized at the fall colors of Kyoto, rode camels to the Great Pyramid a month before the fall of Egypt, and rode shotgun on a giant swan on banks of Lago Llanquihue in Chile.  None of this travel happens in the summer because summer is for one thing: Weddings….no, not weddings, BASEBALL!  Lots and lots of Baseball.  Jeff manages the Electrons, the reigning two time champions in a competitive recreational baseball team.  On early weekend mornings you can catch Jeff heading out the to field and Kezia praying for rain just one morning so brunch might happen some summer day.        

 

In truth Kezia enjoys watching the baseball games and that’s not all we have in common.  We both went to Nationals for Science Olympiad (remember that comment about looking for a nerd?).  We love wilderness, camping, backpacking, and adventuring  in all ways (except those that involve a lot of heights!).  We took a 6 day backcountry canoe trip last summer in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.  We love animals too and currently run a small zoo in our home.  We are both caring committed people and that’s best evidenced by the amazing people who seem to enjoy our company and whom we are so privileged to call friends.