Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.  My story began in 1999.  I got a new job with the State of Kansas and was traveling through Eastern Kansas from Monday through Thursday and would return home Thursday night and go to my second job as a Weekend Supervisor for 12 Independent Supported Living homes and three group homes.  This job was from Friday afternoon until early Monday morning.  This was normal for me to work two jobs, it may seem like a lot but I loved it.  At this point, I had earned a high school diploma and had left college.  So when I was hired by both these positions, positions that required a master's degree and a bachelor's degree (respectively) in the same week astounded me.  MANY people tried to convince me to return to college, but I would not.  I am VERY stubborn.  During this time in my life, my beagle saw me more than my family did that year so when I was assigned to the Kansas City, Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services office for audit, I finally got to see my mom and she told me that I looked terrible.  I told her that I had not