A Little Info About Me

Possibly more than you need to know.

I am a toy hoarder collector and avid book hoarder reader living in West Michigan with my two sons. I am a web developer by profession and I will remain one until artificial intelligence replaces me.

I am a huge G.I. JOE: A Real American Hero fan. No, not the 12" figures from the 1960s and 1970s. My fandom begins with the line of 3 3/4" figures and characters that first appeared in 1982 and disappeared from the Toys R Us shelves in 1994 only to return periodically in various forms–the latest being G.I. JOE Classified which has turned into my primary hobby.

I read a lot of science fiction and fantasy because it is much more imaginative than most other genres of fiction and I don't want to bother with stories that feel too much like real life.

Is there a chance you and I have met at some point? Use the timeline below to figure that out or just get to know me a bit.

  • Illinois Years
    I was born in Hoffman Estates, lived in Carol Stream, then moved to McHenry where I attended Riverwood Elementary until the middle of third grade.
  • Texas Years
    My family moved to Flower Mound, TX in 1991 where I initially attended Donald Elementary then switched to Garden Ridge Elementary once it opened. I attended Forestwood Middle School followed by a brief stint at Lewisville High School for my freshman year and the beginning of my sophomore year.
  • Michigan Years
    My family relocated again, this time to Caledonia, MI in 1998 shortly after the beginning of my sophomore year of high school. I attended Caledonia High School until graduation.
  • Western Michigan University
    I moved to Kalamazoo and started at WMU as a Computer Engineering major but that only lasted one semester then I switched to Computer Science.
  • Fort Sill, Oklahoma
    Feeling very dissatisfied with my progress and time as a Computer Science student, I decided I wanted to pursue one of my childhood dreams and I enlisted in the military. In particular, the Michigan Army National Guard. I attended OSUT (Basic Training and A.I.T. combined) at Fort Sill, OK from April-August of 2003 where I trained to be a Field Artillery Cannon Crewmember (13B).
  • Operation Enduring Freedom
    Uncle Sam said it was time to go so I went! My military deployment has proven to be one of the most transformative periods in my life. In addition to the many unusual experiences it provided, being away from school and home also gave me time to reconsider my college major.
  • Return to WMU
    I returned to WMU, this time as a Computer Information Systems major at The Haworth College of Business. I essentially had to start over with freshman level classes but I was laser focused to graduate as soon as possible so I mapped out my entire curriculum, took Summer classes and graduated in 2.5 years. I loved the courses and instructors I had and my grades reflected that. If I've ever achieved flow state at any time in my life, it was from 2005-2007. I was a full-time student, a part-time worker at KOHL'S and a weekend warrior. I kept busy and it helped me stay focused on my goals. (But there was always plenty of time to attend WMU hockey games!)
  • Graduation & Employment
    While finishing up at WMU, I started my first software development job at Professional Computing Resources (PCR) in Kentwood, MI. There I mostly developed software for provisioning Cisco and Avaya VOIP phones. While I got to do *some* web development there, I knew I wanted to shift my focus to web development.
  • Masuga Design
    I got hired as a PHP Developer at Masuga Design where I initially built ExpressionEngine add-ons then eventually worked on a Laravel app called Lamplighter and Craft CMS modules/plugins.
  • Dorr, Michigan Years
    We moved to Dorr, MI which is where we still live today though now it is just my sons, a cat, a snake and me.
  • New Site Launched!
    While I've had numerous personal websites over the years, I managed to go a pretty long time where I left my domain barren. I've never truly enjoyed social media but I wanted a platform to share things with the world so this site was born.

Have we crossed paths at some point over the years? If so, I'd love to hear from you. There are so many people I've met in various chapters of my life and I am a sucker for reminiscing. Get in touch using my contact form!