Natalie

I grew up in Sandy, Utah. I got my first degree from LDS Business College in Interior Design, then finished my second degree in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication at the University of Utah in 2006. My husband and I just finished our first year in Moscow. He is in law school and will be doing the JD/MBA program and I am in the Master's of Public Administration program. I will be finished next Spring, given that all goes well with my thesis.

I bounced around a lot in choosing majors and degrees, but found a passion while at the U of U for service-learning. My dream job would be directing a service-learning program at a university. I am doing an internship in the service-learning office at UI in the Fall and get excited just thinking about it...sounds nerdy, I know, but I love it.

My husband and I got married last July, and prior to that I think I was suppressing my domestic tendencies while I was single. Now I have let them loose. I love to cook, but desserts and anything unhealthy are my favorites. On top of that, I'm a picky eater, so I'm always looking for new recipes that are healthy and will me help me branch out. I also like to sew (quilts mostly) and crochet. I love to organize things, but I'm also a bit of a pack-rat. I enjoy music -- playing the piano and singing, and would love to learn to use that guitar I bought years ago. I enjoy watching sports (which works out well for my husband), hiking (but I miss the Utah mountains), and waterskiing. I eat ice cream pretty much everyday and I am addicted to orange juice and grape juice.

My biggest cooking disaster was when I was a nanny. We were making cookies and there was a large tub of what looked like sugar in the cupboard. The thought did cross my mind, "what if this is salt?" but I wondered why there would be so much salt in the cupboard -- it was a large container, and I didn't see any sugar. So, I continued and tasted the dough before I baked them and it was horrible, so we started over, but the kids were pretty impatient by that time. So not too much of a disaster, but a big waste of time.