I've lived in Whatcom County for 15 years.  I have a background in construction which I used to put me through evening classes to become a paralegal.  I interned at the San Diego County Courthouse in El Cajon, CA working in the domestic violence clinic assisting victims of abuse.  After 9 months of internship in family law, I refocused my studies on Business and Corporation law as well as Real Estate Law in order to keep myself sane.  With work hard to come by in San Diego from such an over population of legal professionals, I moved to Whatcom County in 1998 for a fresh start in life as well as being closer to my family who lived in Lynnwood and Vancouver BC.  Here I met Stephanie, who I dated for 3 years before finally getting married.  We settled down in Ferndale, close to her family where we spent the next year making our home and working.  I went back to school continuing my paralegal studies and then decided to cross over into Real Estate applying my previous studies to help me with all the contract work.  In 2005, Stephanie gave birth to our beautiful daughter at St. Joseph Hospital in Bellingham, changing our lives forever.  Sixteen months later in 2006, she gave birth to our son who, once he got on his feet (9 months later), had us chasing him for what seems like forever.  In 2012 we again heard the sound of little feet as my wife gave birth to our second girl in September.  It was a very busy and exciting time as we had 3 little ones under the age of 6 and we were both trying to work and keep our business' running.  Now two and a half years later we seem to finally be turning the corner as we are getting back to doing some of our favorite activities except this time it requires a trable for 5 rather than 2.  Our family loves to spend time shopping, picknicking and eating out which we often do on Sunday after church. Having a family has helped me to grow and understand what is important in life.  If you don't have harmony in your faith or family then it doesn't matter how hard you work if life to create happiness or balance.  If you focus on having a strong faith and healthy family relationship, the road to having strong business and a balanced life require far less steps and energy.