Thursday, October 11, 2007

Sherene M.














Hola' classmates, from Sunny Phoenix, AZ!

Has it really been close to 16 years since we graduated? Thanks to "Facebook," I was able to find Brandon!

Every now and then I have this strange dream I am late for school and riding the city bus with Brandon, Kris Germain, Dusty and Mike Ducharme. I have such funny and great memories of going to CSCS. Yes those memories include getting in trouble for drinking and then going to Rob Nordeman's and having his mom catch me. Okay so it wasn't one of my brightest moments, but I am sure we all have life lessons! Hopefully most of you have better memories of me from our senior year. I think I was on way better behavior that year.

So an update of what's been happening since we graduated...













I stayed in Colorado Springs for about a year after we graduated and then attended Sioux Falls College in South Dakota. I was miserable; it was soooo cold. So I transferred to sunny Arizona. I moved to Phoenix in 1994 and have been here ever since. I have been married to my sweet hubby, James, for 11 years. He is an amazing man, funny and kind. We have three wonderful kids: Jasmine 8, Jalyn 7, LJ (which stands for Little James) 4.

In 1995-2001 I went to work for Mayo Clinic Scottsdale as a human resources generalist and they paid for any continued education. It was a great job. I was responsible for hiring nurses and physicians and was able to travel to different job fairs around the U.S.. While working at Mayo in 1999 I had our first child Jasmine and 14 months later came her sister Jalyn in 2000. To say the least, being a working corporate career mom was intense. From 2001-2003 I left Mayo and took a HR Director position for a company called Insight.com. In early spring of 2003, I found out I was pregnant with our 3rd. At this point I really was done doing the whole working thing. I had spent so much time building my career and education that once I was at home with my girls and pregnant I saw how much I had really neglected building my family.































I was so thankful that God had revealed to me that it was his sovereign choice to be the wife and mother that I am. He has given what I need to be a great wife and mother, if I just surrender to Him. In the fall of 2003, while pregnant with my son, my husband was diagnosed with cancer. It was a really hard time for me. I felt that I had to hold it together for the sake of my daughters and the baby I was carrying as well not add more stress to my husband’s condition. James went through 2 years of chemotherapy and is currently in remission. The amazing thing was that I was able to see what a blessing it is to have a husband that has a sincere desire to serve God. He was never bitter or depressed, but just kept saying "I just want to respond in a way that brings glory to God."

I am back in Colorado Springs every summer for the last week in July. This past year I was in Colorado Springs a lot due to the sudden death of my dad. He died about a year ago from a massive heart attack while walking with my mom in the Garden of the Gods. It has been a hard time for our family, but out of all the things I don't understand, I know that God is God and his love is deep for his own. I am thankful that my brothers still live in the Springs to be close to my mom.














So what has been happening as of late? My husband and I own a construction/real-estate devolvement company called Pinnacle Southwest. We specialize in commercial and residential projects and are big into Green building and are in the process of becoming LEED accredited. Since the market has changed, most of our work is currently government jobs with the city of Phoenix. I work from home as the general manager half days while the kids are at school. We attend a church called Highlands in North Scottsdale and I serve on the board of our women's ministry. We are also small group leaders for our college age group called "Element". We recently got back from a missions trip in Mexico with those college kids. Tons of FUN!














When I have free time, I like to go eat sushi with my friends, hang out at the pool and play in the sun. I still play soccer year round — although I will have to say my body does not heal like it used to. As of recently I have become a tennis, bowling and golf pro thanks to the Nintendo Wii and my kids:)

Well that is pretty much it. I feel like this is such a great stage of life for us right now. My heart feels so full from God's blessings and his provision for my family amazes me each and every day! I hope you all are doing well and can't wait to hear from you!

Blessings,

Sherene

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