Sarah
I am the only child of my parents Gary and Andrea.  I grew up in the small town of Dixfield, yet had to opportunity to travel extensively as a child. One of our first family vacations was sailing on a 42 foot sloop around the US and British Virgin Islands.  This was my first exciting taste of traveling, which I continue to this day. My father is a paper maker at the local mill, and my mother is a retired school teacher.  My father and step-mother bread exotic birds, and my father still dreams of the day when he will be retired and can sail around the world.  My mother and step-father winter in Fort Pierce, Florida.  When they are in Maine they enjoy their antique business Remember When.  

I attend Simmons college in Boston and graduated with a degree in Environmental Science.  Since Simmons is a liberal arts school I was required to take classes in a variety of academic areas.  To fulfill one of these academic areas I took an education course since “Mother thought it was practical”.  A requirement for the course was that I gain some hands on educational experience so I got a job at the New England Aquarium.  I debated about getting a job as a penguin tank cleaner since I just met the height requirement and have always dreamed of petting a penguin.  Logic prevailed and I took a job in the after school program.  I took small marine animals to after school programs and taught the children about the amazing adaptions that these animals have.  After a few weeks of this job I learned two things: 1) I didn’t like driving a 15 passenger van around the city of Boston, and 2) I liked teaching and was kind of good at it!  So I changed my focus a bit, took more education classes, and student taught in my final year at Simmons.  Although I did not graduate with a degree in education I managed to get a Maine State teaching certification to teach science. After graduating I landing a job back at my middle school alma mata teaching science and math.  My mother likes to quote me “Math!  I don’t even like math!  I am only going to keep this job for one year, and then look for something else”. Eight years later and a variety of different teaching assignments I am still at the same school as an eighth grade math teacher and loving it.  During those eight years I got my masters degree from Walden University in Middle Level Mathematics, and am currently working on my Ph.D. in Educational Technology.  My plan is to be finished with my Ph.D. in the fall of 2012.  

Since I am a full-time student my hobbies consist of reading and writing academically.  I dream of the day when my classes are over and can develop a real set of hobbies. When I do take time off from my studies I enjoy traveling, reading, and cooking.  

Michael
I have an older brother Matej (Orso) and a younger sister Katarina (Tatti) We are all scattered around the world: my brother is married with 2 kids and lives in Slovakia, while my sister lives in Florence Italy as well as my parents. My whole family is originally from Slovakia, but in 1981 we relocated to Italy. My parents are both artists: my mom is an Illustrator of Children’s Books you can find her on Amazon.com under Maja Dusikova, and my dad used to make paintings for churches. Now he teaches art privately. Out of 3 siblings I’m the only one that still paints, mostly watercolors. Both my brother and I attended art school, like my parents. My sister is a language nut: she speaks Italian, Slovak, English, Greek, German and French. Not to mention that she can understand another half a dozen other languages. She just graduated “Summa cum Laude”, congratulations Tatti. My brother is a manager for a big construction company and has 2 children: Elenka and Davidko.

I attended Art school for 5 years, then went to Aerospace Engineering in Pisa, to switch to Psychology and graduated in 2001. In the mean time I would work as computer technician to pay for tuition giving private computer lessons.  After my graduation in Italy I have done quiet a lot of counseling for about 4 years, but my real passion was still computers and in 2002 I opened a web design business and right now I own my own IT Consulting business in Maine.

Art will always remain one of my favorite hobbies and I'm thinking to paint full time when I retire. It is not only pleasant, but also very fulfilling at a personal level. I paint primarily watercolors and love using pencils to draw portraits. Monochromatic art is one of my favorite. I also like to go kayaking and hiking especially here in Maine. Kayaking is fun in Florida too, I have seen quiet a few dolphins and swam with them. I also enjoy antiques especially books, maps, historical memorabilia and old toys. Unfortunately I cannot buy a lot of these since I don't have a lot of space. Mostly I buy antiques to resell online. Also photography is another of my hobbies. I started as Industrial Photographer for a Parachute Manufacturer in Florida taking pictures of their producs, and now moving to Stock Photography. I also found out lately that I love create landscapes, reorganizing outdoor areas that don't quiet look right into nice and organized, pleasant and relaxing gardens.
Also cooking is one of my passions, mostly italian stuff, like pizza or pasta. I invent my own recipes sometimes, with results that range from extra delicious to "need improvement". I'm building a brick pizza oven in Sarah's back yard so we can have pizza and bread baked fresh.
There are many other hobbies I would like to have, but unfortunately I don't have time for everything so I choose carefully what to start.