Originally from Long Beach, California, I grew up on the beautiful coast of the Pacific Ocean; spending most of my childhood at Seal, Bolsa Chica and Huntington Beach. As a young adult, I worked for a law firm off Pine Street and Ocean Blvd for a few years before moving to North Idaho in the all of 1996.

My first residence in North Idaho was in the charming town of Bonners Ferry, 30 miles north of Sandpoint; a year later, I moved to Sandpoint. In...