Melissa Thorne-Smith

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Occupation: Program Coordinator for adults with developmental disabilites AND a full time student working on my doctorate in counseling.

Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee

Marital Status: Married (On May 11, 2007)

Spouse's Name & Occupation: Eric Smith, CPAP Specialist with American Home Patient

Children: (Names & Ages) Sadly none yet but I cant wait!!

Pets: 5 cats (I know thats a lot right!?!) BooBoo, Bailey, Bodie, Abbey & Mumble

What has changed about you? What hasn't?
• I lost 145 pounds which is like a whole freaking person! I went blonde. I look a lot different now than I did in high school.

Best (or Worst) thing about being in your late 20's.
• It means the thirtys are rapidly approaching! Really though, my twentys have been a wonderful experience filled with character building events that will impact me for the rest of my lifetime.

Significant events for you in the last 10 years:
• 1999 went to Greece & Italy
• 2000 went on tour with a music group and sang all over the country for 3 months
• 2001 graduated with my BA in Psychology from Judson College and went to Egypt & Israel
• 2001 my mom died right after college graduation and I moved to Nashville for a new start
• 2002 Bought my first house
• 2007 Graduated with my Masters in Counseling
• 2007 Got married on May 11 to my wonderful husband, Eric
• 2007 Started working on my Doctorate in Counseling

Will you be attending the reunion: Unfortunately not :(

Tommy Carpenter

Occupation : Automotive Technician for the City of Rockford, been there 5 years

Hometown : Loves Park

Spouse : Chrissy (BHS class of 98), employed at Target

Children : Cohen is 2 and Kylee is 10 months

Pets : Abby 3 year old Peek-a-Poo

Significant Events :
• 1999 Graduated from UTI
• 2002 Started working for City of Rockford
• July 2003 Got married
• April 2004 Purchased 1st house
• March 12, 2005 son Cohen was born
• January 5, 2007 daughter Kylee was born

Yes, I will be attending the reunion.

Allison (Osterberg) Walker

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Occupation: Human Resources Director; Target Corporation

Hometown: DeKalb, IL

Marital Status: Married

Spouse's Name & Occupation: Jon Walker; Owner / Walker Construction

Children: (Names & Ages) Madelyn Reagan Walker; 3 yrs. on November 19th

Pets: Two cats Tego and Pandora; Madelyn's Gerbil Peanut Butter; yellow lab Libby (Madelyn earned her for potty training like a champ!) Good thing we have a cleaning lady and a Kirby. :)

Best (or Worst) thing about being in your late 20's.
• The best thing is being here to be able to enjoy what matters in life.

What hasn't changed:
• My family is still the best. I am so proud to be a mother, an aunt (three times over), and I truly appreciate seeing my Dad and Mom. My best friends Brooke and Sarah. I don't get see them as much as I would like, but they are always close and there when it really matters.

What has changed:
• I really appreciate my life, and what I have been so fortunate to be blessed with.

Significant events for you in the last 10 years:
• 1999-2000: Interned for the late State Representative David Wirsing
• May 2001: Graduated Cum Laude from NIU with two degrees in four years
• September 2001: Began my career with Target
• May 2002: Got married!
• November 19, 2004: Gave birth to Madelyn; the best day in our lives
• March 15, 2004: Built a home on a golf course and moved in!
• March 16, 2004: Decided I needed to take up golf
• May 2005: Diagnosed with a rare brain degeneration disease; spinocerebellar episodic ataxia; became a case study for Loyola Medical Research Hospital
• 2006: Kind of a boring year, but I did make par twice. :)
• May 2007: 5 year wedding anniversary; 2 years episode free (my neurologist is Top 10 in the US)
• August 2007: Third internal promotion with Target; extremely excited to work primarily from home
• October 2007: I finished the Chicago Marathon (yes, I really finished the whole 26.2 miles; I made it before the race was cancelled and finished in 5:56) and raised $600 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital; I can't wait for next year

Will you be attending the reunion: No.
• We are hosting an event that evening. Best wishes to all!

Natasha Bishop

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Occupation: I work for a company called Withoutabox developing an online ticketing solution for film festivals around the world.

Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

Marital Status: Single

Pets: A border terrier, Parker and a cairn terrier, Coltrane.

What has changed about you? What hasn't?
• My personality has not changed much, however, I am a lifetime away from the person I was 10 years ago.

Best thing about being in your late 20's.
• My 20's have been amazing! Now that I'm staring 30 in the face, I'm starting to realize how exhausted I am from my 20's. The last 10 years have been a time of discovery, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life, where I wanted to live and plant my roots, meeting new people and understanding what it really means to be a responsible adult. Every experience was a new experience. Now that I'm in my late 20's I feel more grounded and I'm starting to understand who I am and who I want to become. I'm excited for my 30's to begin!

Worst Thing: I have to work out three times as hard to stay in shape! Not cool!!!!

Significant events for you in the last 10 years:
• 1997 I moved to Boston, MA to attend Berklee College of Music
• 1999 purchased my condo in Boston, MA and adopted my little puppy Parker
• 2001 graduated from college, moved to Los Angeles, CA and began working at a music management company, my dream job!
• 2002 accomplished some major career goals; attended the Grammy Awards with one of our clients who was nominated that year, received my first platinum and gold records for albums I worked on, worked with some amazing artists on various projects
• 2003 purchased a condo in Los Angeles, CA and adopted my other little puppy Coltrane
• 2004 left my job to start my own booking agency and music consulting company
• 2005 one of my consulting projects (Dave Koz, Saxophonic) was nominated for a Grammy
• 2007 got out of the music industry and started a new job in festival ticketing
• 2008 going back to college to work on my MBA

Will you be attending the reunion: Yes, I can't wait!!
• It's been almost 10 years since I've been back!

Danielle Sandsmark

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Occupation: M.D./Ph.D. student, Washington University in St. Louis

Hometown: St. Louis, MO

Marital Status: Boyfriend, Jeff Rahman

Pets: Our 2 dogs, Indy and Gracie. They are both total characters and a constant source of entertainment!

What has changed about you? What hasn't?
• I'm still in school!! (will graduate in May 2008). I don't really think too much has changed about me. I'm still running and try to compete when I can. I'm probably a little bit more relaxed, which I definitely think is a good thing!

Best (or Worst) thing about being in your late 20's.
• Most of my friends are scattered across the country now....makes for many great excuses to travel! Because our schedules have been so crazy for the past few years, I think we all better appreciate how much of an effort it takes to keep in touch and we all try to make an extra effort to get together when we can.

Significant events for you in the last 10 years:
• Spending a semester doing research at the Mayo Clinic (2000-2001)
• Graduating from college (Coe College, Cedar Rapids, IA), buying my first home in St. Louis, and starting medical school....all in a 3 week time span! (2001)
• My parents' move to Minnesota (May 2006)....I definitely miss visiting them in B-town and running into old friends.
• Finishing my Ph.D. in neuroscience (December 2006)
• Traveling abroad several times
• I'm now finishing all of my rotations in the hospital and am currently applying to residency programs to start next July.....I don't know where I'm headed, but it's definitely an exciting year for me!

Will you be attending the reunion: I hope so! (I'm on rotations in the hospital....I'm at the mercy of the schedulers!)