Name Kristen

Age 24

Location Charleston, SC

Education University of Memphis, Professional Writing. College of Charleston, Psychology. I dream of someday in the future pursuing a Psy.D. in Clinical Psychology.

Occupation Home Economist and soon-to-be a stay-at-home mother; my family is my strongest passion, and I am blessed and thrilled to be fortunate enough to have the opportunity to do what I have always dreamed of doing with my life, which is to stay at home and raise our children, (the first of whom will be born in June of 2003), and care for my husband and home.

Why I joined Epinions.com At the time I joined, it was simply to be able to help consumers make informed decisions about products they were considering purchasing. However, since writing my first reviews and reading those written by others, I found myself wanting to brush up on my writing and analytical skills. I now feel that improving these skills is the main reason I will become involved in the Epinions community. Just because I'm out of college is no reason to let what I've learned fade away, or to stop improving upon what I've learned altogether.

I absolutely adore...

My husband. We've been married for 2 years, and he is both my rock and my soft place to fall. I thank G*d for him every day. He is a nuke in the United States Navy, an MM1/E6, to be exact, although we're positive he'll be making Chief this year. He has been in the Navy since 1993, spent 5 years on a Trident submarine out of Kings Bay, GA, and is currently an instructor here at the Nuclear Power Training Unit, NWS Charleston. We will be transferring to Groton, CT this November so that he can report for duty on a Los Angeles class attack submarine.

My parents. They have never been anything but loving, dedicated, supportive, and, when they needed to be, tough on their children. I might not have liked their ways all that much when I was growing up, but now I'm incredibly thankful that they knew, or appeared to know, what they were doing! I hope my husband and I can be, at the very least, half as good as parenting as they were.

Books. My husband rolls his eyes everytime I open up a new book to read, and lets out a heavy sigh when I run out of room on the bookshelf and have to decided whether to pack up or sell or give away the books I have read. I generally prefer non-fiction books on psychology, history, finance and investments, and the like, because I love to learn. Knowledge is power. I don't have a favorite genre when it comes to fiction; I usually just rely on friends and family to tell me what they recommend.

Music. Jimmy Buffett, The Beatles, Billy Joel, Elvis (I'm required to love Elvis - my hometown is Memphis, TN) and The Dixie Chicks in particular.

Cooking. I love to cook, and I love to entertain in our home. I'm always on the lookout for great kitchen gadgets and power tools (my way of referring to pwerful small appliances). I have more cookbooks and back issues of Southern Living and Gourmet than I'll ever be able to use.