Introducing the Northernmost Californian...

Hello, my name is Kelli and I am likewise honored to be in this group of bloggers. Thus far Kyla is our common link, and rightfully so: from the moment I met her, I knew there was little doubt that she was not only passionate about the world and her journey in it, but also about making connections with people. I am a thirty-six year old wife and mother of two, and while I was Kyla's high school English teacher, I believe we are all at the age where we are peers now.

A little about my background may be in order. I was born and raised in southern California, in a conservative bedroom community north of San Diego, nestled between three towns with military bases. My hometown gained notoriety in the 1990's for the schoolboard's opposition to sex education and the teaching of evolution, and is much the same today. I escaped after high school to an area more in keeping with my liberal views, and further molded much of my world view through my many experiences at UC Davis as a part of a demolition crew, peer counselor, Women's Conference volunteer, and individual major (Cross Cultural Women's Literature.) I became an English teacher and married after college to a wonderful man, and our dreams became each others'. While we have lived all over northern California, we now work hard at building our dream of family and home on a little piece of land at the north end of the Great Central Valley.

In my professional life I have fulfilled all goals but one: to get my Master's degree. I am now learning a great lesson: in my rare year out of the classroom, I am able to meditate on the feminist conundrum of "having it all" and being super woman. I am working to strike a better balance between work and family, between living the life that I want to live and giving to the people I want to give to as well as myself. I am a part of this blog because of Kyla's invitation, and also because I care deeply about many of the issues thus far introduced and discussed. I am a part of this blog because I enjoy writing and the open exchange of ideas, and look forward to the promised rants and discussions we have here as we explore the London-Cali Connection.