Alie Zandstra:  

After graduation I went to college in Washington and Southern California and studied Art and Interior Design. I returned to the Bay Area and lived and worked in San Francisco; I am an Interior Designer and during this time I had my own firm in the city. I really loved my years of living on Telegraph Hill in the City there was always so much going on. I was working on residential and commercial projects all over the place even in Maui. I loved working in Maui as I had made a lot of Hawaiian friends I had made during my time at the University of Puget Sound and it gave us a chance to get together. (Maui’s not bad either) Things were very exciting lots of big projects, but... I wanted a family. I lived in the city during Loma Prieta and got involved doing a lot of volunteer work with displaced Seniors at the Marina Shelter through the Red Cross and the with Kevin Shelly and members of city hall. We had people who wanted to donate monies to create a Senior Center for the older residents of the Marina. In then end too much red tape and infighting kept the shelter from ever going anywhere. The experience however of working with all those displaced and traumatized seniors really shifted my perspective on both my life and life in general. So, in my mid thirties my life took a major turn, I was married and moved to Laguna Beach. I lived in Laguna for 13 years with my husband and his two (then) teenage daughters. For someone who had never had kids that was a very big challenge and a huge change! But one I welcomed! During this time we also had the fire in Laguna and then the earthquake in Los Angeles. Following the after math of the Laguna Fire while trying to assist in helping my community get back on its feet I became a trained Family Services Tech for the Red Cross. I f...Expand for more