Janine Harmel:  

I was a wild child in High school and in my early twenties, too many bad choices led to the one good thing in my life at that time, a child, Dustin, who passed away at age 3 from a brain tumor. After his passing I went to nursing school in 1982 moved to Clearwater Fl., in 1987, and to work at All Children's Hospital, as a cardiac surgical nurse. While working there I met a wonderful man and pediatric surgeon, Rick, and we married in 1991. I retired from nursing in 2000 and went back to school, where I earned my degree in interior design, my first passion and real talent. I owned my own design shop for two years, after which time I decided that although I loved design, I hated the business aspects. Rick and I love to travel, and Jamaica came to be our favorite destination close to home, to relax and rewind. In 2007 we purchased a vacation villa on the island, which we rent out when not using it ourselves It is 4 acres of wooded paradise on a bluff overlooking the Carribean Sea. We have learned much from having a home abroad and are considering retiring there. The rental end of managing the property has kept me busy, I travel to the island about every six weeks, and now I am realizing a life long dream of desiging and building my dream house on the property next to the villa. Turning 60 has been great, though the year has had it's highs, a trip to Dubai, Kenya and Rwanda to visit the mountain gorillas for my birthday, and lows being diagnosed with early stage breast cancer, 2 months before the trip. I am feeling well now and keeping busy, trying to get back to the gym and...Expand for more