ABOUT ME

My husband and I enjoy having a good time. That can include huge family gatherings, salsa dancing, backpacking, biking, walking, running, hiking, roller blading, museums and art galleries, restaurants with friends, traveling, exercising, watching the Kansas City Royals, preparing meals for guests, playing or watching soccer, reading, watching movies, BBQ festivals, shooting hoops, getting together with family, wine tastings, sporting events, First Fridays, or just sitting on the front porch with the neighbors.

PHILOSOPHY

Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Hebrews 13:2

In so many religions it is an obligation to show hospitality to strangers, pilgrims, and those less fortunate. We are not religious people, but we wonder...how have we gotten so far away from that? Let's wipe out xenophobia (Fear and contempt of strangers or foreign peoples) one couchsurfing visit at a time!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

We love to travel and meet new people. We enjoy being hosts, helping people that are on the road. If you'd like to stay with us, send us a message through CouchRequest. If you have not filled out your profile completely so we can get to know you, we may be less likely to host you. We also enjoy couchsurfing meetups and book club with Kansas City couchsurers. If you've met us, or stayed with us, PLEASE leave us a reference!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

We started hosting in June 2010. I've traveled and always appreciated the people that were willing to lend a helping hand or be a host. We look forward to hosting fellow couch surfers, or being guests!

Our surfers:
06/10-Letitia, Loren, Cindy and Eugénie, college students biking from Florida
08/10-Matt from San Diego, in town to see the Royals
08/10-Andrew from Oregon, biking across the US, stayed with our neighbor and we took him out to dinner
02/11-Rebecca and Gail, sisters in town for a fun weekend in KC
04/11-David from Maryland, an artist in town for Brookside Art Show
05/11-Anna from Hawaii, in town for an acupuncture seminar
07/11-Ellen and Drew from Springfield, MO; came to KC to participate in the Warrior Dash
09/11-Nicole, one night as she was driving east across the country.
12/11-Celine from Shanghai, stayed with her friend, but contacted us to go out for dinner
12/11-Michael and Kacy from Chicago,attending IHOP Convention
01/12-Victoria from DC, in town for professional conference and stayed the weekend while checking out the city.
03/12-Andrew, one night as he was driving west across the country
05/12-Owen from Seattle, in KC for 5 days to see how cool our city is. Very.
07/12-Victor from Sao Paulo, Brazil, didn't stay with us, but we helped him learn about KC before his visit, borrowed a bike for him, and went out to dinner with him twice
07/12-Melanie from Charlotte, NC, in KC for 4 days to interview and check out the area.
10/12-Tom from St. Louis, in KC for business, stayed with us one night
03/13-Caleb and Hannah from Albany, OR, stayed one night during their cross country road trip
04/13-Andrew from Portland, OR, for the weekend to explore and see the Timbers play Sporting KC
05/13-A.C. and girlfriend Allison from Iowa City in town one night for his Jeopardy audition
12/13-Lis, living in St. Robert, MO, visting a friend in KC for four days
12/13-Christy and Katy from Columbus, OH, attending IHOP convention
1/14-Maryanne and Chas from Portland,driving across the US looking for a new city to call home
3/14-Priten from Illinois in town for Planet Comicon
4/14-Cadence from Portland, in town to explore KC art galleries and to head to St. Louis for a conference
4/14-Kate and Bobby came from Nashville for the weekend for a friend's wedding
05/14-Hamilton and Cristina from Ecuador, visiting for a weekend from Manhattan, KS
8/14-Aparna from Baltimore, in town for medical conference
8/14-Milana from San Francisco, in town for medical conference
8/14-Lauren, one night while she was driving west across the country, moving towards her new home
9/14-Tim, one night while driving east, moving back home
12/14-Sarah and Chris, friends in town for four nights while attending IHOP conference
3/15- David and Kamila, one night, while driving to new home in CA.

Our Hosts:
06/11-Brian in Eureka, CA, for three nights with friends Jackie & Amanda
06/11-Kirby and Rebecca in Eugene, OR for one night with friends Jackie & Amanda
02/12-Michael from Ellicottville, NY and Debra hosted us for an afternoon of coffee, tea, cookies, music and conversation in her Crystal Beach, ON home
09/12-Anna prepared a delicious garden dinner for my cousins and me in Portland, OR
09/12-Owen toured me around Seattle, and allowed my friends, husband, and me to stay at his apartment for four nights while we explored the area
12/12-Kelly and Lanette hosted me and another surfer, Doug, when we were both driving cross country to our respective home states for Christmas
7/13-Brian, Alicia and 3 kids hosted me when I was driving up to MN.
8/14-Jenny invited us to Sedalia, MO to take us to the State Fair

Interests

Biking, walking, museums, movies, books, travel, hiking, learning, "This American Life", NPR, listening to music, checking out lots of stuff from the library, showing people around Kansas City, swimming, scuba diving, skiing, taking naps, eating chocolate, Dave Ramsey, live sporting events or keeping up with favorite teams on TV, eating out, running, soccer, basketball, boxing, hanging out with family...

• arts
• books
• festivals
• dancing
• salsa dancing
• chocolate
• wine
• coffee
• bbq
• exercise
• running
• walking
• gardening
• boating
• movies
• reading
• tv
• traveling
• eating out
• music
• cycling
• hiking
• backpacking
• scuba diving
• skiing
• basketball
• boxing
• soccer
• swimming
• beaches

Music, Movies, and Books

Yes, yes and yes. We like to watch movies. My husband likes the light, slap-stick comedies and I prefer the dark dramas and horror movies. I am usually reading one or two books (usually fiction) and am the host for our local couchsurfing book club. We love loading up our ipod with new music or going out to hear live music and prefer (in no particular order) Prince, U2, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Ozomatli, Cafe Tacuba, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson, Neil Diamond, Michael Jackson, Al Green, Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, Beck, Gap Band, Bee Gees, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, Black Keys, Celia Cruz, Oscar D'Leon, Earth, Wind & Fire, Elton John, Ely Guerra, Gipsy Kings, Grupo Niche, Johnny "Guitar" Watson, Johnny Cash, Julieta Venegas, Los Amigos Invisibles, Los Angeles Azules, Neil Young, Paul Simon, The Police, Rod Stewart, Santana

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

We slept in a tree boat at 170 feet up in the air. What an amazing view to wake up to! At the other extreme, we were lucky enough to hike down to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and be guests at Phantom Ranch for four days and three nights...talk about being surrounded by beauty everywhere you turn!

Teach, Learn, Share

My husband can show you how to make a mean (and by "mean" I mean delicious!) guacamole or salsa from scratch. I can tell you why I think Dave Ramsey is great and teach you "The Baby Steps".

Countries I’ve Visited

Dominican Republic, France, Honduras, Mexico, Spain, United States

Countries I’ve Lived In

Mexico, United States

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