About Us
Although Roger's health journey has upended our lives in many ways, we are still the same two people who met and fell in love during the summer of 1994.
It all began when we were assigned as co-leaders on a wilderness adventure program for teens in New Hampshire. We were given 6 weeks, a van, a cabin in the woods, 12 teens from around the world, and a lot of freedom to plan adventures - backpacking, canoeing, rock climbing, and community service.
After that summer ended, we decided to keep the adventures going together. We spent our 20s working in the outdoor adventure and environmental education fields in amazing places like Yosemite, the canyons of the Southwest, the San Juan Mountains in Colorado, and Puerto Rico. Plus we got to indulge our love for travel together by spending three months in Bolivia.
When we hit our 30s, we settled things down by getting "real" jobs in Seattle, WA and getting married on Orcas Island in 1999. After 6 years in Seattle, we moved to Bend, OR where we raised our two boys, adventuring in the mountains, rivers, and beaches of the western United States and northern Ontario, Canada.
Roger
Yosemite was a blast, and I ended my time there by climbing Half Dome up the regular route; 3 days of climbing in sunshine, hail, and snow! But alas, my time came to an end and I knew it was time to "grow up" and get a real job!
I followed Wendi up to Seattle where I spent the next seven years in two different teaching jobs, and it was formative to say the least. I taught for 3 years at an alternative high school on Bainbridge Island and 4 years at a private elementary and middle school on Vashon Island called The Harbour School. Here I blended my love for adventure and experiential education with traditional school, bringing the most powerful elements of those two models together.
We moved to Bend where I worked as teacher, and soon to be principal, in a brand new charter school.
Little did I know but this would quickly become my life's work. Realms Charter School went through name changes, facility changes, and many organizational changes through the years but one thing remained consistent... it was truly an awesome place to be, work and learn. We had an incredible staff who were committed to the mission of blending the best of experiential and traditional models of learning.
We had opened a high school and moved the middle school in, and were working on the integration of the two when the stroke hit. The school carried on, but my life changed in an instant.
Wendi
After leaving Yosemite Institute, I decided to return to school in Seattle for a second Bachelor’s degree, this time in nursing. I worked at Seattle Children's Hospital as a float nurse, Harborview Medical Center in a pediatric clinic, and Deschutes County Public Health as a home visiting nurse. I was also an Instructor at the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS.
After realizing that I liked the psycho-social side of caring for others way more than the clinical side, I decided to return to school once again to earn my Masters in Counseling. Upon graduation, I had the privilege of working at Central Oregon Community College for the next 14 years in a variety of roles. I taught courses such as College Success, Career Planning, Positive Psychology, Cultural Responsiveness in Health Sciences, and many more. I also worked in administration, facilitating outreach in a variety of programs: Health Careers, CTE, High School Partnerships, Teaching, and Diversity and Inclusion.
I had just started a new position as the Assistant Director of Career Development at Oregon State University - Cascades campus when Roger had his stroke in 2024. After just a few months in that position, I had to resign to begin my journey as a care partner on this crazy new path with Roger.
