Cheryl and Mark
Hi, we’re Cheryl and Mark. Thanks for taking the time to learn a little bit about us.
Our lives are filled with laughter and adventure, friends and family, a dog who thinks he’s a person, and a cat who thinks he’s a dog. Our dog Tazzie is a big goofball and is obsessed with socks—he will steal them right off your feet! Tazzie is great with kids and loves nothing more than being in the middle of the action. Our cat Branicky is a little…shall we say…”quirky”. He likes to raid the laundry basket and drag dirty clothes all around the house, especially when we have company over.
Cheryl has always loved kids and used to work as a nanny and preschool teacher. She also taught children’s theatre classes and made all the sets and costumes herself. Now she works for an online travel company. She loves to travel and is always planning the next big trip (usually to someplace sunny). Mark started his career as an architect, but now he works in the software industry. He also loves to travel, but while Cheryl spends weeks planning a trip (and three days packing), he is more likely to throw clothes in a bag at the last minute and figure it out along the way.
Mark describes Cheryl as creative, compassionate, and adventurous, but she’ll get cold if the temperature drops below 70 degrees! She loves anything to do with Hollywood, movies, or bad reality shows. She likes to learn new things, snorkel, write, and has a reputation for “trimming” plants in the garden down to a stub. She is looking forward to becoming a stay-at-home mom and reading bedtime stories, creating messy art projects, and helping with homework.
Cheryl describes Mark as patient, kind, and easy-going. He’s always starting (but not always finishing) some new home improvement project. Cheryl thinks he makes up projects just so he can buy new tools. (Mark’s never met a power tool he didn’t “need”.) He’s looking forward to having a helper to hold the tape measure. In his spare time, he enjoys music, sports, skiing, cooking, and figuring out new places to hide his chocolate stash.
Our greatest joy is spending time together as a family. We were best friends from the moment we met 11 years ago and were married in 2005. We live in a family-oriented community, with good schools and parks, in a house with a fenced yard. Everyone always ends up at our house for cookouts, family dinners, or playing video games. Summers usually find us on a boat, exploring little coastal towns, crabbing with friends, or sampling new flavors of ice cream. Winters will find us playing in the snow with Tazzie or heading to the sun—snorkeling in Hawaii or collecting seashells in Mexico.
Celebrating holidays is big in our house. Cheryl’s birthday is on Halloween, so carving pumpkins is an annual event with friends. At Christmas, we like to have family or friends over to decorate the tree or make gingerbread houses. Fourth of July is spent at Mark’s parents’ house on the water. We catch crabs, comb the beach for clams, and BBQ up the catch before watching the fireworks with our niece and nephew.
Our niece and nephew are an important part of our lives. We take them out for a “special day” every month—going to a play, the zoo, a museum, or the beach. They are really looking forward to having a new little cousin to play with!
We’re excited about becoming parents. We’re eager to expose a child to the world and all that life has to offer. We look forward to developing an open and honest relationship with a birth family, and welcome them into our extended family.
Cheryl & Mark