Joey Dutton
Having been born and raised in Harrison, Arkansas, I spent my entire youth stomping around in the hills and valleys of the Ozark Mountains. This region didn't have much to offer in the way of Education and Opportunity when I was a kid, but it certainly had an endless amount of places to go and things to do.
My schooling was mostly at Valley Springs, then a short stint at Bergman, and finally graduation at Harrison High School in 1983. School sucked for the most part, but it did have a few bright spots and provide me with some life-long friends.
After graduation, I spent a couple of years partying and walking on the wild side. Branson, Missouri was our favorite party spot - long before anyone had even heard of Branson. It was kind of cool when about a decade later Branson started to become famous.
After my party phase, I briefly moved to Dallas, Texas to experience the "Big City" life. It didn't take very long for the new to wear off and for me to realize that City life had many, many reasons to not like it. So I finally decided to just pack up my stuff and move back to Arkansas.
It was a good time to live in Arkansas because things were beginning to change for the entire state - especially the northwest corner where I lived. Walmart was beginning to grow to monstrous proportions, and Governor Bill Clinton was flirting with the idea of becoming the president.
I had outgrown Harrison, though, and needed a bit more culture and opportunity. So my friend James Jordan and I loaded up our junky cars and moved to Fayetteville (1991). This college town and the whole region from Fort Smith to Bella Vista fit me like a glove. It is a nice blend of stuck-up liberal intellectuals, old hippies, rednecks, and normal everyday people. It didn't take long for Fayetteville to begin to feel like home. Ultimately, I remained living in northwest Arkansas for nearly 15 years. I consider Fayetteville to be my 'home'.
While in Fayetteville, I attended the University of Arkansas briefly, and then got a job working in local television. I spent the next decade or so working in various television studios around the area..
It was during those TV years that I also met Holly and began a relationship that has lasted over 12 years now. I also met Grant Patterson who would later find success in the Title industry and employ me in the business (that's what I'm doing now).
It was also during the TV years that I met Jim Gooing who became a best friend and later a best man at my wedding. I watched him grow from a dorky 13 year old kid to a responsible young man who could sell you just about anything he wanted you to buy.
Fayetteville was a good place to live, but in 2004, as Holly and I decided to get a little more serious about our relationship, I began to realize that meant I might end up moving to Houston. But with Cell phones, Internet, and a direct flights available between Houston and Northwest Arkansas, I figured it wouldn't be such a huge departure from my familiar stomping grounds. Plus, I was ready to try on a super-sized City life and Urban Adventure anyway. So on Christmas Day in 2006, while sitting on a bench in Lucerne, Switzerland, I popped the question to Holly. She said "Yes!" and my life was now headed in a different direction.
One year later, we're dragging our whole family out to Durango, Colorado to watch us get married. Both the Europe trip and the Colorado trip were wonderful and exciting. We both love to travel and bring back memories of experiences and good times. So we hope the Wedding was a memorable experience for everyone who attended.
As for the future, I may get back into television eventually. It's my first love as far as careers go, but I'm just going to take my time and adjust to life in the big city first. Right now, I'm enjoying my wife, my life in Houston, and my dog. Life is good. :)
Holly Sommer
I am a naturalized Texan and top of the food chain among my siblings.
Born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota and raised in Houston, Texas, my love
for travel was fueled early by annual holiday trips up north to see the
cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. My parents provided a highly
eclectic backdrop of support and encouragement, and as such I've gone
through a few different careers with varying degrees of success.
Speaking of my family: My dad, Gary, died from cancer in 1984. My Mom,
Jane, has been a homemaker most of her life, but started working a few
years ago. I have no idea how she raised 4 kids (ages 3 - 14) from 1984
onward. I'm the oldest, and #2 (aka "Jill" outside the family) is a year
younger, and lives in Kansas City with her husband Neil and her
11-year-old daughter Amber. #3 (aka "Todd") is freshly 30, and lives north
of Houston a little bit with his wife Tandy and their new son Tab. #4 (aka
"April") is 25, and lives in Los Angeles with her boyfriend Michael. #2
works in mortgage collections, #3 is a percussion instructor and also
plays in a band, and #4 works for a construction company as a project
engineer.
OK, so back to me :)
My first gig out of college (The University of Texas at Austin, 1992,
Bachelor of Journalism in Public Relations) was with a band called Trout
Fishing In America. In fact, they are the ones responsible for my
relocation to Arkansas in 1992 -- which is where I met Joey, lo so many
years ago! That job lasted about a year and a half, and then I bounced
around a little bit with jobs at kinko's in Fayetteville (ugh), as a
graduate teaching assistant at the University of Arkansas (life of
poverty) and Cargill (ugh, frozen hell with meat stuck to my jeans).
In 1995 I moved back to Texas, and started on my "second" career, this
time in IT. Stuck with that for 7 years, including the last 5 as a
long-time contractor at Texas Instruments. The IT bubble burst in 2002,
and so I did some soul-searching, and went back to college again (third
time, for those counting) and finished up a Bachelor of Business
Administration in Accounting and Management Information Systems, at Sam
Houston State University, which is about a 1.5 hour commute north of
Houston.
So, I am currently working at the 5th largest public accounting firm -
Grant Thornton - in auditing and assurance, and loving what I do. This
should last for a good long while.
Other stuff about me: obviously, travel is my #1 hobby -- I've been to
Europe, Hawaii, Alaska, Belize and Guatemala, and want to add More Of
Europe, Australia, New Zealand and parts of the Fiji area, along with
maybe Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, before I hit 40 (only about 4
years away!!)
My next big passion is a tie between baseball and music. I've been an
Astros fan since my dad took me to my first game at the Astrodome in
1979. I even had season tickets from 1999 until 2004. That's right, 5
years of season tickets, and I eventually gave them up for financial
purposes (poor college student) the first year they EVER make it to the
World Series. Doh! As for music, I play 4 instruments pretty well, and
about 5 or 6 others passably. I even have a tattoo on my left inner
wrist of a trebel clef, as a permanent testament to how important music
is, to me :)
In addition, I'm big on languages -- both human and programming. English
is no problem, and I found out while Joey and I were in Europe this past
winter, that my German and Italian is good enough to get around on,
without having to fall back on English :) I have dabbled in Chinese, but
that just wouldn't stick (completely and utterly foreign language). I
would like to learn Romansch, which has been described as "Italian with a
German accent." I've been pestering Joey to learn a language, too... maybe
French? Ooh-lah-lah :)
Those who know me well would probably describe me as loyal and funny,
with nearly-obssessive tendencies towards planning (as opposed to
spontaneity). Joey is working on me to ease up on that last part a bit :)
I can appreciate romance just fine, but would rather have fun than sit
around staring and sighing googly-eyed. Bathroom humor, The New Yankee
Workshop and monster truck rallies are also some rather unlady-like things
that make me giggle. I'm an outgoing type, but not a center-stage type...
definitely prefer a "supporting role", though I don't feel uncomfortable
leading, if I find myself in that position.
So, to those reading my write-up: thank you for reading the whole darned
thing. To those who didn't read down to here: bad dog! No biscuit!
Sincerely,
Holly Sommer
