The picture at the left was taken in 1963 when I was about 3-1/2. What a cute, sweet, quiet, young child, right? Well, maybe not. Even as a child, I was on the go. By the time I was two, my parents had to start using a "leash" to keep me from disappearing. We have video of me at age two trying to jump off the Grand Canyon. I'll post the video clips another time. By the time I was five, it was clear that I wasn't like other children. This is evident in my kindergarten graduation photo. I'm the one in the center of the picture with more important things on my mind than looking at the photographer.

 

 

We moved a lot when I was little. I lived in Iowa, California, Mississippi, Arizona, Utah, Kentucky, and New York in my first 10 years. I've always loved holidays. In the picture on the left, my sister Allison and I decorated pumpkins for Halloween in 1968 when we were living in West Branch, Iowa.

 

I graduated from Urbandale (Iowa) High School my junior year. I went to two proms with high school sweetheart and first husband, Jerry.

 

My college years at Iowa State University were filled with ISU sports, parties, and of course serious studies (?).

I have two sisters. Allison, my younger sister, married Ed King in 2003. She works for American Airlines in Tucson, Arizona in customer service and also does training and development. Allison loves the movies. Check out her web page at Allison's Movie Reviews.

Arrion, my youngest sister, married Ben Rathsack in 2001. She is the Director of MBA Admissions at Southern Methodist University in the Cox School of Business.

Bill and Nancy Smith, my parents, enjoy genealogy, sports, travel, reading, and writing. Mom runs the Vision to Action Publishing business. Dad's a business professor at Emporia State University.

We all like to travel, so we try to meet during the year at different locations. Mom and dad live in Emporia Kansas, so we sometimes meet in Branson where we also own a cabin, Missouri for weekends of shopping and shows. Mom sometimes meets me at conferences.

Even though Larry was born in the south (Arkansas) and Annette was born in the north (Iowa), we've found common ground. We got married April 15, 1995 in Eureka Springs Arkansas at the Thorncrown Chapel. We enjoyed a small wedding with cake and a couple slow dances.

 

Along with a new marriage, I was also blessed with three great step-children: Brooke, Blake, and Benjamin. For more family information, check out our Family Page.

 

The day after the wedding we went to the Bobby Vinton show in Branson, Missouri. Bobby sang to us as we danced in the aisle. It was too cool.

 

 

Then, we were off to New Zealand and Australia for our honeymoon. We lived happily ever after in our little log home in the rolling hills of Southern Indiana .....!

 

.... until we bought our 38' Holiday Rambler Endeaver RV. In 1999 we sold our home and we're roaming the country in Harvey the RV. Follow us on our Mobile Mavericks page. For current adventures, check the Annette and Larry page.