Creative surroundings

I'm 19 and married. I moved to Colorado last year, and before that I've lived in Nebraska, Georgia and Indiana. My husband and our friends are musicians, and as a painter, I like living around other artists. It keeps me creative.

Most recently I worked for Toys R Us until they closed down. It was bizarre to see the place so empty. Lots of our coworkers were bummed that they were losing their jobs, but that's what we signed up for!

You wouldn't know it from looking at me, but I'm pretty athletic. I love tae kwon do. I got kicked out of lacrosse in middle school for being too rough.

Eastern faith

My parents were both atheists, but they baptized me in the Presbyterian church. That faith never really spoke to me, though. Buddhism really clicks with me. I practice the holidays and go to temple.

I was going through a tough time in my life while I was living in Lincoln, Nebraska, and at the time a lot of my friends were Vietnamese — Lincoln has a large Vietnamese population. They introduced me to Buddhism — at first I went to temple for the free food.

The message really made sense to me. It was so simple: don't steal, don't sexually harass people, don't be a jerk.

I love the holidays. New Year's is my favorite because of the lion dancers. We had lion dancers at our wedding.

Energy lives on

My mom is suffering a terminal illness, including a brain tumor, and she called recently and said that her condition is improving. She's not necessarily out of the woods, though.

Buddhism says that energy doesn't die, and that's helped get it through my head that death isn't always a bad thing. If you remember a person who died, they're not completely gone. They live on in your heart.

If you have suggestions for My Name Is, please contact David Gilbert at dgilbert@coloradocommunitymedia.com.