I joined CBS 11 News in October 2005, as the station's Senior Reporter, and you can find me most nights at 10:00. Even though I was hired to cover crime and court stories, I guess you could say my first story determined my future.

It was the day Governor Murkowski fired DNR Commissioner Tom Irwin, followed by the utter shakeup in the Resource Department. Having just arrived from the Midwest, and having no real history covering politics, the history unfolding before my eyes was a bit overwhelming. I guess I did an OK job, because I kept getting tapped to do political stories.

Today I've sort of become an Alaskan political news junkie, and cover KTVA's political beat. I guess that's a good thing, since I've now had the privilege to cover pretty much everything political: from the 4th Avenue Theater, to every legislative session and election in between. I've had a lot to learn in my short tenure here. But I think it's so important to avoid political jargon, and just get right down to why all this stuff is so important.

I grew up in a Birmingham, Alabama suburb called Mountain Brook. I was lucky enough from about the time I was in 4th grade, until I graduated high school, to host school TV News shows. During my junior year at Mountain Brook I was accepted into the work-study program where I spent the next two years interning with WVTM-TV, Birmingham's NBC affiliate.

Then it was off to college. I know I received my journalism degree from the best school in the world - The University of Missouri, Columbia, where I also minored in history. All four college years I spent working for KOMU-TV, Columbia's NBC affiliate.

Thanks to the help of so many mentors, by my senior year I had worked my way up to KOMU's Senior Investigative Reporter/ Weekend Anchor. I'm also proud to say I helped create that station's investigative unit that's still around today.

My proudest accomplishment, however, came in 2004. That is when Warwick Communications honored me with a Broadcast Journalism Excellence Award, based on my testicular cancer series. When I had my scare the summer before my senior college year, and found out this cancer form is the number one cancer-killer of young men 15-35, I knew I had to educate folks.

While the award is flattering, my greatest career accomplishment was getting word from a man who saw my series, discovered cancer early and possibly saved his life. Encourage any man you care about to do a self-check every month, as that's one of the only ways to prevent this cancer form.

When I graduated college I wanted to be closer to my family, so I accepted a reporter position with WSFA-TV, Montgomery, Alabama's NBC affiliate. From there I moved to KAKE-TV, Wichita, Kansas's ABC station, where I covered everything from chasing tornados to the BTK Serial Killer.

Needles to say, after a whirlwind year in Wichita, I was ready for something calmer and more peaceful. That's when I came across the opportunity to become a KTVA family member. I'm very proud of our station mission to do quality news stories that truly matter and make a difference to Alaskans, along with the community service we try to provide as often as we can.

While I will always be an Alabamian at heart, I'm proud to now call myself an Alaskan, and welcome any e-mails just to say, hi, or with a story idea. In my free time, you'll find me hanging out with the tremendous group of friends I've made up here; watching movies; playing board games; enjoying Alaska's amazing great seafood and restaurants; trying not to miss a Cold Case or Law and Order episode; rooting for Alabama and Missouri sports teams; truly racking up way too many cell phone minutes keeping up with my family and friends scattered across the Lower 48 and, of course, watching the news.