Cynthia Farrell was born in Park Ridge, IL on Jan. 22, 1973 to John and Mary. After a few years in Skokie, IL, her family moved to Cuba City, WI. After a short period there, they moved to Geneseo, IL, which is where her dad grew up. Cynthia graduated from J.D. Darnall Senior High in Geneseo in 1991. She then went to Luther College, where she participated in a number of activities, including being co-editor of the college newspaper, president of her sorority, and a member of the nationally renowned Nordic Choir. She graduated from Luther in 1995 with a degree in communication with a minor in music. After graduation she moved to the Twin Cities, and after a hard summer working retail and an internship, she got her first real job at Sylvan Prometric. A year and 4 months of dealing with Sylvan’s baloney was enough, and in Jan. 1997 she started her current job as a consultant, where she mainly does training development and delivery. Cynthia is an assistant leader with Girl Scout Troop 792 in St. Paul, and also sings in the choir at the Basilica of St. Mary, where she is a member. In her spare time (what spare time?) she loves to read, create dried floral arrangements, and rollerblade.

George Leistikow was born somewhere in Minnesota on Sept. 3, 1972 to Norm and Marty. He lived in various homes in Bloomington, MN throughout his life, and spent wonderful summers up at the family cabin on Skunk Lake outside of Park Rapids, MN. He graduated from Bloomington Jefferson High School in 1991, and followed the Leistikow family tradition of going to Luther. At Luther he played football the first three years, but quit his senior year to concentrate on his studies. (Right. The study of beer is the most accurate description.) He graduated in 1995 with a degree and license in elementary education. After a year of substitute teaching, he took at job at Petsmart as a specialty, and later core, manager. In Jan. 1998 he started his new job as a Level 5 EBD teacher for ISD #297 in New Hope, MN, which he loves. He is still working part-time at Petsmart, and also is taking classes towards his EBD license/graduate degree at the U of M. He also has no spare time, but enjoys reading, playing Sega football with his roommate, and going out for the occasional beer with the guys.

Together there are a bunch of things we try to do. We both love to cook, especially stir-fry, but also enjoy a good meal every once in a while at Axel’s River Grill in Mendota, MN. We also enjoy camping and hiking, and hope to find more opportunities to do that this summer. We also hope to head out to Glacier National Park in the summer of 1999. Most of the rest of our time is spent taking care of our 2 ferrets, 2 parakeets, and 3 fish tanks.