Hi, I'm Elyse and this picture was just taken about a month ago at my niece's baby shower. As I'm typing this, my cat Cassie is sitting next to me on the sofa. I'm a nurse... I started my first position as a staff nurse 26 years ago on June first. Right now I am working in the quality services department at one of the local hospitals. I look at medical records to evaluate patient outcomes, see what went well and where we can improve. It's a detail-oriented position and I'm a low-key, introverted detail person, so it is a great job for me. I sing in church choir, which is a joy most of the year. At Christmas and during Holy Week, like most people involved in church music, I get a little stressed! I live in the southwest suburbs of Chicago. I'm the one who often lights a candle on the Pet Talk gratefulness.org candle page with the message: "Dear God, thank You for all of the very special people, dogs, cats and pets of Pet Talk!" Because I am very thankful for the Pet Talk Community!

p.s., my hair is a little shorter in this picture than in the one on my facebook page. I am happy with the length as it is in this picture. You can't tell from this photo but I got a really terrific haircut a couple of days before this photo was taken.