My name is Maryann and I am 21 years old. I am married to a wonderful man named Mark. He both Active Duty Air Force members and I am separated from the Air Force because I got pregnant and we now have a beautiful boy, Petri. We met during training and fell in love. I have my own home, a quaint duplex on base, for the first time and have started cooking because I love experimenting. I started cooking when I was about 16 and love it! I haven't attempted yet, but I have always wanted to master all the wonderful Slovakian dishes that my grandma constantly made every time that I was with her. Also, I want to learn how to make Mexican food because my husband, being so, loves it! Otherwise I love baking and making gourmet foods. My whole life Christmas Eve dinner was a huge ordeal, with pierogies, the perfectly prpared ham, 3 soups, and many other things. I am looking forward to my first Christmas with Mark's family to pick up a few new traditions and to put in my own two cents worth of my childhood traditions. Also, Sunday morning breakfast was always a big thing in my house. When I was in 5th grade I baked my first cake from scratch, a carrot cake with homemade cream cheese frosting and even the orange and green food colored carrot designs. I made this for my hometown's Annual Harvest Fair. I placed first. I think I will always hold that as one of my triumphs. Also, my first meal in my new house: Chicken Cordon Bleu with Homemade White Wine Ranch salad dressing. A couple years ago I tried to make Shrimp Ceviche because I love it SOOO much. I don't know what went wrong. It looked wonderful but I think that I didn't let everything sit long enough before I served it because everything was still completely RAW. Not completely terrible but it just tasted like a salsa salad with lime juice!!!