3 years old. That's when it all began. I distinctly remember lying on the floor next to a boombox, trying my best at making my voice sound like Michael Jackson on a cassette tape of the Thriller album. Not sure if I really ever got that impression down, but it was the beginning of my journey in singing and love for music. 

Fast forward 11 years, and there I was, a presumptuous 14 year old, barely sure of what I believed or who I was, leading worship in my church youth group. Regardless of what my questionable motives were at that time, I can tell you this for certain...it was during the corporate experience of worship that I really got a taste of the power and love of God, and that experience forever changed me. It's crazy to say (because it makes me sound SO old), I began leading worship 20 years ago and knew from the start that it would be my life's work and passion. I know from my own experience just how powerful it can be to connect with God in a fresh way in worship and really feel honored to be able to help guide this process. 

I developed a love for songwriting as well, and in 2011, my husband, Micah, and I released Sharpened In Time, our first album together. These are songs about life, God, marriage, struggle, and what it looks like to love. Whether it's in the context of corporate worship, or in sharing original songs, I feel that music can have a way of speaking to people like nothing else. Currently writing for album #2!

To take my story back again...I was born and raised in Alabama -  the Deep South - to a fairly recently immigrated Persian dad and a Southern, Christian hippy mom. If that all sounds like an interesting and unexpected combination of factors to you, well, it was...and I was a fairly odd child for quite some years. However, my childhood was filled with hours and hours of climbing trees in the woods, loud multi-family dance parties, lots of really good food...and MUSIC. Music was always happening in my house. Sometimes it was the intricate rhythms and melodies of traditional Persian music flowing from the kitchen while my dad cooked...other times, it was Vineyard worship blasting from my mom's prayer room or being used as a means to wake up the entire household. By default of living in the deep south, I became well versed in country and rap and all the church songs, and from my own bedroom, at varying phases of adolescence, one could hear the sounds of Michael Jackson (obviously), Whitney Houston, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, Stevie Wonder, The Cranberries, Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Sara Groves, some emo bands you've probably never heard of, POD, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Lauryn Hill, India Arie, and Enter The Worship Circle...just to name a few. All of these different styles and early experiences have fueled my love for music, as well as shaped my own personal style and approach. 

We're brand spankin' new in the Seattle area and are getting used to life in the PNW. So far, it's pretty cool. We have 3 little kiddos {Violet, Judah, and Olive} that keep us on our toes and entertained. Life is good.