A Brief Bio
last updated 03/26/2006

Hi! By now, you are probably wondering who I am (either that or you know me already and are here because I asked you to come). This is the place to start. Unless you really don't care, in which case, you should go away and we will all feel better. So, for those of you who do care . . . An introduction is in order.

*ahem*

My name is Matthew Charles Rutherford and I am 31 years old. When I first wrote this, I was only 23. This page has been around in some form or another for a long time. I am the fourth of eight children and the first born male. My parents met while singing in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir (See more info here).

My siblings are (in order of appearance): Christina, Liz, Deb, then me, Heidi, Michael, Jon and Karyn. Michael has Down Syndrome, a seeming curse that has blessed my family considerably. We have a dog named Chiquita and a cat named Petticoat. Chiquita is blind and deaf and Petticoat has one mean temper. Update: both of my family pets have passed on after a long tenure on this earth (as far as pets go). Chiquita had to be over 20 and Petticoat was 19, if I remember correctly.

I was born in Heidelberg, West Germany (obviously, now just plain old unified Germany), but have lived the majority of my life in Arizona. I went to Eastern Arizona College, a nice but small school. I took a two year break from school to go on a mission for my church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints. I first served in the Rochester, NY mission, but then the mission split and I went to the Utica, New York mission for the remainder of my time. I eventually attended the University of Arizona and graduated with a degree in psychology and creative writing (call me a glutton for punishment).After graduating, I got married to Kari Olson (now Rutherford) and then spent nearly two years working as a case manager for the severely mentally ill, going through 3 different agencies. I liked the first one but it lost it's contract. The second company stunk to high heaven. The third one was just to pay the bills until we moved. Hated that one, too. We were glad to move, just so I could have an excuse to get out of that job.

Truthfully, getting married has been one of the greatest blessings of my life and I really love and appreciate my wife. What was I thinking, putting off marriage for so long? Well, I guess I had to find the right person, but still!

(Ok, Kari, you can stop twisting my arm, now!)

After Kari graduated, it was time to have a baby. Elijah Matthew Rutherford was born in 2002, in Tucson Arizona.Yes, I my eyes got teary when he was born. Honestly, I didn't know being a father could be so wonderful. Tiring, but great. Only one thing better than being a father, and that is being married to the wonderful mother of my boy. Oh, two months later, I got my braces off after 5 years and 8 months of torture, much of it caused by my bonehead of a first orthodontist. It was right after his birth that we moved to Orem, Utah, where we currently live with Kari's parents in an apartment on the side of their house. I currently work at Essential Science Publishing as a customer support supervisor (it's a small company, and apparently, they have low standards for supervisors, but I'm the only one, so they don't have much with whom to compare me. Oh, well.

Currently (Winter 2006) I am attending the University of Utah. I'm halfway through my three years program of spending money for a piece of paper that says I can cousel people for money. During my first semester, Kari had another baby, Allison Ella. She is absolutely beautiful. It has been an adjustment, having two children, but we sure love them.

Not much else to tell. Hmmm. I like to build and tinker with computers, listen to music, go on walks with Kari and the kids, read and do work on webpages. Every once in a while, I act like a writer. And I even occasionally update this webpage. But sadly, don't hold your breath. It sometimes takes a while.

Last Updated July. 27, 2004.