The History of Mark Bartels

:) Post some of my history?

Six days after graduation I left town, found a room in Kearney & started school there. Did that for a couple of years, and then I met this young lady at work one day, spring of '81, and things changed. We got married in December that year. I remember my folks being real surprised when I told them I was married... (heh, a little free spirited I guess...)

I spent the next five years working the kill floor in a packing plant near Minden, and the next five years driving a forklift at a printing company in Lincoln. In the early 90's, I picked up a job at a computer store in Lincoln doing PC & printer repair and I'd found a job I really loved. In '94 I got a call one day asking if I'd interview for a position at Gallup, which I did, and I've been with them ever since. I'm a network administrator there, and they've shipped me all over the place over the years. I completely filled up my last passport & had to have extra pages added to it. I don't go anywhere but China anymore. We have good admins internationally now that can handle things. The Chinese just like me a lot so they get me back once in awhile.

Had two daughters, one in '83 & one in '85. And a stepson who was part of the wife package. The younger daughter brought us a granddaughter in '06. Grandkids are wicked cool. I never knew I could love someone so much.

We became foster parents in '05. Our kids were grown & out of the house (most of the time), and we always talked about giving something back, for all the good fortune we'd been blessed with. Theresa suggested foster parenting, I agreed, and it's been very rewarding. There aren't enough foster homes, and we got our first two kids before we were even done with the training classes. They were teen sisters, and they're still with us (we became their permanent guardians last year). Since we had two teen girls already, all we've ever taken in were teen girls. We currently have five girls. We have a hard time saying no when they call to ask us if we'll take one in, and we have the room, so... It's been a lot of fun and we've made many new friends. Some of the girls who have moved on still stay in contact. It's really a neat experience and if any of you have considered becoming a foster parent & want to ask some questions, please shoot me an email - mcbenterprises@hotmail.com. I'll be more than happy to talk your leg off. There are a lot of kids that need a safe home & a positive influence. (I think this is the longest paragraph of my life. Sorry.)

That girl I met in '81 ... we'll celebrate 28 years this December. Don't know what I'd do without her. I got so lucky considering I got married as quick as I did. We enjoy the same stuff, suppose that's why we've made it. Old cars, husker football, & growing old together. We've been to three Orange Bowls, including the games we won for national championships against Miami & Tennessee.

If any of you are inclined to look at my ugly mug, I have a couple of public albums on a skydrive. This one has just a few random pics covering a few years:

http://cid-7c3dd97d695956e6.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Shared

This one has some recent pics of me. We bought a 2nd house summer of '08, finished the basement, let our kids rent it cheap. Building a big ol' garage out back so we have a place to store & work on our nostalgic cars:

http://cid-7c3dd97d695956e6.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Garage%20project

Best wishes to everyone. I really wanted to be there, but I have all kinds of material arriving August 27th & more September 3rd for that garage, and I just can't pass up the long weekend to work on that thing. That's a cheezy excuse. It bothers me to not be there. I'll be thinking of you, and looking forward to the pics.

I'm planning on next year being a relaxation year. I promise I'll be there for our 31st. - Mark

To view Marks photos just click on the links. Or you can see become Mark's friend on FACE BOOK and view his photos there. And Mark....WHAT ARE YOU THINKING....31ST YEAR REUNION???