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Ingrid "Ally" Throgmartin
Most of you know her as Ingrid, but when she arrived in the USA, I gave her the pet name of " Ally " and since then it is all I call her. Even the kid's call her Ally now but she remains Ingrid to most others. Ally and I met through a friend on the internet by accident. We didn't meet on an internet date site or in a chat room but by pure coincidence. I wont go into all the details as its a long story, but for it to ever happen, the planets had to be aligned just right and the timing had to be just perfect. The long of the short story was that she was trying to reach her girlfriend Chrissy using a messenger program and by accident she messaged me instead. 10,000 miles away and brand new to computers, she didn't know what she did and neither did I. But it happened and the rest is history. After corresponding for several months, I flew to Australia to meet her and her family and we toured New South Wales together enjoying each others company as well as the scenery in Australia. In April of 1998, Ally finished her Masters degree and after graduation came to the United States. Faced with the expiration of her VISA in the US, we married in June and she has stayed here with me by my side ever since, eventually becoming a permanent US resident. She was born and raised in Sydney by two wonderful Dutch immigrant parents and was brought up in a household that spoke both languages ( English and Dutch ). To this day, Ally is bilingual and reads' writes and speaks the Dutch language very well. She has two older brothers Con and John and one younger sister Veronica. Her mother now lives in the northern coastal area of New South Wales near her sister and brother. ( Her father passed away in 1993 ). The entire family are some of the greatest people you will ever want to meet. True to the Dutch tradition, they are all friendly, tolerant and extremely hospitable. They have accepted me, a "Yankee" Born American into the family with an abundance of love and respect. I could never find any better in-laws then the Balsters family. Honest, loyal, trustworthy and filled with love, they are a made to order family that I have grown extremely close to. Their love and support has helped weather some bad storms in my life and with Ally and her family by my side, a man simply cannot ask for much more. Ally is well educated and very well traveled. She has lived in England as well as the Netherlands ( where she still has many cousins ) and has traveled Europe and has a very good understanding of different cultures as well as languages. She currently holds a bachelors degree from the University of Sydney with dual majors in Analytical Chemistry and Applied Mathematics and a Masters Degree from the University of New England, Armidale, Australia in Math Education. She currently is the head of the Math Department at a Private Catholic High School in Florida where she works doing what she loves best, teaching kids.
Music Ally has this unique talent to be able to pick up any instrument and be able to play it. But she seems to excel the most on the piano and with her classical guitar. There is nothing she loves more then sitting around playing and singing. She also plays the sax, clarinet and her mother recently purchased a stage piano for her. She also has an amazing voice and loves singing harmonies as a back up vocalist as well as a soloist. One of her dreams has always been to be an on stage singer/performer. Sewing What can I say, Ally loves to sew. As soon as she landed in the United States, her first request was for a quality sewing machine and a surger. Once she got them, away she went. At our home she has her " own room " that is filled with all of her tools of the trade. Her sewing room also doubles as her art studio where she spends countless hours in her " own space " away from me, the dog's and the world in general. Its her own little world inside this room and she creates some wonderful and amazing projects. Her sewing I would say is above average as she has made several wedding dresses, brides maids gowns not to mention evening gowns and other ladies fashions.
Artistic Abilities One of Ally's favorite pastimes is to paint. She does wonderful work in oil's, watercolors and acrylics. Besides painting pictures, she also loves painting on objects such as washed river stone or small rocks gathered from beaches or the mountains. Some of the very fine details of lighthouse scenery and oceans can be found in her work. Below are three of my all time favorite paintings, one of which she did especially for me of the pelican. I have a love for that gooney bird and during one of our vacations to the beaches of Cape Fear, she captured a pose of one for me and painted it using watercolors.
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