We are the Tierney family, currently residing in
picturesque Chaska, Minnesota. Chaska can be
seen in the 1999 sleeper hit Drop Dead Gorgeous, starring
Kirsten Dunst, Kirstie Alley, and Denise Richards. Many
of the scenes were filmed in and around the city, and at
the end one of the contenstants goes on to attend the
Chaska School of Beauty (which doesn't really exist, by
the way)!
Chaska is also mentioned in the 1996 Steve Buscemi breakout
film Fargo. In Fargo, one of the
prostitutes is from Chaska. Isn't that sweet? And, to
top it off, Chaska was one of the filming locations for
the 2005 film Factotum. With a cast headed
up by Matt Dillon (and including Lili Taylor, Fisher
Stevens - best known as Number 5's creator in
Short Circuit and
Short Circuit 2, and the
spectacularly under-talented Marissa Tomei), Tom and I
were wondering how on Earth we missed this one. We need
to rent it.
Minnesota is a nice place to raise children, but it's damn
cold in the winter, and it's too damn far from our
families. I prefer Texas, and Tom, not surprisingly, would
prefer to live in Ohio. I doubt we'll ever get to either
place, so it's either here, or, if I am very, very lucky,
Atlanta.
Tom and Katie (Carty) Tierney met in 1997 in Boston. Tom
was working for OneWave, and Katie was working for Forte
Software (may it rest in peace at the bottom of Sun
Microsystem's competition eating incinerator). Both
companies were lucky enough to be contracted with Baker Oil
Tools to help develop a product to manage service quotes.
OneWave provided the labor, and Forte provided the software
(and, according to Tom, one foxy consultant to go with it).
22 hour days took their toll on Tom, and Katie was able to
not only get him to go to dinner with her, but also
convince him that she was the person he wanted to marry.
So, 10 weeks after the first date, Tom proposed at a New
Year's Eve party in Houston. It was very romantic and very,
very sweet.
Eighteen months later, Tom and Katie were married in
Holy Rosary Church in Houston,
Texas. Nineteen months after that, we welcomed Emma
Jane. Eighteen months later, we got Patrick Joseph.
Another fourteen months passed, and we welcomed
another child - this time it was Grace Anne. And,
right now, a little less than two-and-a-half years
after Gracie's birth, we're getting ready to welcome
Little Tierney Number 4. Four kids in five years.
We're quite proud. :)
Both of us were very lucky to have had the opportunity to
attend some of the best universities in the United States:
Tom attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) in Cambridge, MA, and Katie attended Texas A&M University (WHOOP!) in
College Station, Texas. Neither university has ever
won a National Championship in football, though.
Anyway, that's a little background on us. Enjoy!