Meet Kendall Oberto

My name is Kendall Nellis Oberto

• I grew up in and around Chicago.  I have been a resident of Colorado for 26 years but am still considered a transplant by the true Colorado natives.
• An only child, I have always been fiercely independent and achievement oriented.  As a 10 year old, when my mom asked me to scrape up some old newspapers to pack boxes, I got on a city bus and took myself off to the Chicago Tribune corporate office on Michigan Avenue.  Much to my dismay, they were not able to provide me back issues and I came home to a very worried Mom, defeatedly empty handed.
• I use my maiden name (Nellis) because my parents didn’t give me a middle name. This led to one of my favorite nicknames penned by our fearless leader Elizabeth, Kendall NMN (Kendall No Middle Name).
• My school life was diverse and full of adventure.  I attended suburban public schools, city private schools including the great Latin School of Chicago, a private boarding school in small town Wisconsin, and even a Catholic school (I am not a Catholic) where my two best friends were Jewish and Muslim.  All this before my very ordinary college career at University of Illinois.
• I spent my professional life as a Project Management Professional primarily for the Hewlett-Packard Company and then for a lovely family owned internet services company.  I have been blissfully retired from my paid career for several years and now use my well developed organizational skills to coordinate fun events.
• My lifelong love of cooking began as a way to spend time with my parents, primarily my father who was an intrepid foodie.  To be a good cook requires some basic skills, good preparation, ability to read a recipe and reason whether it will be good, and use of just a little creativity to make what is good…great.
• In 2017, I took control of my health, adopted a low carb eating plan, and lost 60 pounds.  I have kept most of it off and now live a very active lifestyle that includes weight training, aerobics, hiking, biking, yoga and more.
• After caring for my dear mother-in-law and spectacular aunt at the end of their lives, I developed a real passion for assisting seniors.  I volunteer two days a week driving and delivering groceries to seniors and have met some wonderful friends in the process.  
• I consider myself an old soul.  If I weren’t such an assertive woman, I would have made a great 50s wife.  The best compliment I have ever received was out of the mouth of a seven-year-old friend who said to me, “wow Mrs. Oberto, you must have gotten an A in Home”.
• Like all my friends at HOB, I love a new challenge.  A few of the things I have tried recently include freestyle step aerobics (despite having no rhythm), zip lining, and playing mahjong. I started golf lessons just a couple years ago and am very nearly able to play a passable round.
• I love to express my love with food and I entertain regularly.  In addition to countless parties with friends, I host family dinner for my two boys and their friends every Sunday evening.  I always cook for 12, sometimes I run out, sometimes there are lots of leftovers.
• I am addicted to audiobooks and can rarely be seen alone without my headphones in my ears as I listen to books when I do nearly every other activity.
• The great loves of my life are my husband of 26 years, my two twenty-something sons, and my two pups, Clifford and Cooper.  I am blessed to have the best, most supportive friends any woman could have.