Born: Kansas City, Kan. Grew up in Tonganoxie.

Family: Husband, Daryn; sons, Devyn, 10, and Gavin, 7; and daughter, Jaiden, 1.

Occupation: Certified public accountant at Kramer and Associates.

Dream job as a child: Pilot. Splichal spent one year at Kansas State University-Salina studying to become a professional pilot.

Digging deeper: A 1993 Tonganoxie High School graduate, Splichal found that the job market for professional pilots wasn’t vibrant, so she went into accounting. As part of the pilot program, she took some business classes, which steered her toward accounting.

She attended Fort Hays State University before eventually earning undergraduate and graduate degrees in accounting from the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas.

“I followed a guy,” Splichal joked.

She met Daryn, who graduated from FHSU. A radiologic technologist, he found work in Texas, so the couple moved south. They met when she was in Salina and he in Hays through mutual friends.

Splichal also took classes at Kansas City Kansas and Dodge City community colleges, as well as Grayson County CC in Sherman, Texas.

Splichal always had to commute to earn her UNT degrees. The couple lived in Sherman and Weatherford while living in the Lone Star State. Both were about an hour’s drive from Denton in different directions.

Though she doesn’t have much spare time, Splichal does have a few hobbies.

“I like to build things,” she said. “I’m not good at it. And I like to scrapbook, but I never have time for it.”

Splichal also favors puzzles. She likes to put together jigsaw puzzles — 1,000-piece puzzles have been her largest.

“I think in order to auditing and accounting, it’s good to like puzzles, because it’s a big puzzle,” she said, referring to completing audits.

Splichal specializes in government entities, construction companies and nonprofit organizations.