Noreen grew up in a rural area of Washington state near the town of Colville. At the age of 18, driven by her interest in architecture, she left the Colville area to attend Washington State University for her Freshman year. She later relocated to Spokane to attend Spokane Falls Community College. During her Sophomore year, struggling to balance an increasingly demanding personal life with the rigors of academia, she set her education aside in 1997 to join the United States Air Force. Serving primarily at Dover AFB in Dover, Delaware through 2001, her military career ended with an honorable discharge.[1]