"Our favorite part of the neighborhood is living on our cul-de-sac with our awesome neighbors,” says Brooke Neff, “and our block looks like a picture out of a Norman Rockwell collection. The street is full of kids playing outside each day after school.”

 

Brooke shares her son, Behr, with her wife, Ami Neff. Behr, six, is a Kindergarten student at Northlake Elementary (NLE), and dogs Razz (13) and Hud (2) currently complete the family – although baby River Neff is due in July!

 

A Certified Personal Trainer (CPT), Brooke is the owner of BNFIT LLC - her passion for fitness began as a young athlete - she played as an NCAA Division 1 Basketball student athlete at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. Ami is the Vice President of Vendor Management for Pat Neff & Associates, a Regional Mortgage Field Servicing Company that has been in business for over 36 years. Both Ami and Brooke used to be high school teachers and coaches - “I taught Forensic Science, while Ami taught English,” Brooke explains, “and of course, we both coached basketball!

 

While Behr loves all sports - he currently plays basketball, flag football, and baseball - Brooke and Ami like to play sports and workout together. “We have played in adult soccer and basketball leagues and have competed in Camp Gladiator (CG) Games multiple times,” Brooke enthuses “we have even qualified for the CG finals in Austin, Texas. Since have three CPTs in our family who train outdoor group fitness, Pilates, cycle, and yoga, we always have a fun place to catch a workout!”

 

Brooke and Ami are members of the Northlake Elementary PTA - Ami is the ‘Hoops in the Highlands’ committee chair (an annual 3 vs 3 basketball tournament for kindergarten-8th grade kids with a mission to raise money for schools in Lake Highlands) while Brooke is the room parent for Behr's Kindergarten class. They both volunteer coach basketball for Spring Valley Athletic Association (SVAA), YMCA, and ‘Hoops in the Highlands.’ “We admire our neighborhood's commitment to NLE - an amazing parent group volunteers for this neighborhood gem with the best administration, faculty, staff, and PTA!” Brooke says.

 

“There’s never an afternoon that we don’t get a knock on our door with a neighbor asking if Behr can play,” Brooke continues, "and this makes Ami and I feel nostalgic about our own childhoods and blessed that our child has built-in neighbor friends.” On school days, the neighbors meet in the alley to walk to and from NLE. The block celebrates holidays together: Christmas with porch gifts, Easter with a neighborhood egg hunt and breakfast, and the Halloween block party and Trick or Treating. Local ‘cookie queen,’ Sarah Matthiesen of The Cookie House, never hesitates to offer the block her ‘extras’.

 

“Many of our neighbors moved to our street during 2020 with school-aged children, but some of our neighbors have lived on the street for decades and their grandkids play with our kids,” Brooke concludes, “we are like one big block family!”

PULL QUOTE:

"Our favorite part of the neighborhood is living on our cul-de-sac with our awesome neighbors!"