 While in the House, she served as chair of the Governmental Operations and Veterans Affairs Committee during the 2005–2006 biennium, and was a member of the Capital Investment, Environment and Natural Resources, Health and Human Services, Redistricting, and Rules and Legislative Administration committees, and of various committee incorporations and subcommittees relevant to each.Tingelstad graduated from South Saint Paul High School in South Saint Paul, then went on to the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, earning her B.A.in Communications.