I grew up in the small area of White City located in the center of Sandy, Ut. I started dance at the age of 3 with tap and ballet through the community education program. At 6 I advanced to gymnastics-which only lasted for one school semester. My family was at our state fair that summer when we saw a group of dancers perform and I told my mom "I want to do that too" {name that movie} Anywho, we spoke to the director and he got us in touch with the owner of a local studio. That fall I started clogging and did so for the next 12 years. In that time, I also did some jazz, modern (now called contemporary), and ballroom. I was one my high school's dance company for all three years I was there. While going through the craziness of performances and competitions, my mom was always there with her sewing machine-which was generally mocked until they needed her to help them with a popped seam or a loose hem.
After high school, I went off to college as an immature 17 year old on a dance scholarship in Ballet. I am not sure how I got that one since I didn't do any ballet since I was 5, but I ended up on BRE (Ballet Repertory Ensemble). Just before school began for the year, I met my hubby-well, he wasn't my hubby at the time, just another boy. We dated for two months and got engaged. Just after fall semester, I took a break from school to work on moving to Missouri to be a dancer for the Osmond family at their theater. After, a heart-to-heart with Merrill I made the decision to go back to school and my (future) hubby helped me get back in by enrolling into half of his classes that he had and the other half of classes he took the year before. Although, due to grades, I lost my scholarship and had to rely on student loans-remember the immature part of the story. After a summer of working odd jobs and seeing my (future) hubby every other second, I went back to college for my 2nd year (it was a Jr. college). I found a job at a clothing store and it didn't take me long to work up to the position of Part Time Manager. But, while I was doing this, I wasn't very productive when it came to school- did I mention I wasn't very mature for being 17-well 18 going on 19 by now. Two weeks after I was supposed to graduate, I got married to my (now) hubby. Neither one of us had a job and we were relying on the little savings we had and the money we got from our wedding. We were on our way to move to Cedar City to attend Southern Utah University when we got side-tracked and ended up in Spanish Fork, which is just south of Provo.
I got a job the following Wednesday while my hubby was painting our rented duplex (which is how we got the place above everyone on the waiting list). While I worked part time and supported the two of us (our rent was $250/month-for a 2 bedroom!) hubby was having a hard time finding anything. Cuz who hires someone with an Associates in Applied Sciences (aka: general ed). After 7 months of wedded
After a few years of trial and error through houses, moving a lot more, jobs and death of my older brother to suicide, we decided to start a family. Our daughter was born in Aug. 2000- five years after we married. She came at a very trying time in our lives. We were on the verge of losing everything: so we put our house up for a short sale, declared bankruptcy and moved into a 600 sq ft studio basement apartment. After she was 6 months old, we moved to another apartment and lived there for 2 1/2 years. While living there, we had our son in April 2003. He came much quicker than we had originally planned, but we were excited. I was more so, cuz he was HUGE 9lbs 11 oz and he made me waddle when I was only 4 months along. It was just prior to his 2nd birthday when we moved into our current home. We just celebrated 12 years of residence in Feb. 2017.
During these last 12 years, we have experienced ups and downs like we haven't in the past. An excess of money, almost losing our house while having to modify our mortgage, loss of jobs, change of jobs, being a SAHM to a working mom, our son in special ed for three years before being diagnosed with High Functioning Autism, working through the ups and downs of Autism while still trying to make our daughter feel as special as she should, realizing that I may no be able to have as many kids as I originally wanted but knowing that the ones I have are just right for me, and just recently losing my dad to a glioblastoma multiforme brain tumor (actually multiple tumors in the end). But, through it all, we have stuck by each other and maintained a deep and profound testimony of my Savior and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have also been able to push my boundaries to be someone that I didn't know that I was capable of being and met amazing men and women along the way. I am still in the learning process of my life, but I would like to think that I am more mature than that young 17 year old that went through a major culture shock by going to a Jr. College only 2 hours away from home. I know that each step of my life has been to make me the person that I am today. And, the only thing that really matters in the end is what I teach my children and how they are affected by it. So, with the Lord on my side, I know what my place is in the world and that my journey will be worth it. I hope you enjoy the journey with me.
