This is life

So I finally decided to get my own blog for my friends and family to keep an eye on me. Let me start out by introducing myself. Hi, My Name is Vicki. I grew up in Woodland California where I spend most of my time in the Woodland High School Theatre Department. After High School I moved to Utah for a little while, but eventually moved back to Woodland. Then I met this guy whom I thought was amazing via an aol chatroom. He lived in Orange County so I foolishly took a gamble and moved to the O.C. That's where my life took an uncharted road. It turns out that this guy was an irresponsible jerk so after only 3 months I found myself back at my moms in Woodland and 2 months pregnant.

It was a very rocky 9 months. The emotional roller coaster I was on was so intense, my happiness and depression would change in an instant. I didn't know what was going to happen. One day I would get love letters and then the next something more on the lines of and I quote "I want to be there for my child, just not there for you." Fortunately for me I had tons and tons of supportive friends and family that got me through those breaking dishes, slapping siblings, very hard 9 months. I am so grateful for there help and support even though there were times I was out of control.

Rounding the end of the coaster it was finally decided that this guy was really gonna be there when this baby was born, but after being released from his so called "prison" was off like a dirty shirt and no where to be found. That was pretty much the end of that roller coaster. I think I might try out a nice merry go round.

My sister, who abandoned me as well and move to Utah my senior year in High School, had won the heart of a few boys in her school but particularly one boy. This boy, lets just call him Brandon, had a crush I guess you could say on my sister. I think it was one of those things where the boy would do anything for you at the drop of the hat just to be with you kind of thing. They ended up going to the Senior Prom together, only as friends of course since Brandon's best friend happen to be my sisters current boyfriend. Don't ask me, that's my sisters story.

We drove to Utah for Kari's high school graduation and although they were in the band together, I never met Brandon. Then not even a week later, Kari came home, To Woodland Ca that is for a visit. She brought along a few friends for there little we graduate trip. Brandon was one those friends. You would think that I living there in my mothers house would in fact have no choice but to meet this boy as is was we were staying in the same household, but the day before they got here, I had abandoned my sister and took my other little sister, Cristina who was about 8 at the time on her very first trip to Disneyland. This was not only a trip to Disneyland, but also an excuse to go visit the irresponsible jerk that I have left only a few weeks earlier in "The O.C." So on this second occasion I did not meet this boy either.

After my roller coaster ending 6 months later, I was finally beginning to understand that I, was going to be a single mother. Kari who still lived in Utah came home to be there with me when I delivered the baby. But she had to get here some how and didn't have a car so her friend, who just wanted to spend time with her I guess, dropped everything and drove her to California. We all now at that time I was not going anywhere so I did in fact meet Brandon. He was a nice boy, not a looker in my eyes at the time, but what did I care. During those last weeks of waiting for this baby to come out we hung out alot. He pretty much did whatever I needed. If I said go get me bagels and pickles in the middle of the night, he did it. This was fun. I didn't have this before so I was going to take advantage of it. We even joked with him, in our impatience that a certain act, would induce labor and we needed a willing participant. With Kari and Brandon there with me those last few days, I was not depressed and lonely anymore. I needed the laughter that they brought with them.

We had gotten word that our Grandpa, who lived in Utah was nearing the end of his life and that any day, we would have to drive to Utah for his funeral. We couldn't wait any longer, I had to get this baby out. I went in for a visit and told the midwife of the dilemma we were facing and she thankfully said that I could come in the next morning and be induced. Hooray, I was not going to be pregnant anymore. That night I could not sleep at all. Labor had been my worst fear ever since the 5th grade when they taught us about the birds and the bees. I couldn't get past the fear. Truthfully I resented it because of my circumstances with it's father.

Morning came and we arrived at the hospital at 7 am and got situated in a birthing room. At 8 am the midwife came in and broke my water. She said that if I wasn't doing anything by 11 am she would give me the pit. Whitney was born at 10:59 am. In the mid afternoon, after passing out once on toilet and once in a wheelchair back from the toilet, Kari announced that she had to leave to go back to Utah. My #1 support was leaving me again!! For some strange reason I was more distraught over Brandon leaving me, then my own sister. I hugged them both and then they were gone.

Only a few weeks after did we leave for Utah. This time, I had a friend for the ride. I was so excited about this friend. I had grown up with her and we were like peas and carrots...wait that is not a good analogy. More like pancakes and sryup. Then our parents decided to rip us apart and we moved far far away. She was in beauty school and I wanted my hair dyed blonde so we took a crack at it and got umm...orange instead. Everyone loved that, especially my grandma who wanted a picture of our 5 generations, since I had the first grand child. It was awesome to have Jackie in the car with me for that trip but sad why we took it in the first place.

Now, back to Brandon. He lived in Northern Utah and the Funeral was in the very most South of Utah. About a 5 hour drive. He knew that we were going to be in Utah however and decided that he was going to skip work for a few days and drive the 5 hours to see us. That is the baby and I. Kari lived in Southern Utah already because she was attending to my grandfather for a while and was living in St. George at Dixie College at the time. This is the experience that change everything.

He arrived at my grandmas house very early in the morning. Not wanting to wake anyone up, he slept outside in his car. In the middle of winter. When someone discovered him in his car they knocked on the window and ask him what he was doing. I don't know all the details about that but I do know that Kari was furious and embarrased that this boy who everyone said was whooped on her, drove all the way to Southern Utah to attend a funeral of someone he never met. But they all welcomed him with open arms anyway.

On the night after the funeral my father decided to get a motel room and sleep instead of drive back to California in the middle of the night. They didn't want Brandon to drive all night either so offered for him to stay in the room where the boys, Justin, and Shawn were sleeping. I was to sleep in the room next door but being 20 years old, I wasn't about to sleep with mommy and daddy so I snuck over to the room next door.

Brandon and I talked all night until we eventually fell asleep with 2 week old Whitney right in between us. He admits to me that he would try to hold my hand during the night like boys did in elementary school, but I don't think he ever got the courage to do it. It was the coolest feeling ever. I left the next day with this feeling I had never felt before. A connection that felt so intense, I knew that everything after that night was going to be alright.

Once back to our homes, Brandon and I started to email eachother 3 times a day. We even made im dates and just chatted, or typed back and forth to eachother. We were dating as you could say, only we were using the internet as our movie theatre.
We had good conversations and it was through those conversations that I realized I loved this boy. It is so much easier to express yourself in letters then talking and especially for boys. He had given up on my super cute sister and moved to me. Thats how it always was though so I was used to it. Kari has the most awesome personality. Its hard to not love her.

I wanted to take Whitney to Orange County that the jerks family could see her and I very well could have taken a bus, but Brandon drove 10 hours from Utah only to drive 8 hours to Southern California to take me there. Brandon, Ricci, who was my rock until Brandon came along, and I set out for Southern Cali. It was a fun trip and lets just say, only brought us closer, but we had to go home, and so did Brandon. Back to Utah.

Then he made a huge sacrfice and left his family and friends to move to California. This way we could date for real and see if our relationship was really going to go anywhere. And it did.
It was only a few months after he move that we decided to get get married. We had planned on having a summmer wedding, but after a lot or trips to the Er, it was determined that I needed my Gall Bladder out. This was worse then having a baby!! We finally got married on October the 8th 1999. Just 10 months after we met. We lived in Woodland as The Andersons' for only a few months and in the early spring of 2000 moved to Utah. With no jobs and no place of our own. We lived with Kari and Darin , whom Kari had recently married, in a very small basement apartment. Like all newly weds, we fought, which was very bad because Kari was very pregnant with Damon and I know it was a nightmare for her.

But we did gets jobs and our own place and then our own, non rent place and so on. Its been 8 years now and although we have had rough times, we love eachother and we love Utah. In the past 8 years, we have moved 10 times, had 3 more kids, bought a house, sold a house, remodeled a condo, change career paths, and started attending college. Brandon an Electrical program and I, Culinary Arts.

I didn't mean for this to be a novel, but I think recapping your memories and the paths you take to get where you are, helps you be thankful for all that you have and reminds you of why youmade the choices that did. Seeing that tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I am realizing that I do in fact have a lot to be thankful for. Thanks for reading about my journey. I promise the next one will be much shorter. Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!