Birth to the School Years:
Where else do you start with a personal history than the very beginning. I was born June 24,(year withheld) to the wonderful parents of Tim and Teresa (Webb) Whatcott. I came to the family as the seventh child, with two older brothers, and four older sisters (two more brothers would come after me, but this is where I came into the picture). My family lived in a average size old blue house in Lakeside, AZ when I was born. I lived most of my youth in this house. My wonderful devoted mother worked hard at home and was a very loving and supportive stay at home Mother while my Father worked hard at various jobs trying to make ends meet.
My memories of my younger years are very vague and very possibly inaccurate. But I have been told that I tried undressing myself, including taking off my diaper one time so that I could join my two older sisters for a bath; I think I was three at this time, and I don't think my Mother was very excited about this because of the mess I made with taking off my diaper. During my teething years I was told that I loved to chew on my older sister's babies' feet, so all the poor dolls didn't have much "footage" if you know what I mean.
We had a lovely large yard with trees and grass at this blue house, and I remember a fun little play house that my sisters and I would spend countless hours playing in while enjoying the outside. We also had a barn behind the house in our yard, and I remember countless hours playing in it and pretending to milk my Father's "saw horses" that were really our pretend cows: Bessie and Charlie. It was always a treat to play with these two “cows” when my dad didn't mind. I have been told that my parents used to own at least one real cow, but if we had it during my years of youth I don't remember seeing it.
I have very vague memories of when my youngest brother was born. My parents figured this would be their last child, and they always wanted to have at least one child at home, so my youngest brother got to be the lucky winner. My parents invited this interesting hippie lady to come be the midwife. My siblings said that she made this big "interesting" stew for everyone (us kids). To my Mother's slight disappointment though, she missed my oldest brother's graduation from high school because she was in labor and having my youngest brother. My Mother almost died because of a mass amount of blood loss delivering my brother, and after having him, my dad had to rush her to the hospital- so much for them wanting to have my brother at home- when they had to go to the hospital anyway. It was some interesting times but I was glad my mother wasn't taken from us just yet.
School Years: Grade School and High School
I remember my first day of kindergarten. My mom was always good about taking us to school on the first day of school so that we wouldn't be as scared and that we could have some security before jumping into a new experience. The school seemed so much bigger than anything I have ever attended. I remember learning about the letters of the alphabet, and each time a new letter was introduced my teacher would put up an inflatable cartoon letter up on the wall and I just wanted play with them. I remember my teacher yelled at me one time for talking too much and made me write my name on the board for doing so- but in reality I never did talk and I remember feeling so confused! I remember celebrating thanksgiving by re-acting the story of the pilgrims and our teacher had us dress up and the cafeteria treated us with a thanksgiving meal on long tables in our classroom. I don't remember near as much from my first grade class, except that my teacher was named Mrs. Trainer- and that my family ended up being neighbors to her later when I was older. In second grade I had the unique privilege of having my second cousin be my teacher- Mrs. Ellison. She was great, I don't remember tons of specifics from this class except that I remember doing lots of hands-on interactive activities and that she had us make a book throughout the course of the school year- which I still have today. I remember in this grade there was a "gas leak" in the school and so everyone was forced to leave the building for safety- it was probably only an hour, maybe two, but my younger impatient childhood mind felt like we were outside all day, and I thought the world was going to end!
It was also during this school year that my family finished up making our house that we were working on (my dad and brothers insisted on building a house on their own with little contracted out help, and they did a great job at it!) and after we finished the house we moved in. My parents wanted to build this house so that it would closer to my dad's stove business (right next door) so that it would be easier for my mom to help out while still kind of being at home for us kids. It was a great house, it was just the perfect size for a big family and it is full of so many great memories- I could write a whole new post about the great memories I had at this house, but I will save this for another day.
In third grade was the start of meeting some of my friends that I still keep in touch with today, one in particular was Andrea B. We had many sleep-overs at each others houses growing up, clear into high school, and we ended up being roommates for a semester at a community college, we had some fun times together. In my school years I was very quiet and it was hard for me to branch out and meet new people or make new friends. In my forth grade year- my first year away from elementary school and on to middle school- were so very intimidating times for me. My teacher was an old grouchy Mr. Green who had been teaching probably one too many years that he didn't seem very passionate about it- and all the kids could feel it. My worst memory in his class is I remember him writing some math problems on the board that he told us were high school algebra problems (I remind you I was in 4th grade) and he told us we had to stand up all day until we could figure them out, when we did then we could sit down. Surprisingly the brains of the class were able to figure it out and have a seat within a few minutes, but most of the class stood in horror for hours, he eventually gave up when lunch time came around.
Springing into fifth grade my mom transferred me and my two older sisters to a charter school called "Life School: A College Preparatory School" which my uncle started. She wanted to give us something on a smaller scale besides the larger public schools, and I think it was a nice gesture way for her supporting my uncle. There was probably not more than thirty students that attended this school. The starters of it had great intentions, and it really did start out great- but over time it ended up being a school that the expelled students from the public schools would end up, so it began filling up with druggie careless students.
I was also in my fifth grade year that my family had a new interesting experience come into our lives. Our lovely dream house, the one we worked so hard on building and loving- was burned down. We still to this day are not sure of the cause of the fire. It happened about midnight on Feb 17, 2000- my second oldest brother's birthday. My dad first noticed the fire glare right outside his sliding door window- thinking it was a minor fire he ran to the bathroom, got a cup of water and threw it on it; when he realized it was much bigger he woke my mom and she got the rest of us awake and out of the house as soon as possible. The fire started on the outside of the house, so we were able to get out in time before getting any smoke inhalation. We went to my Mom's parents house, my Webb grandparents who lived not too far away. It was a very traumatic experience and completely unpredictable for our family.
Some close friends of my parents had a nice big summer home in my home town that they offered us to live in. It was a big beautiful home, better than we ever thought our little low income family could ever imagine living in. Living in this house is were I ended up becoming neighbors to my first grade teacher. We lived here very comfortably for several years. Even though we lost our wonderful home, Heavenly Father blessed us with a new also wonderful home.
By the time I was in seventh grade the charter school I was attending had pretty much became over run by interesting children, and because my uncle was planning on transferring back to the public schools to be an principle assistant- my mom decided it was time to move us kids back to public schools too. So beginning of my eighth grade year I was back in public school. Even though the charter school was full of interesting druggie kids, I didn't really notice the dumb teenage drama that goes on because it was such a small school. So going back to public schools right in the thick of the years were teenage drama is at it's heights, I was in for a real wake-up call. It was really weird seeing my great friends from the elementary years get fickle on me, in and out through boyfriends and cheer-leading cliques. Going back into public schools was the beginning of my loneliest years continuing on through high school.
We had another fun loop the end of my eighth grade years. While living in our friends lovely home, we soon discovered that they went bankrupt and that they lost full ownership of the home we were living in. We didn't know how much longer we would have to live in this lovely home since we didn't really hear anything from the bank. Then one day, the day right after one of my sisters had graduated from high school and was already headed to Utah with the help of my other older sister, we got a letter in the mail. In their generosity, the bank at least gave us a week to move out. It was stressful but my mom and I teamed up and worked really hard to pack and prepare to move while my dad continued to work hard in providing the income. The house I lived in when I was little, the little blue house, had just weeks previous came back into my parents ownership because the buyer fell threw and could no longer make payments. So in the nick of time, we had a place to go to while we had just been kicked out. My parents were in the process of remodeling and trying to fix up the old house because of it's old run down nature, so when we had to immediately move in without much notice, we were welcomed with lovely dirt floors and walls that looked like they could fall down any day. It was interesting, but it was a roof over our head so what more could we ask for!
Back to my school years and my life adjustments of the social life. The only thing that got me through most of high school years was the absolute kindness of my older sister letting me follow her around and hang out with her. She did it at a great price too- her age level friends thought I was dumb and annoying to have following around and constantly encouraged me, in the not most generous sort of ways, to "go find my own friends." My sister could have easily went along with it to keep with her friends, but out of her Christlike character told her friends off and spent the rest of her high school years hanging out with me instead. This meant a great deal to me, since I didn't really fit in with my peers. We spent most of lunch breaks either going home and hanging out with my mom, or we would go to the seminary building and hang out with our teacher, Brother Moon, he was great!
Things went well and mediocre through my freshman and most of my sophomore years of high school. Then a real wave of testing came into my life. My older sister, who was so kind to let me hang out with her all the time, started having some drastic changes toward the middle of her senior year (my sophomore year). One the local boys that she deeply admired had recently returned home from a mission. She was very persistent in trying to get his attention until the attention getting went both ways and they began to seriously date. I do not blame my sister in any way that she ruined my teenage years or anything like that, but I admit that it was hard and adjusting to see my only best friend start to spend more time and share more attention with someone else. It through me for a loop that I wasn't prepared to take in. If it wasn't for my mother's awareness and loving compassion, things could have gotten much worse during this time for me.
Things became more and more serious and it wasn't long before they were engaged to be married the week after she would graduate from high school. I am very happy for my sister and where her and her husband have lead their successful lives and having a wonderful little family, but this was the beginning of some very interesting times for me in my life. Then getting towards the end of my sophomore year we noticed that my mom's health wasn't doing as well and that she was loosing a great amount of weight in a short amount of time. She finally decided it would be good to go to the doctor.
I remember the day coming home from school where my parents where waiting to announce the results of what was going on. Both my parents were home waiting on the couch for us (which was a rare occasion that both would be home waiting in this way) and our bishop was here as well, who happened to be my seminary teacher- Brother Moon mentioned earlier. Their solemn composure didn't seem very reassuring especially since I could sense a hint of emotion welling up in my dad. After all the kids came in from school, trying not to cry, my dad announced to us that my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. This is a very deadly cancer, and there is about a 2% survival rate. I didn't quite comprehend the seriousness of these disease at their announcing of it, but I could sense this was not a pretty picture.
My sophomore year ended and a week later my sister was married in the Snowflake Temple. It was hard to say good-bye, since I knew things wouldn't always be the same in our relationship anymore, but I was still very happy for her. Now with my sister gone I was left the oldest child at home and now had a busy summer ahead of me, trying to help my mother in any way possible. Each week she become weaker and more sick, which meant each week I had more responsibility in taking care of things she couldn't take care of anymore. By the time school started up again in the fall for my junior year I had started taking over paying the bills, cooking, cleaning, and all the many chores and tasks my mother was slowly no longer capable of doing. Because my dad was gone at work all the time he wasn't able to take over things as much. Some of my older siblings were around either visiting a lot or lived close by, so this helped a great deal when they would put forth efforts around the house and helping take care of my mom.
The down hill slop of my mother's health was getting more and more steep and by new years time of that year my mother was on complete bed rest and unable to function. The last two weeks of her life she was no longer able to speak or hardly move, just look out or sleep. She peacefully went home with all my family around on Saturday, January 8th, 2005. The next Sunday we got permission to have sacrament at home as a family, since non of us felt like being out in public. It was a simply priceless peaceful time. Her funeral was the following Saturday. After the calm of the week with all the support of my family, it was time to go back to school and back into reality. It was hard these last few months of my Junior year, I had officially lost my two closest friends within the last year and I allowed myself to feel alone and afraid. This was a great turning point for me to really learn to rely on Christ and really grasp the meaning of his Atonement, especially his enabling power.
After a summer of growing and becoming stronger spiritually, and being able to master my homemaking skills at home, I felt ready for my senior year and was determined to make a good finish and finally make some friends. I was able to reconnect with some of my old elementary friends and they kindly accepted me into their crowd. It was in this crowd that I first got to really know a very special boy named Michael. We were both shy and awkward around each other in the group settings, but we soon picked up pen-palling to each other and became fast secret friends. We went together on a few school dances together and few dates. We both liked each other, but we both agreed that we didn't want to get in a serious relationship since we both knew he needed to go on a mission.
College Years
After graduation I went to Provo, UT to be a nanny for my second oldest brother's four children. It was a fun experience to see the different things that could be involved of being in a mother like setting. I learned so much. While being away I continued to keep in close connections with Michael through either snail mail or email. Towards the end of my summer I was offered a job as a nanny back in Lakeside, which after much thought and prayer, discovered that this would work perfectly with my new schedule of community college classes.
I attended Northland Pioneer College in Showlow, AZ for a year and half while working as a nanny. I learned so much during this time. I loved being with the little babies all day and enjoying my schooling at night. I was living on my own in a little trailer with Andrea B. as my roommate. It was a nice handful of new experiences. My good friend Michael eventually left on a mission in January or 2007, which is a good thing to keep in mind for future notice.
Toward the beginning of my fall semester of 2007 at the community college I felt like a needed a change in my life. I really enjoyed where I was at and what I was doing, but I needed something different. With subtle promptings and attention getting, I became aware of BYU-I and started making serious considerations toward transferring there. I had never been to Idaho in my entire life, but something about this move felt right. I was able to work things out and make plans to attend BYU-I in January of 2008. I was able to get financing and get a job lined up before I even got into Idaho. I was ready for a new adventure!
I loaded my car and was headed out. My first year at this wonderful university was a great experience. I created great connections and bonds with my roommates. I was able to go on a few dates. I learned so much in all my classes and even started getting more set in my degree seeking. I was able to finalize my planning in deciding to get a degree in Professional Preschool Education as a minor, and a major in Child Development. Everything felt right and was going right.
After finishing my first track of classes (Jan- July 2008) I decided to save on money in that I would go back to Arizona and live with one of my sister's in Gilbert and find a job and hopefully save up enough to go back to school in Idaho the following winter. It was fun to get to know my sister and her son better and spend time with them, but it didn't take long before being here that it became a very depressing time for me. In my hopes to find a job and save money, I wasn't able to find work for the first month. I looked so hard through online listings and driving around town all day long. It was so discouraging I started feeling a great sense of low self worth. My negative attitude started weighing on my sister and it made things very hard between us. There were some days I didn't want to get out of bed because I felt so low. It was during this time that learned to greatly value and appreciate my scriptures and the letters I was getting from my good friend Michael while he was still on his mission. These two boost gave me barely enough courage to keep going just a little more and finally in the end of September I was able to actually find two jobs. Through the remainder of the fall I worked as a daycare worker and as a lunch lady in an elementary school. It was hard work but I was glad to finally have a way to save money.
Engagement and Marriage
By the time the winter break rolled around I was ready to start heading back to Idaho for another great year, except for one minor detail. I was a little bummed that by going back to Idaho, I would be missing seeing Michael coming home from his mission by one week. I didn't know if anything would happen between us, but I hoped for something, and going to Idaho I felt like would ruin all possibilities. I went to Idaho anyway and started into my classes and back at my old job. The day came that I knew he had returned and in great anticipation and curiosity, wondered what would happen. This same night I had a meeting for one of my classes and when I got out I noticed a missed call on my cellphone from Michael's parents number. Out of panic I immediately called back. Could this be, was he really calling me the DAY he came home from his mission? We had a nice chat, but it was a little awkward, since this was his first time talking to a girl other than an investigator, but it was a start. We took turns calling each other a day or two a week until on weekend, on a Friday night, we held a conversation that lasted on through the night adding up to seven hours!! After this night we talked on the phone every single day till the day we finally got married.
But before I felt like I should marry him, I knew that I needed to see him again, I very well couldn't make a marriage commitment to someone who I hadn't seen in two years. So for President's day weekend (which also happened to be Valentines Day weekend) I fly down to see him. It was a priceless weekend and I began to fall more and more in love with him. But reality hit us a lot when we were dating and engaged- we were apart our whole dating and engagement, except for a few opportunities to visit each other throughout the seven months. It was extremely hard to be apart, but at the same time I know it was what was best for us and our situation. After my final week of my second year at BYU-I, I took the long drive back home, helped my family make final wedding preparations and we were married a week later on July 31, 2009. For financial purposes we decided to live in Arizona for the fall, in the same little cheap trailer I lived in during my first college years at the community college. While here Michael worked long hard hours at a country club restaurant as a server, and also made preparations to attend BYU-I. He was shortly accepted and would be taking on the same Winter-Spring track that I had. We enjoyed our peaceful calm life together in our cozy little home and being close to family.
Winter rolled around again and it was time to head back to Idaho, but with a lot more than a little car load like I was able to do when single. We moved into a nice little home that we were able to make a contract with earlier and get ready to start the new year off together in Idaho. We are now coming to a close of another school year at BYU-I and I will be graduating this semester. We will be married a year now in just a few weeks, and we will be getting ready to take on a new adventure in our little family by bringing a new member to the family. That's right, I am expecting and it should be a nice Christmas package for us because I am due December 23rd of 2010.
Life is full of many challenges and feats, but it is always good to know that you never have to do it alone and that all things are possible with the right help! My life has been hard, but it has been good and I wouldn't ask for anything different.
