~~~~Birth~~~~
I was born on November 26, 1989. The day after Thanksgiving. That must be why I love mashed potatoes and turkey so much! I also attribute Thanksgiving dinner to the reason I weighed 8lbs 6 oz. Because I was a baby and can’t remember much of anything during those times I had my mom write about my birth...
Your Birth, I Thought I was going to die having such a big baby. You were three days early and although you were very cute you were suppose to be a boy. However I am glad you are my little girl. You were my first and only child to be born in the new cassia hospital that was fun.
You were very quiet and would stay close to me in public. I remember you always made Mickenzie buy things at the store for you because you didn't want to go up to the cash out register. I also remember that you wanted to go to Grandma Junes because she always had ice cream in the freezer for you. Win I went back to work I always felt guilty for leaving you at grandmas but I think at first she spoiled you a lot. I remember that you loved BARNY until Brody teased you and that’s was the end of that. You were in gymnastics for a little bit and I think you liked it. In the morning when you were ready to get up you would stay up in your crib and shake it until someone came and got you. Also breakfast had to be ready or you were mad.
~~~~Pre-School~~~~
Starting school was an exciting time for me. I started pre-school when I was four years old and loved every minute of it. I went to pre-school two days a week. The other 3 days of the work week I would wake up and get ready and my dad would take me over to my Grandma Bessire’s house to stay during school hours because my mom started working at the Elementary school about that time. I loved spending time at my grandparent’s house. Every day I would walk in and my grandma would have bacon and chocolate milk ready for me. Then I would go into the family room and sit in my special miniature rocking chair and watch cartoons about 2 feet away from the TV. screen (which is probably why I have horrible vision now). I remember always reading the book “Sambo” with my grandma. I thought it was the coolest book ever. She would always curl my hair once I got to her house because she didn’t like it when my hair wasn’t done. It always scared me! It was one of those curling irons that brushes your hair at the same time and half of the time I’m pretty sure she ripped out half of my hair (which is probably why I’m close to bald now). So as you can see many of my life problems began at my grandma’s house. All jokes aside I loved those days. Getting to play on the computer at her house was always a treat. she taught me how to put puzzles together and how to paint my nails. She is a wonderful lady who I owe a lot to.
~~~~Kindergarten~~~~
When I started Kindergarten I was even more excited! I got to go to school every day! Sure it was only half of a day but I was going to take what I could get! My teacher was Mrs. Phil. She had crazy dark hair and big round glasses. But I loved her class! I guess I was born with my sarcasm because I would tease her every day and ask her if she was pregnant. Yeah. Not something I would ever do now, but hey, I was an innocent little 5 year old! Luckily, she took it well and would laugh.
Two things I distinctly remember from kindergarten...1-I could not cut on the strait line to save my life. 2- Whenever Mrs. Phil would leave the classroom we would all have to put our heads down on our desks and keep quiet. I always got bored of that after about 5 seconds so I would begin snoring really loud (a trait I acquired from my father) and get the whole class laughing and we would have to stop before the teacher came.
After my kindergarten year I started playing t-ball in the summer. My house is right in front of our city ball park so we would just have to walk through a gate in the fence to make it to my games. I remember getting sick of being in the outfield where none of the action was happening so I would sit down and pick dandelions and rub them on my legs to make them turn yellow. Pretty gross now, but it was awesome back then! That summer my love of reading also began. I successfully read through my first book all by myself at age 5. It was titled, “Are You My Mother?” I can still remember the pictures of the little bird going around to the different animals and asking if they were her mother. It’s odd, but I can remember that I was lying on my living room floor when I realized I had just read the book by myself and I knew what it meant! My mom was cooking dinner and I was so excited I had to show off. From that day on I don’t think I put books down! I like to refer to myself as a book nerd during my childhood :)~~~~1st Grade~~~~
First grade brought on the challenge of spelling tests! My teacher’s name was Mrs. Burg. She was also amazing. And...I also wasn’t afraid to speak my mind either. She would wear skirts to work every day and tennis shoes. I can understand why now but in the mind of a 6 year old who was completely versed in the world of fashion in her eyes tennis shoes did NOT go with skirts. So one day I told her just that, “You are not supposed to wear those shoes with skirts Mrs. Burg.” I wish I could see her reaction to that now. Good thing I picked up a little bit of tact after my first grade year or I might not still be alive.
I remember having my first crush in first grade. His name was Seth. And I liked him because he had a broken arm and I thought it was cool. Haha. My love was completely valid. But to my dismay Seth moved away and I learned to love the single life at age 6.
First grade was also the year that my father went back to college. I didn’t know the impact it would have on my family when he decided to go but I am so glad he did. Our family made a lot of sacrifices during the years he went back, but never as many as he was making to be able to provide a better living for his family. I remember going after school with my mom to drive him to college in Twin Falls at least twice a week. I’m not going to lie, I went because I was banking on the fact that I would get chicken nuggets from McDonald's if I did. But it was good to see my father wanting to better himself and making sacrifices to do so. It paid off then and it still is today.
~~~~2nd Grade~~~~
My second grade year was one that has gone down in infamy....for good and bad reasons. First, I began the year with one of my favorite teachers, Miss Thomson. Mainly because she would cast me in the lead role of all her plays because I was the only one outspoken enough to do it. Yes I was a fairy once and I waved that wand like it was my job! The Accelerated Reading program was introduced into schools that year and it changed my life forever. What? I could get points for reading books....and if I got so many points I could get treasures out of the treasure box? DONE! So I began reading my little heart out day in and day out.
Another great thing that happened that year was that I got baptized. I remember having short blonde hair and a huge freckle on my nose. My father baptized me and confirmed me and then I sang the special musical number “I like to look for rainbows” with one of my best friends. I remember it being the day I got my first journal. That night I wrote it in at it was a classic entry! But that did begin my love for writing in my journal which I still do even now.
Then my life took a little turn. Life lesson #1 public drinking fountains...especially those at school... are sketchy! I remember coming in from recess dying of thirst and running to the drinking fountain. It seemed that whoever was in front of me felt like in order to get water out of it they had to suck it out of the faucet. This disgusted me but what else was I supposed to do? So I would drink from the fountain anyway and take my chances. Well, that never works out for me. I started getting sick a lot and ran out of energy all the time. We couldn’t figure out for quite a while. One day as my family knelt down to pray for morning prayers my mom noticed a rash on my skin. Then she realized it was covering my entire body. So...she sent me to my grandma’s. My parents send their children to the doctor ONLY if they are near death. I wasn’t quite there yet. My grandma got pretty worried about me and said my fever was soaring so she called my mom and they took me to the hospital. After only a few minutes of tests the doctor said I had contracted scarlet fever and I was also allergic to penicillin. I stayed in the hospital for a week and got a free teddy bear out of it and an occasional chocolate milkshake so I felt like it was a pretty good trade off. They sent me to a specialist in twin later on and they did more tests and found out I had mono. That’s why I had been so tired all of the time. Luckily there is nothing they can do to help mono you just have to wait it out.
My teacher Mrs. Thomson was very cooperative during the whole ordeal. I could no longer go out to recess so she would allow me to stay inside and fall asleep on pillows or help students who were struggling with their homework. Sometimes during lessons she would be able to tell I was struggling to stay awake so she would just send me to the corner full of pillows and let me nap. Somehow I made it through my eventful second grade year!
~~~~3rd Grade~~~~
Through the summer between my second and third grade year my health improved and I felt like a normal 8 year old again. Until I got the letter from the school that I might need to have a vision test. GREAT. So my mom hauled me to the eye doctor where he said...”1 or 2? 1 or 2?” Like I can tell a difference! So sometimes I would say 1 and if I felt like switching it up or if he was getting suspicious that I was guessing I would say 2! Turns out I failed and needed glasses. Well they where charmers let me tell you. Adjusting to putting something on your face every day when you feel like you can see just find isn’t the easiest thing in the world. At least once a week I would call my dad from school to ask him to bring me my glasses because I forgot them at home. Thank goodness for dads!
Mrs. Young was my third grade teacher. She shared my birthday with me! November 26 was our favorite day of the year! She always had fun activities for us to do in the classroom. She encouraged reading as well in her classroom. I became a little book worm reading non-stop. I would come home from school, eat a snack, and go straight to my room to read. Once dinner was over I would go read out in the car because everyone would be home and it was too noisy inside my house. Then once it got too dark I would go inside and sometimes even read in the bathroom! Privacy was limited in our small home so I had to take it where I could get it!
During these years I remember going to visit Grandma and Grandpa Bessire every Sunday evening. I looked forward to these visits. My cousins would come over and we would play games and have treats and just enjoy being together. We formed good relationships because of all the things we were able to do together. Sometimes I wish we could go back to those days!
~~~~4th Grade~~~~
Fourth grade was another eventful year in my life. I remember a boy in my class making fun of me because I had hairy legs. I had never considered shaving them before, that’s what old people did. So one night I just decided to shave them...how hard could it be? Well, harder than I thought apparently. I still have scars from that night. I was convinced I was going to die. So many cuts. I had no idea what to do. Couldn’t yell for my mom or she would freak out...so I yelled for my sister...who freaked out anyway. She got the box of band-aids and patched me up and I didn’t shave for about 3 months after that traumatic event.
During my 4th grade year I qualified for the state geography bee. I’m not even sure I knew what the word geography meant back then but somehow I qualified. I was so excited. My mom would quiz me every night and I had it down! Well, turns out the week of the geography bee I get sick. So the boy who made fun of me for having hairy legs took my place...perfect.
The good news is I made it to the Young Authors conference because I had skills in writing short stories and poems. I still have a few of them I wrote and boy they were epic! Okay, so they weren’t that great but I got a free t-shirt for going and I wasn’t going to complain!
One day while I was sitting in my classroom I saw my dad walk in my room. This wasn’t normal...I knew something must be wrong because he talked to my teacher in a serious tone and then told me we were leaving. I grabbed my bag and as we were leaving the school I can remember him telling me that my grandma Ivy June Carver had passed away from a blood clot after her surgery. This was the first time I had experienced a death of someone close to me. I could see my brother and sister in tears in the car. But I had no emotion. I think this is the first time I can remember holding it all in and just being in shock. Not wanting others to see I felt sad too. My mom was already in Utah and had been there when my grandmother passed away. So my dad told us to pack up and we were going to Utah. We pulled up to my Aunts house in Utah and I could see my mom sitting on the front steps crying. I didn’t realize the significance of it then, but she had just lost her mother. The one person in the world you know will always love you no matter what.
That was a hard week. Hard to watch my mom go through it. The first time it really hit me that my grandmother was gone was at the viewing. I hate viewings to this day and haven’t been to one since hers. I don’t like to see people lifeless. I like my last memory of them to be of a time when they were happy and full of life. It might be a psychological problem I have but oh well! My grandma June was a wonderful lady who persevered through incredible trials in her life. Her husband had an affair after they had 5 children together (the youngest my mother) and left her for that woman. She pulled it together and found a way to make it through. She stayed strong in the church and clung to the gospel for support. She never remarried but was able to serve a mission in the Orlando, Florida Temple just a year before she passed away. I look up to her even now. Here is a letter I wrote her on her mission...hopefully my writing skills have improved since then.
That summer my parents decided our family needed a vacation. A real vacation. Not one of our classic Salt Lake City weekend vacation knock offs. So we planned a trip to Disney World. I was actually going to get to fly on a plane! That’s really the one part I was most excited about. Weird I know. But it was a great trip. I didn’t ride many rides because I was a chicken but the experience was still fun. We got to go to the Kennedy Space Center and it was amazing to see how huge a space shuttle actually was! It was a good summer after all and an experience I’ll never forget. This is one happy traveler right here...
~~~~5th Grade~~~~
My 5th grade was a great year. Up to this point my best friend was a book. I had friends at school but never a best friend. Then a girl named Whitney Schut moved next door. At first she didn’t know if she wanted to be my friend but soon enough we were walking to school together and as soon as we got home we were playing until our parents made us come in. My teacher Mrs.Vogt was energetic and enthusiastic lady that kept learning fun. I had never really struggled in school until I met my arch enemy....
I could not...for the life of me...get an A on any of my handwriting papers. I just couldn’t understand how my hands could not create the perfect letters shown to me by my teacher. This was the cause of the first and only B I got in elementary...and anyone who knows me would know that I still would not pass those assignments!
Handwriting
I could not...for the life of me...get an A on any of my handwriting papers. I just couldn’t understand how my hands could not create the perfect letters shown to me by my teacher. This was the cause of the first and only B I got in elementary...and anyone who knows me would know that I still would not pass those assignments!
The summer following 5th grade was the beginning of many adventurous summers Whitney and I would share together. We didn’t have anything extravagant to occupy our time but we created more fun than we had time for in the day! I remember we would pick vegetables out of my dad’s garden (without his permission) and we would create a business on her driveway selling our vegetables. We never actually sold any to humans but we had imaginary customers! We also created a cell phone company in her basement which we ran on roller blades with blocks of wood with the buttons drawn on. Unfortunately that business went under when her father used the wood to finish their basement. We filled the rest of our days jumping on the trampoline and swimming in her pool or babysitting the neighbor kids. I have the greatest memories of my summers and miss those carefree days more than anything! Here is what Whitney had to say about all of our good times together...
We were neighbors so it kind of worked out nicely. We were basically like sisters. We shared clothes, we were always there for each other, we got in arguements, we played, we just grew up together. We did EVERYTHING together.
We have sooooo many memories. But a few of my favorites that come to mind first are, we always tried to start up our own businesses. In my unfinished basement we would strap on our rollerblades (for what reason we needed rollerblades, I will never know) and roll around pretending like we were selling cell phones, which we made from scrap pieces of wood that we had drawn numbers on and hammered a nail in the top. We were creative, but strange.
We have sooooo many memories. But a few of my favorites that come to mind first are, we always tried to start up our own businesses. In my unfinished basement we would strap on our rollerblades (for what reason we needed rollerblades, I will never know) and roll around pretending like we were selling cell phones, which we made from scrap pieces of wood that we had drawn numbers on and hammered a nail in the top. We were creative, but strange.
After that business failed, we moved onto vegetable sales. We would steal vegetables from Ashley's dads garden, like he didn't know, and set them up in my driveway pretending to sale them. Then we would hide them after a days work and the next day steal more. We ended up with a lot of wasted vegetables. Then after the vegetables had to come to an end because her dad was noticing, we moved on to detective work. We made up our own mysteries to be solved and we were usually pretty good at it. :) we also played countless hours of water balloons every summer (one of which I broke your nose ha) tony hawk on the playstation, monopoly, and jumping on the trampoline. We took on some pretty serious challenges together as well. Anywhere from cartwheeling down the newly sealed rode barefoot to painting Ashleys entire room almost every summer. Ha we had as many sleepovers as possible as often as possible. We were never apart. Oh another memory we have is always meeting at the green box between our houses. That was our spot. Meet me at the green box.
~~~~6th Grade~~~~
During my 6th grade year I was selected to be a part of a program called “Discovery.” It was supposed to be for gifted and talented children. I’m pretty sure I just got lucky on the entrance test because once I got to the building where all the other smart kids were I realized I was in the wrong place! They were all figuring puzzles and solving critical thinking problems and I was....doodling on my paper! But I somehow made it through the program. It was nice to get out of school a couple of times a week and have a change of pace. I can also remember September 11, 2001 pretty well. My sister woke me up and told me to look at the television. I saw two tall towers with smoke coming out of the both of them. I had no idea the impact this would have on our nation. I was only 12 at the time. But I began to realize it when I went to school that day and all the teachers played their radios or kept their televisions on to watch the news. That never happened. I remember writing in my journal about the loss that families were experiencing and how sad it made me to think of them losing their mom or dad or brother or sister. A few years later this Mormon message came out that helped me gain a better testimony of how adversity brings forth blessings.
I met a new friend in 6th grade. Her name was Megan Grigsby. She moved into a house close by and we quickly became friends. We laughed ALL the time and had common interests....which at that time were music and boys. She was an amazing gymnast. I remember going to watch her compete at meets and being completely awed at her flexibility and balance. So I tried to do the gymnastics thing. Let’s just say...that quickly ended. I mastered the cartwheel and that was all that mattered. It was about this time that Avril Lavegne’s ‘skater boi’ song came out and we were obsessed with it and decided to become skater girls. She even bought a skateboard and we bought skater shoes and we would go to the skate park in Rupert and pretend like we knew how to skateboard. Long story short...we failed. Luckily that fad didn’t last too long.
I ended that summer with a big bang. Mostly because I like to go out in style. One day I was making ramen noodles (the staple of my diet for the first 12 years of my life) and I decided to light a candle in my room...a candle without a class case around it...just solid wax. I put it on top of my cd player and the phone rand so I ran to answer it. It was my neighbor who called and asked me to babysit her boys for a while. I said sure, ate my ramen noodles super quick, and ran out the door. About an hour later, I’m putting one of the boys in time out for doing who knows what and I look out the window and see my mother walking across the street with conviction in her step and fury in her eyes. My eyes were then attracted to a billowing plume of grey smoke....coming out of my bedroom window. Well everything started clicking real fast and my survival instincts kicked in. I ran and hid. I told the oldest boy to not tell my mom where I was.
She knocked on the door and Drew, the oldest boy, opened it and said, “Ashley is upstairs in the closet.”....GREAT. My cover was blown and I was going to have to face the angriest mother in all of Idaho. She found me crawling out of the closet and yelled, “Why is your room on fire!?” I then went on to explain to her that it couldn’t be my fault at all. I was distracted! Needless to say I spent the rest of my summer scraping soot off of everything I owned, repairing the wall that had been badly burnt, and repainting my room.
