Memories of Tami's House. My Favoirte House

Soo...the day has come...one of my favorite siblings is leaving me. For Washington. Oh Washington how I long to be with you one day. This isn't the first time Tami has left me. Tami first left me when I was about 4 to Argentina for 18 months. I MISSED her a lot, and I was so happy to have her back. Except it wasn't long after she got home from Argentina that she did the unthinkable and married her high school sweetheart! (Which at the time was the same boy I liked and was bound and determined I was going to marry.) Well this boy took Tami off to Michigan for I don't know how long, but it seemed like forever! Tami then moved to Washington where she was for a few years, but her and Brandon smartened up and finally moved back to Utah again! YAY! But now...Tami and Brandon and their herd of 9 great kids are moving back to Washington yet again! I'm not going to lie--I'm a little distraught. I have gotten rather close to this family through the years and I'm rather fond of them all. I'm not sure what I'm going to do without them here. Where am I supposed to go for Sunday dinner now? Their door has always been open to me and it's really going to be hard not having them so close. I think about all the memories I have made with them and...life just isn't going to be the same. I've laughed (I know weird. I never do that, but it really did happen a lot) in their house, I've cried in their house, I have been frustrated in their house, and I have grown as a person in their house. I shouldn't really even call it their house, because they made it feel like it was my own home. I grew and I changed right along with their own children in that house. (Side note--this blog is harder to write than I thought it was going to be. I've already cried twice and I haven't even started. Crap!) These are some of my favorite and most memorable moments with this amazing family that I love and cherish with all my heart!

Moment number one: Spending the weekend with everyone in Midway at a beautiful house and playing kick ball in the back yard. Of course being the cool chick that I am I literally tripped over a stupid dandelion and ate dirt...hard. That's how I roll though! I'm just that awesome!

Two: Having dinner! Yes. Dinner. These people know how to go all out and make the most amazing food ever! You're always stuffed to the brim. You have to remember to bring your fat pants for dinner time. Yummy! Oh, and the conversations are always the best...constantly laughing. My stomach has actually hurt because I laughed so much up there. "Chill and eat a Cheeto!"

Three: The fam and I spent the day up at Lagoon celebrating the twin's 13th birthday and while I did have fun there it was the conversation Tami and I had in my car after our long day that sticks in my mind. We were just about to Tami's house when I told her I had something to tell her. She sent the girls in the house and I sat awkwardly in my car for what felt like an eternity trying to spit it out. Being the nerd ball I am, I wasn't able to say it. Instead I wrote it on a tiny piece of paper I found. It said; I'm gay. Tami read it and said, "I have one sister who is and I love her, and I'll love you too. It doesn't matter and I still love you!" I was a little perplexed. Huh? you mean you don't hate me? You still love me? You'll still talk to me? Tami was the first person I told who didn't let anything change between us and actually supported me. It was her who made it okay for me to be gay. I struggled for years with the whole gay thing. I was in denial for a long time, too long. It seemed that everyone in my life at the time all had negative feelings about it so I didn't want to tell anyone out of fear, but thankfully Tami showed me that it was okay for me to be the real me and to not be afraid. Slowly over time with the support of Tami it went from a scary thing to be gay, to well...nothing really. Yeah I'm gay. So? It's not such a big deal. Look at me now Tami?!? Look at what you helped me become!?! I went from being the scared little girl who couldn't even say she was gay, to going to Pride! Thank you Tami! Life has become so much easier and better for me and it all started with you and that late night sitting in Dorie.

Four: I was spending my 24th of July with Tami and her family and it was a HOTTT one, but in the early evening we got a little break from the sun when it decided to rain buckets and buckets out of nowhere! It was a downpour! The kids and I thought it was so awesome we had to go out and play in it. Within just one minute of being outside I was soaked! My hair was dripping wet and I even had to wring out my socks! My socks! While we were playing outside the kids somehow managed to convince me to roll down their big hill in the front yard. When I say big...I mean BIG. It's definitely not your average hill. Well I'm already drenched...why not? However, I'm not known for being very straight and my rolling skills convey that as well. I knew that if I rolled down this hill I wouldn't take a very straight path so I had the kids line up at the bottom of the hill to stop me from one, hitting the parked cars in the street and two, keep me actually rolling into the road to my death. All the kids lined up and I successfully rolled down the HUGE hill without hitting anything. And, yes I didn't roll straight down. I'm not sure if you can roll crooked, but I'm pretty sure I came real close to it. It was super fun playing, dancing, rolling in the rain...even if I was 21. You gotta let your inner child out every once in awhile. What a great 24th!

Five: This is another hill story. I don't remember all the details, but I do remember Tami and I going somewhere and Tami was going to help me down the hill against my will. Except Tami didn't really help me. Instead, she ending up pushing me down the hill. (This is why I didn't want Tami's help in the first place...I just had a bad feeling about it and I was RIGHT!) Since then it has become an inside joke every time I leave that Tami asks me if I want her help down the hill. Every time I answer emphatically, "NOO!!" This hill could maybe kill you if you're not careful I'm sure. Especially in the winter with all the snow and ice.

Six: A few months after telling Tami my gay secret I was visiting her like always and I mentioned that there was going to be an Anti-Prop 8 vigil up in Salt Lake that night. She looked at me and said, "Let's go!" Really? It's Sunday and you're Mormon--isn't that like against your religion? You're not supposed to want equal rights for us gays. This was another perplexing moment in my life. Mormons...who are for gay rights? They exist? Whoa! Yes, yes they do. They may have different beliefs, but there are some who think everyone deserves the same rights and you can't pick and choose who is good enough to have these rights. This was a new and different concept for me. It took some time getting used to this, but I did eventually. Tami and I jumped in my car, Dorie and went up to Salt Lake. The closer we got to the library the more nervous I got. I'm not sure why I was so nervous. All I had to do was hold a candle, listen to some speakers and then walk around the block. Not so hard. I was such a goofy gay. "Tami. I'm scared." "Why?" "I dunno. This is like the first public thing I've done as a gay. This is the first time I've stood up for something before." "Aww! It's okay Amy. Just know there are people who love and support you. Me. Keri and Wendy and all the people who are going to be here tonight. You're going to be fine!" Tami was right. I ended up being fine. I stood with my candle like a champ and walked the block. There was a lot of gays there that night, but there was also a lot of people of the Mormon faith. Weird. It's not weird now, but it was then....for me anyways. Tami and I were listening to the speakers who were mothers of gay and lesbian children who were in favor of gay marriage and one of the speakers said something that had the entire crowd cheering. Tami cheered a little too hard and blew out her candle. Later when we were walking the block, Tami tuned around to look at the people behind us and said, "Amy look at all these people?!?" which caused my candle to blow out. We were now at a candle vigil with no candles. Fail. So maybe taking Tami to a vigil wasn't, or isn't the best idea because she is easily excited, but I'm glad I got to share my first "public gay outting" with her. It only seemed right. So obviously there was press at this vigil and I found out later that Tami and I's sister, Wendy in Washington saw us on TV while watching the LOGO (some gay and lesbian network) channel. That was pretty cool. Me being the nerd I am told Tami while we were walking, "I feel important! I feel like I'm doing something good." "Amy you are important, and you are doing something good. You're standing up for yourself and others. You're being your true self." Oh yeah! Forgot. That was a really good experience for me.

Seven: This memory was when I was living with Tami and her family while attending massage school. It was January so it was snowing like crazy on my way home one night. Well by Tami's house you have to navigate speed bumps, going up hill and turn right all at the same time. Which I found out the hard way you cannot really do when the roads are snowy and icy. Tami meant to tell me this and to go the other way when it snows, but she forgot. I'm driving in a blizzard which I'm not very fond of to begin with and I get stuck on the stupid speed bump because I was going so slow to avoid sliding everywhere. I couldn't go anywhere! I started freaking out. I called Tami and told her I was stuck. "Where are you?" "By the pool." "OH! I forgot to tell you not to go that way when the weather is bad. You won't make it up the hill." Gee thanks for letting me know! "I'll come get ya." I don't know if Tami sent Mama Bona out of if she just offered to be the one to come get my butt, but Mama Bona came out. However, she ending up slipping and falling on ice like three times before even getting my car. Wow what I helper she is. Someone actually had to come out and help Mama help me...it was a little funny. Eventually Mama came to my rescue and got in the driver seat while the neighbor helped push my car. Well we got unstuck...by being pushed backwards, sliding on the ice and flipping a 180 in the street. Still to this day I'm not sure how we managed not to hit any cars in the street because Mama had no real control of the car and that street is TINY! Mama then tells me, "You might want to call your mom because she said she couldn't get a hold of you and called Tami's and we made the mistake of telling her we didn't know where you were in this blizzard." Great my mom thinks you guys let me die...which they almost did! Hahaha what a crazy ten minute drive home! Well...it took more like 20 minutes because of the snow. Maybe even thirty.

Eight: I was studying my Acupressure one night and it always helps me to have a little study buddy I can teach stuff to. My niece Makenzie was that girl. I was trying to memorize the pathways of our meridians (if you don't know what a meridian is Google it because I don't have that much time to try and explain it) I was teaching Makenzie about the lung meridian which goes up the arm. Makenzie looks at her arm then up at me all confused like and asks, "My lung is in my arm?" Hahaha. Not wanting to clarify everything I said, "Yes. Yes it is." "I think you're wrong." "No I'm not. Just don't ask a doctor or your aunt Wendy. (the nurse)." I still don't think she understands, and I hope I haven't screwed her up to bad--thinking her lung is in her arm. Ooops.

Nine: The family and I were eating dinner one night--a roast I believe. There was a bone with this roast and when I saw it I said, "Hey that bone looks like a humerus!" Everyone looked at me like I was a crazy person and someone eventually asked, "Did you go to the cadaver lab today?" Sheepishly I answered with my head lowered, "Maybe." "Thought so." Things massage school teaches you! It's teaches you how to identify the food you eat! Who would have thunk?!? It's actually quite disturbing.

Ten: Tami was supposed to pick me up from massage school one night and when I got in the car she immediately said, "You have to hold the door closed." "What? Why?" "Well I was driving around the parking lot and out of nowhere the door flung open and now it won't stay closed. You have to hold it." "How did you keep it closed until you parked?" "I didn't." "So you just drove around the parking lot with an open door?" "I thought it would be faster for you to get in." Tami and her sense of humor--never missing a beat! "Hold it closed." Is that safe? "Umm..okay." I thought we only had to get home with the dumb car, but Tami had to run to Walmart a few miles down the road...and every time we turned I had to keep the door from flying open! Haha that car was so retarded! I'm not sure what happened to that car--I think it caught on fire. No wait. That was the van they had. Yeah...not sure what happened to the Lilster. (That is what they named it. They name cars. That's how my car got the name Dorie actually. On the Lagoon day now that I think about it.)

Eleven: One night I felt like having my toe nails painted, but I didn't want to be the one who did it so I asked Tami to do it. She agreed. Yeah...my feet are freakishly ticklish. Any time Tami would attempt to paint anything I would flinch and jerk away! "Amy! If you don't stop it I am going to paint your whole toe!" She wasn't lying! She gave up trying to paint them nicely and literally painted my whole toe--all of them! I had metallic silver feet!! Oh brother it looked ridiculous!

Twelve: I had a bad day at school one day and before going home to Tami's I took a wild crazy drive in the rain to calm me down. I was on this road in PG and there was a sign ahead that said there was a speed bump ahead and to slow down to 15 mph. Yeah right! That is too slow to go over a speed bump. I didn't slow down and ending up hitting this speed bump going 40. BAM! Yeah...big mistake. You see...this speed bump is seriously the biggest speed bump ever! It's not your average bump. I don't even know how to explain this bump, but it's different than most bumps and it HUGE!! When they tell you to go 15 you should really listen because if you don't you'll end up busting your motor mounts. I did! Anyways. After hitting this speed bump on steroids I was so amazed by it I had to tell someone about it! Of course it was Haley and Makenzie! They were the only two who would appreciate this bump in all it's glory! Telling them wasn't enough! I had to show them! I loaded them up in Dorie and took them to the bump! Off in the distance the bump doesn't look very intimidating, but it's deceiving! One of the twins didn't seem all that impressed by it, "That's it? That bump up there?" "Oh you just wait until I hit it." I slowed down to about 20 and hit it. It jostled us around and bit and I finally had the twins attention. I flipped around and hit it again at 30-35...I was too scared to hit it at 40 again, and one of us hit their head on a window! One of the twins, "That thing is huge!!" "I know right?!? I told you!" "Holy crap!" Together we named this steroid bump The Beast! We used to go visit The Beast every so often, but haven't in quite some time. We will though before Hay and Kenz move. That was a fun night minus the breaking of the motor mounts. That wasn't so fun.

Thirteen: Brandon, dear old Brandon was messing around with his head board in his room one day and he asked me to come help. Umm okay and what exactly am I going to be helping you with? Apparently, Brandon needed to know when the head board was nice and level and straight. "Is it straight?" "Brandon I'm not even straight so how do you expect me to be able to tell you if this is?!?" We had a good laugh.

Fourteen: It was massage school graduation and Brandon and Tami were throwing me a party. There was all sorts of yummy food and the best cake ever! Tami and gotten a Barbie doll and made Barbie a little massage table to lay on--face rest and everything and even looked up how to drape her with the sheet on Youtube! The draping looked very professional and I think Tami even did a better job draping her first time than I did in school! Way to go Tami! Massage Time Barbie was the best lookin' cake ever! EVER!

Fifteen: The whole fam damily had gotten together for Sunday dinner (like always) and we were all in the living room all having different conversations, but every once in awhile you would over hear someone else speaking and get very confused. This is how the whole gay pride, monkies in panties, yay adoption, who's Asian thing got started. Oh man what a day! I can't really say more than that because I really have no idea how ALL that even got brought up. Just know it was funny and even more funny if you were there. I guess it'll be our little inside joke now.

There are a lot more memories with this family, but I promised I wouldn't tell anything embarrassing, and there are just a lot of inside jokes like memory fifteen that would make no sense unless you were there. I love this family and they mean the world to me, and I know when the day comes that they finally leave Utah it's going to be difficult and I'll bawl like a baby. How can I even begin to say bye to them? It's going to be quite the change not having them here and there are so many things I wish I did when I had the chance to. This family rocks and I owe them so much in so many ways. I love you all, and you will be missed! A LOT! At least I'll have these memories to keep me satisfied until I can come visit you.