This is Me: Teenage Years

Growing up, teenage years:

*What activities did you participate in?  (Sports, dancing, music, arts, etc.)  Explain what you did with each activity. 
I tried dancing, my sisters and my mom were all dancers, but I just didn't have the grace that they did ;) so it didn't ever last long.
I was always in choirs, from BYU Children's Choir to always being in choir in school.
I took piano lessons (8 years and I obviously didn't practice as much as I should have or I'd be a lot better!)
I loved art and often drew on my own when I wasn't in an art class in school. I loved writing poetry as well.
*EDIT* My brother Brian reminded me how much I actually liked sports as a teenager. I was never amazing at them, and didn't play on teams (due to my completely non-competitive nature ha), but I did love to play basketball, tennis, even attempted some street hockey, but basketball was my favorite. It makes me happy to see Thor playing Junior Jazz for his 4th or 5th year in a row now :)

*How did you learn how to drive?  What kind of car did you have?
My parents took me driving, I'm sure that was scary. I drove either our Blue Buick, which had the horn of a full speed train, or our tan Station Wagon. The latter was the favorite of my friends, mostly because (my dad won't like this part lol) it took bumps and dips so awesomely. My friends would take turns sitting in the back and fly every time we hit one! And it fit 3 friends in the front at once, good memories with that car!

*Who were your friends? 
In high school I had a lot of different friends. Many the same as in the last post, as well as Codilyn Kendell and Katie Manning. People called us the Three Muskateers, because we were ALWAYS together (but oh so much drama of course! hahaha)

*Did you have a girl/boy friend?  Talk about him/her (if your spouse is okay with it!).
I was SO shy in high school, I never had boyfriends until afterwards, when I learned to break out of my shell a little more.

*What did you like/dislike about school?
I'll be honest, I hated most everything about high school. I think part of that was because of my shyness, but I really didn't like school in general. My favorite classes depended on the year, but I did like English, and of course choir and art, and really loved my language classes (German and Spanish).

*What was your first paid job? 
I worked at Wirthlin Worldwide, doing phone surveys. I was pretty good at it, and didn't hate it :)

*What were your chores at home?
About the same as the last post, at this point I was usually the only kid at home so I did whatever I could around the house, between work and school. When I wasn't working I do remember getting an allowance for helping around the house, which I was very grateful for!

This is Me: Early Years

Growing up, early years: 

*Where did you grow up?  Describe it.
Provo, first across the street from what used to be Maeser Elementary. We lovingly call it "the ghetto". We all remember hearing a few shootings going on, or the time a guy escaped from jail and holed up in an apartment building not far from us, and the police came door-to-door telling people to stay in their homes. Lots of amazing people around us though, some of those I am still friends with today.
When I was 10 we moved to Grandview Hill, where I have a lot more memories than at the other house.

*What was your earliest memory?
I only have a few memories when I was young. I remember our dogs Cinnamon and Nutmeg, Cinnamon was a big Chow, I remember she once chased me through the house and into the bathtub.

*What games did you play as a child?
There were a few games our family loved to play. Probe and Bazaar are the most memorable. I remember loving to jump rope too.

*Where did you go to school?
I went to Maeser Elementary until the end of 4th grade, and then we moved and I went to Grandview Elementary.

*Who were your friends?
When I was younger, Julia Patch, Lisa Attkinson, Jenny Evens, and Brittany Tueller were some of my good friend.
Once I moved I made new friends pretty quickly with Jessica Child, Angela Harward, Sarah Hansen, Jenne Andersen, Cammie Davis (the best part of this is we all still get together and have dinner and reminisce about those silly times.

*Who were your favorite teachers and why?
Mr Rowley was definitely my favorite teacher. The year he taught us in 6th grade was his first year teaching. He now teaches at the elementary that my kids go to, and is just as awesome! He has always kept up with that 6th grade class, remembered all of our birthdays, come to everything important, I mean how awesome is that. He came to my wedding! All around awesome guy.

*What were your chores?
With such a big family, as far as I remember, we just rotated who did what, but all the regular house keeping chores. I even mowed the lawn fairly often when we were in the house on Grandview (since then I was often the only kid at home). We had a sweet electric mower that I had to plug in and make sure not to run over haha!

This is Me Challenge

I've decided to do the "This is Me Challenge".
The first section is:

 Your birth and family:  
*What is your full name and how did you get that name?  Do you have any nicknames?

Jeanette Marlene (Smith) Sorensen. My family calls me either Nettie or Birdette (I think that came from my brothers, but I have no idea how, feel free to chime in if you have some insight into this!). In high school some of my friends called me Eddie, Jeanette was just toooo girly at the time, but now it fits me a little better :)

*What are your parent's full names and birth dates and places?

My Dad is Kim LeRoy Smith, 12/22/39 and he was born in Idaho I believe (correct me if I'm wrong on any of these!)

My Mom is Barbara Charlene (Funk) Smith, she went by Charlene, her mother was Barbara. She was born in Rosemead, CA. I think, on 6/3/39.

*What is the date of your birth?  Where were you born?

My birthday is 6/26/79. I was born in Provo at UVRMC. I was 10 lbs 6 oz (huuuuge!) and 21 in. at 5somethingAM.

*What are your sibling's full names and birth dates? 

My mom had 8 kids, with TWO sets of twins!

Oh gosh, this one is tricky, I'm getting old and forgetting the days! Let's see how I do... please don't hate me if I get any wrong!!! :)

Julie Ranae Pulsipher 7/31

Sheryl Lynn Mildenhall Mills 7/31

Brian Jay Smith 2/19

Gary LeRoy Smith 8/26

Denise Diane Pearce 11/18

Lori Jeanine Harris 3/17

Mark Damon Smith 3/17

*How was your relationship with your siblings and parents?.

I was the youngest of 8, with my nearest siblings being 4 years older than me, so I was a little bit spoiled and probably a brat (I'm sure if you ask my siblings, they'd say a LOT spoiled, and a huge brat lol). Most of my older siblings were out of the house by the time I remember much, but I remember when they came to visit I would cry at nights when they had left (I know, so sad huh). I always missed them so much!

*What are some lessons you learned from you parents?

I think the most important lessons both of my parents taught me, by great example, were to honor the priesthood, and to pray. Anytime I needed comfort or was sick, my dad would always be willing to give me a blessing, even in the middle of the night (which was often), even for small things and my mom would always tell me to say a prayer when I needed help, etc. I've always remembered that and am extremely grateful for it.

*How did you help in your home?

I think the earliest thing I remember as a little kid was helping with laundry. By the time I was a teenager I was mostly the only child at home, so I helped with a lot of the chores. I remember times I tried to cut corners to get done faster, but my mom would always catch me! I think that's why I'm so ocd about cleaning now as a grown up