Winters Family

Karli

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All About Me

I have never been very good about keeping a journal. I am good about starting them (I've started about 35), but I never keep them up, let alone complete one! It has been much easier to keep a journal for Mylie than for myself. Now that I have a child, I have a new-found committment to journaling, and my hope is that by being able to type it and post it online, I will do it more regularly (in other words, the old way wasn't working, so we're trying something new!). Our Relief Society has also issued a challenge to all the sisters in our Ward (my church congregation) to keep a journal and to help get us started, they are providing a list of five questions each week for us to answer. I will be posting my answers here so that you can learn a little bit more about me.

*What are the names of your parents and siblings?
I was born in Klamath Falls, Oregon, on March 28, 1981 to Marci (Miller) and Randy Bryan. My brother, Cody Wayne came along four and a half years later on September 4, 1985.

*What was your favorite candy growing up? What is it now?
As a child, I didn't really eat much candy. In fact, I would save all my Easter, Valentines and Halloween Candy for years and years. I was very into the Baby-Sitters Club Books, and there was a character in them (Claudia) who hid all of her candy, and would pull it out to entertain her friends whenever they were around. I decided that was a great idea, since I never ate it anyway - I could just use it to entertain my friends! I was very popular for it :). And I had candy filling up drawers in my room. One of my favorite hiding places was a drawer under my waterbed. This was all a great idea, until the bugs moved in. I don't know what kind of bugs they were, but they definitely loved my candy, and they were all over the drawers I had it hidden in. Once my mom discovered the bugs, that was the end of my candy hoarding days. And having to clean the bugs out myself cured me of the desire. I have never really cared much for chocolate (especially plain) although my favorite kind of candy has probably always been (and still is) Reese's Cups.

*List the cities or towns you lived in before you left home or married.
I lived most of my life in Klamath Falls, Oregon. I attended Pelican Elementary School until almost the end of my sixth grade year. At that point, my parents divorced, and my brother and I moved to Clackamas (Portland), Oregon. We moved in with my mom's brother's family for about 6 months. At the end of that time, we moved back to Klamath Falls, where I attended Ponderosa Junior High and then Klamath Union High School. We stayed in Klamath Falls until I left to go to college at The University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.

*What was the make, model and year of your first car?
My parents always said that if we wanted our own car, we would have to buy it ourselves. I was too involved in extracurricular activities in high school to have time for a job, so I never had enough money for one. I was involved in theater, band, choir, jazz band, jazz choir, baton twirling, Key Club, Student Government and a number of other activities. My mom was good about loaning me her car, and I had plenty of friends with cars to take me where I needed to be (once I convinced my mom to let me ride with other teenagers...I think she caved because she got tired of having to take me everywhere). After my first year in college without a car, something spectacular happened, and my parents decided I needed one. I guess they got tired of driving up to Washington to pick me up and take me home! My dad purchased a second car that he let me drive, and once I got married we purchased the car from him. We still have it to this day, and are just about to pay it off! It is a 1996 Subaru Legacy, in dark green.

*What was your favorite pet and what was their name?
I am a definite cat person. That being said, I should mention my goldfish. When I was in first grade, I had a pet goldfish that I won at a school carnival. I named it Goldie (real original, I know). Goldie lived in a small bowl in our kitchen for almost five years. At that point in my life, I thought that was an incredibly long time, especially for a carnival goldfish. I still maintain that Goldie would have lived longer if it weren't for the stupid pet store fish we bought and put in her bowl so that my brother could have his own fish too. But no, Goldie was not my favorite pet gorwing up. Right before I started fourth grade, my mom got us two kittens. We named them Lady and Tramp, because Lady had come from a nice, plush home, and Tramp came from the pound. Lady was snobbish, and Tramp was as cuddly and loving as could be. We only had Tramp for a couple of years before he was killed by a car on our street, which had claimed the lives of countless pets. Lady, however, survives to this day, and becomes more cantankerous by the day. She has, however, a very soft spot in her heart for me, and was there for me through all my emotional teenage years. She loved to sleep with me and cuddle with me, and after I came to college I had to get a stuffed cat to sleep with because I had become so used to sleeping with her. To this day, when I go back to my mom's house, she knows who I am and will come immediately to me, even though she can hardly see. We now have two new cats (Tod & Copper) who I love dearly, but no cat will ever quite replace Lady in my heart.

*What is your favorite flower?
When I was growing up, we had a yard full of lilac trees. I would always know when summer was right around the corner because our yard and house would be filled with the glorious smell of lilacs. If the flowers weren't so fragile and short-lived, I would have had them in my wedding. Instead, I opted for hydrangeas, which I now have in my yard. While they don't have the fragrance of lilacs, they are definitely beautiful as well as hardy, so I like them almost as much.

*Which news stories have made the biggest impression on you?
Anyone in my generation would probably have to answer this question with September 11, 2001. I remember I had slept in a little bit late, but I still didn't want to get up. For some reason on this day, I turned on my radio - something I didn't usually do. The morning show on the country station was taking callers and the first caller said, "I think we should fly our flags at half mast." Looking back at that statement now, I think it was so stupid and such an understatement. But I didn't know what she was talking about at that point, and they just kept talking about a tragedy. So I quickly got up and went to the living room of the house I shared with my four best friends (Dana, Lisa, Stacey & Jessie). Dana had just turned on the T.V. a second before I got there and we both stood there in shock as we watched the footage of the planes flying in to the Twin Towers. We couldn't move and didn't know what to do. We just stared at each other, and for most of the rest of that day, the five of us cuddled together on the couch watching the news. I did go to choir, however, where we decided we would hold rehearsal as normal, because we thought it important that we keep making music, and bring a little bit of beauty into the world. Later that night I went to church where I donated blood.

*What phrases of your mother's do you find yourself repeating?
My mom would always say funny things that I thought everyone said, but only now am I finding out that they are rather unique. These phrases include "You do and you'll clean it up," when someone mummbles something you don't understand; or "I saw the cat covering up something," when someone can't find what they're looking for; and "Pick 'em up and put 'em down," when the car or person in front of you is going too slow.

*What was your least favorite household chore when you were a child? What is it now?
Dishes, dishes and more dishes...it's a never ending cycle. Luckily, I have married the most wonderful man who is great at the dishes, and says he'll keep doing them as long as I keep feeding him!

*How far away was your elementary school, and how did you get there?
Pelican Elementary was probably a mile or two away from where we lived. I would ride the bus occasionally, but most often my mom took me. I would usually ride the bus home, most of the time. Half-way through Kindergarten, I transfered to Joseph Conger Elementary always took me and picked me up. I was there until the end of first grade, at which point I transfered back to Pelican for the remainder of my Elementary career.

*What is something you remember about your Grandfather?
My Grandpa Bryan (on my dad's side) passed away the summer after I graduated from high school in 1999. My favorite memories of him was how he would always call me his "favorite granddaughter," and I would laugh and inform him that,"Grandpa! I'm your only granddaughter!" And he would say, "Well, you're still my favorite," and we would go around and around like that for hours. When I was little, I used to get a thrill from his dentures. I would ask him and ask him to do his trick, and he would refuse until the moment when I least expected, and he would pop them out of his mouth, almost like sticking out his tongue. I would laugh and laugh and laugh. One time, my best friend, Holly and I decided we were going to open a detective agency. Grandpa Bryan was our first and only client. He came up to our office (my room), and told us he would pay us each $5 to find his dog. When I reminded him that he did not have a dog, he exlaimed, "I know, that's why I need you to find him!" We never found his mysterious dog, but we got the money anyway.

*Do you have a resemblance with any other relative? If so, what is it?
My mother and I have been blessed (aka cursed) with short legs and thunder thighs. It is just a fact of life that capri pants will always be full length on me, and any other pair will require folding or hemming. For my first Prom, my mom was able to cut enough off the bottom of my dress to make me a shoulder wrap! And now, I fear I have passed these blessed genes (and jeans) onto my own daughter, who has appeared to have Miller thighs since the day she was born. It is only fitting, however, because she really looks like a carbon copy of me in a lot of ways. Our baby pictures are quite similar.

*What was your favorite vacation?
As a child, my family and I were avid rafters. We had our own boats and gear, and every summer would go on at least one trip. Our favorite was the Rogue River in southern Oregon. On my first trip, when I was 7, I got chased by a bear! We were at camp for the night, and some deer came through our camp. So I went up to feed them marshmallows (what else to deer eat, afterall?) As I approached them, I heard my parents yelling at me. When I turned to look at them, I saw them pointing off to my side, and there, lumbering very quickly towards me was a giant brown bear. I turned and headed down the hill toward my parents, and the bear turned and ran up the hill after the deer. Later, he appeared on a cliff overlooking our campsite. He sat there and sniffed the air for the longest time while we made spaghetti, so we named him Luigi. My dad and his friend started climbing the cliff to take pictures of him, but soon he started heading down towards them. At that point they picked up rocks to throw at him, and finally my dad hit him between the eyes, and he ran off. That night, we rowed all our trash across the river so he wouldn't come to our camp to get into it. Luckily, he didn't come, but he did swim across the river and tore into the trash there.

As an adult, my favorite vacation was in August/September of 2004, when I went to Disneyworld with Nick, my Mom and my brother Cody. We went for a week and had a wonderful time, going to all the parks, hanging out in the waterparks, and seeing the sights. Nick and I even bought a Vacation Club membership (similar to a Timeshare) so that we can continue to go back with our family. The most memorable part of the trip was that we got stuck in Hurricane Frances, one of the largest surface area hurricanes in recent memory. We were sequestered in our room (which all four of us shared) for 24 hours until he blew through, and we missed our flight home. We couldn't get it rescheduled until 3 days later, but we did get to spend more time enjoying the resort.

*Describe the first time you moved away from home to live on your own.
I left Klamath Falls in 1999 to go to college at the University of Puget Sound in August of 1999. I didn't have any friends going to the same school, and was pretty much on my own, but knew it was where I was supposed to be. It took me a long time to make friends, because I was not a party-er and did not know what else to do on the weekends to meet people. I finally made some incredible friends, and the next year 5 of us got a house together just off campus. It felt so strange to do all of our own shopping, pay rent and bills, and generally be so grown up. It was a struggle to get 5 girls to leave peacefully in a house together with only 1 and 1/2 bathrooms, but we managed and are still the best of friends to this day, even though we are spread out now and don't get to see each other as often as we'd like.

*What is your favorite season? Why?
If there is one thing I've learned from living in Seattle, it's that I would prefer an area that gets all four seasons - not just hot & rain. And I can never make up my mind about which is my favorite, because I think my favorite is the changing of the seasons. I love when the flowers first start to come out, and you know spring is approaching; or the first day you realize that the days really are getting longer and summer is just around the corner; or when the leaves first begin to change and the smell of school and new clothes are in the air; or when the days get crisp and you start remembering how fun it is to get the family together for the holidays. The anticipation of what is just around the corner is what I love the best. And sometimes, I get that feeling even four times a year even in Washington.

*Have you ever traveled to a foreign country? Where and when?
Nick and I travelled to Vancouver, B.C. for our honeymoon in June of 2002. (Yes, that is the most exotic place I've been at this point in time). We headed in to Canada on June 30, the day before Canada Day, and we left on July 3, the day before Independence Day. That made for a ton of traffic and trouble at the border, but we didn't care! We had each other to keep us company. And being the nerds that we are, we played silly car games like memorizing all of the state capitals in alphabetical order. It was then that we realized our kids would hate car trips with us. While in Canada, we stayed in two different B&Bs. At the first one we stayed in the "Safari Room", on the coast just over the border in White Rock. We strolled down along the beaches, relaxed in the pool, and in the morning had the best bacon we'd ever tasted. The owner asked for Nick's help on some computer problem he was having, and ended up giving Nick $20 (Canadian) for helping. He also took us to a car wash so we could get all the wedding gunk off our car and then ended up paying for our car wash when we realized we didn't have any Canadian change. At the next B&B, we stayed in the "English Cottage," which was a seperate basement in North Vancouver at a place that had a cute little brook running through the back yard. We took the water taxi over to Vancouver, where we got to participate in their kick-off celebration for their bid for the 2010 Olympics. We also watched the Canada Day Celebrations and went to an Imax show. We have not been back to Canada since then, but have very fond memories of it, and hope to return soon!

*Have you ever broken a bone or had stitches?
When I was in fourth grade, my Girl Scout Troup had a mother/daughter slumber party at a school. For some reason, both the girls and the moms thought it would be fun (or at least acceptable) to play chain tag in our socks...in the dark... in the gym. Now just picture this...giggly girls, running around on a nicely waxed gym floor in socks, linking on to one another as the chain grew bigger and bigger...IN THE DARK. It's only a slight recipe for disaster. Needless to say, there was a small accident. One of the chains swung me around, and I slipped into the door frame of the double doors and smacked my wrist. Luckily, one of the moms was a nurse, so she wrapped me up in an ace bandage, and I went straight to bed and was out for the rest of the night. When Monday rolled around, my wrist still hurt and I wanted to keep it in the sling that my mom had fashioned for me. She thought I was being a baby, but let me wear it to school. This continued for a couple more days, until my mom - sure that I was trying to get attention - begrudgingly took me to the doctor. When he x-rayed me, he found that I did indeed have a broken wrist! My mom felt terrible after that, but I got a purple cast, and all was right with the world.

In addition to the broken bone, I have had a number of stitches. I had some when I was first born, and my lung collapsed due to meconium aspiration. I had more when I had open knee surgery in 10th grade (they also put screws in my knee) and again when I had arthroscopic knee surgery during my sophomore year in college (and they took out the screws they had put in before). I also had to have a cast on my leg when I tried to go back to soccer too soon after my surgery, and gave myself a stress fracture. Most recently I had to have stitches after my C-Section. Yup, I think that about covers it.

*What is your favorite dessert?
Anything that is NOT chocolate... But honestly, my very favorite is my Dad's homemade Strawberry Rhubarb pie. There is also an incredible dessert at this cute little Italian restaurant in Renton called Vino's. It is their house special, and is some sort of meringue, cream and raspberry something or other that is to die for! In the same vein is a dessert at Mood Swing (a dinner club in Klamath Falls) that is called a Club Creme. It is the most delicious creme pudding topped with a fresh raspberry sauce. They never would give us the recipe, but they did give my friend Katie and I plenty of free ones!

*When you were a child, what was your favorite game to play?
When we were playing outside, my friends and I loved to play the sort of roll playing games that required us to hide from passing cars - pretending we were on secret missions and the like. We loved the feeling of danger! Along those lines, we also enjoyed a good game of hide and seek or kick the can. However, the best game we ever had was inside. It was a video board game called "Nightmare." It used a VCR tape that had a scary man called the Gatekeeper, who would direct the game. Even though the tape never changed, the game was never the same because each time you were a different character (zombies, witches, poltergeists, etc) and drew different cards and things. The object was to collect all your keys before the time ran out, and the gatekeeper became very scary. It was a perfect game for slumber parties, because it had just the right amount of terror - and you had to play it with the lights out! We loved it so much that we got the 2nd edition, as well as a third edition called Atmosfear, which was similar.

*What is one thing you remember about your Grandmother?
When I was a little girl, I went over to my Grandma Miller's house almost every day. I got to be very close to her. Grandma was the one who instilled in me a love of reading and music. She would always read to me, until I got old enough to follow along and started correcting her mistakes - then she let me read to her. She taught me to read by writing words on little yellow sticky notes and having me stick them to whatever it was she had written. If she wrote "Table", I had to stick the note on the table. I loved that game. She would also take me down to the park and push me on the swings while she would sing to me "Me and My Teddy Bear" and "Jesus Loves Me." Back at her house, we would go down to her piano and she would teach me what she knew, and I would sing the notes back to her when she played them. She also recorded my voice and let me listen to it. And every day without fail, she would make me toasted cheese sandwiches with tomato soup, which we always ate while we watched "Perry Mason" together on TV.

*What was your first paying job? How much did it pay?
As a freshman in high school, I decided that since I was now completely grown up, I needed to do something adult-like, and find myself a job. So, I went to work at my mom's insurance office - Midland Empire Insurance - after school. I did the filing and mail sorting and other odd jobs each day. It was a short walk downtown from my high school (and even shorter if I bummed a ride from someone), and I was paid minimum wage which was at the time, I believe, $4.75 an hour. Due to my massive income, my mom decided it was time that I open a checking account and learn to balance a checkbook, which made me feel all the more grown up. I had tons of disposable income, and really nothing to spend it on. This was a great arrangement for about 3 months, when I got tired of having to say good-bye to my friends each day after school while they were all making plans to hang out and I had to head off to work. Around the same time, I also made a couple of crucial mistakes in the mailroom and was reprimanded by the boss, who happened to be a very tall man with a background in the military. Together we decided that maybe I wasn't as ready for a job as we had both originally thought. Personally, I just think I was destined for greater things than filing. From there on until I graduated from high school, my only job was working at the Ross Ragland Theatre as a children's theater assistant director. This was something at which I totally excelled and loved completely, and inspired me to want to open my own children's theater company someday.

*What do you especially remember about your baptism day?
I was baptized on January 9, 1999 during my senior year in high school. I had ben searching for a church to call home since I was in junior high. After attending a number of churches with my friends, I had finally settled on a small Lutheran church near my high school. But I still didn't quite feel at home there. During a band trip to Seattle, my good friend Ben Stewart was reading a book called The Greatest Quest, by Blaine Yorgason. When he finished, I asked him about it and he let me read it. As I spent all weekend reading it, I became more and more enthralled. It was a story of four college friends that go in search of the true church of Christ, based on facts from the Bible. Everything in the book just seemed to fit, and once I got home I started to ask Ben about what exactly his church stood for. As I heard more and more, I realized that the church was everything I was looking for. It was only a few weeks before I was baptized. My friend, Ben, baptized me. I mostly remember Steve Lents, who had also converted to the church, gave a talk. He quoted the scripture from Luke that says "With God, nothing shall be impossible." It was a special day that changed my life forever, and I am so grateful for those who were willing to share the gospel with me.

*When you were growing up who was your best friend?
I have number of childhood best friends that I could never choose between. In Elementary School, I hung out with a lot of different people, but my favorite was Dani Dobey. We both had younger brothers who were the same age, and our parents were also friends, so we all loved to hang out together. We would have BBQs and play for hours. Then, the summr after 7th grade, I went to a residential theatre camp, and roomed with Katie Hay. We had an instant connection, and became extremely close and remain so to this day. Rachelle Teach and I became close in eighth grade when we made it our goal to get on the "inside" of the popular crowd, and although we don't get to talk or see each other much anymore, we do like to get together when we can. Oakley Hager and I found each other when we started high school and needed someone to hang out with in Band. We shared a locker and our innermost secrets through most of high school, although we lost touch once we graduated. In junior high, I developed a crush on an attractive saxophone player named Ben Stewart. We "went out" on and off for a couple years until we realized that we were better as friends, but he remains a very important person in my past. Also in my freshman year I met Brett Lemieux, who was two years older than I, and became a big brother to me. He watched out for me and we became each other's counselors. Although I don't keep in touch with may of these people like I would like to, I have very fond memories of them and are grateful for their influence in my life and my "growing up" years.

*Have you ever received a traffic citation? What for?
Nope. I have never (thus far - knock on wood...) been pulled over or been in a collision. However, I did get a parking ticket in Canada once that I've never paid. I hope it doesn't prevent me from getting a passport!

*What are some of your Christmas traditions?
My mom was great at creating Christmas traditions for us for all of our lives. For as long as I can remember, we were always allowed to open up one Christmas present on Christmas Eve, and for almost that long, the present we recieved was a new pair of pajamas that we would wear that night. It was simple, but was always comforting to know that they would be there. Then, on Christmas morning our big present was always waiting there for us, unwrapped, set out by the Christmas tree. We would put on Alabama's Christmas album and open our stockings. Most of the time we would have Swedish Pancakes for breakfast. A few years ago my mom also started the tradition of having French Onion Soup on for Christmas Eve dinner. Yummy!

*What did you do as a child that go you into the most trouble with your parents? How did they handle it?
*What is the most important message or advice you've learned that you'd like to pass on for others to profit by?
*Where is one of the most exciting places you have ever been? What made it exciting?
*Have you ever been in a play or drama production as a child, youth or adult?
*What were your father's best and worst traits? What traits do you share?