Once Through Childhood

Childhood is one of my greatest memories as they are for everyone... well... most of everyone...I think...  I miss being a little girl, only dreaming of the age I am now.  Being the youngest one would think that I had lots of older siblings to play with, but rather I didn't.  Since I was four years younger than Shannah it was a lot harder to play with them.  I was a pest, and I made sure to be one too.  I followed them around and made sure to be in their business. 





It wasn't all bad though, sometimes we agreed.  When the neighbor kids decided to piss one of my sisters off, I was generally the one who did the tricks- seeing as I was the youngest.  I was even sent out to moon people.  Sad as it is, that didn't last long when they threatened to tell our mom.  It was a lot of fun for me, only when I got older and realized what exactly I was doing did I get embarrassed.  I remember one time when they had me moon the neighbors, thankfully... they moved before I became a teenager. 

As a child, and being the youngest I was also pushed aside often and I learned how to play by myself.  It's also where I got my imagination, probably my greatest skill.  I noticed something while watching my eight year old play one day.  Her and I are very different.  Mercedies doesn't like to play by herself, she needs someone with her at all times or else she gets bored.  Yet when I was a child I liked being by myself -yes the occasional friend was nice but I had more adventures and ideas when I was little.  Plus there weren't others interested in the games I came up with (surprisingly I didn't decide to play dungeons and dragons when I got older, only because I would be very confused in the game haha :P ) 

So there's my childhood.  Nothing extremely tragic happened.  No mother dieing and father marrying an evil witch.  No evil queen trying to kill me off with apples (but that would be totally awesome because then I'd get to meet some dwarfs).  Just a life full of being a brat, growing with my imagination, and just being a kid.  Nothing extravagant.  Why does it matter?  Because that's what turned me into me.  It helped me grow.  It helped me achieve.  It gave me my childish ways, my little quirks, my giggles, and most important some pretty great memories that you might hear of some day. 

The Key is Finding the True Friends...

I consider myself to be very lucky to have my friends in life.  I have a large bunch but the ones whom I hold true to my heart.  I'll hold them close to my heart forever.  I'd like my readers to get to know them, because you will be hearing from them in my story...

So...Once upon a time I met some amazing people.

Name: Caity

Nickname: Noi, Izumi, Floozy, Bimbo

Association to me: bffaeaeeatdrtea (best friends forever and ever and ever even after the dinosoars roam the earth again)

Caity and I met in seventh grade.  I was going through a phase where I thought I was the coolest person in the world and I was really mean to her.  Then in eighth grade I realized that I wasn't as cool as I thought and I got to know her and apologized for my behavior in the previous year, only to find out how cool she was.  From then on we were friends and grew into best friends.  She helps me with my stories and we come up with funny scenarios together.  We watch anime and read manga together and though she's a total tom boy and I'm a total girly girl we both get each other.  We squeal at the cutest things and make faces at each other.  Sadly though this previous year we learned that she will be moving to a different state... so we will only be able to write to each other.  She will be leaving come December or sooner.

Name: Trent

Nickname: Darling, hunty

Association to me: Best friend

You know that cotton candy that walks through crowds that you chase down just to eat and then only to find out its a guy with pink hair... or the guy with mermaid green and blue hair... that's my friend Trent.  Trent and I met in elementary school we weren't friends until middle school and in high school we got close and got to know each other.  We've become great friends ever since.  Whenever I need someone to listen and rant to other than Caity I go to him.  He's my phsycologist.  Whenever we have a moment of silence he always says "So...vagina's... those are a thing now" and every time I can't help but burst out laughing.  He'll be there for all of my love life and will continue to be there til I'm old and gray most likely yelling at me for having so many kids.  It's fun because sometimes he'll try to say something and it comes out complete gibberish.  For example, hunty came from him trying to say hunny. 

Name: Shannon

Nickname: Shiwase

Association to me: Best friend

I met Shannon through writing.  We're both fanfiction authors and one day I came across her work, sent her a review and then we became close friends.  She's a shy girl and reminds me a lot like the little girl in a tea cup wanting to keep it spinning and having fun.  Never wanting it to stop.  We talk through text and email seeing as we live in different states.  I've made some other great friends because of her.  She gives me a lot of great advice and picks me up when I'm down.  You'll hear about her some.  We haven't been able to talk all that much because she's been busy.

Name: Kirk

Nickname: K.B, Jerk, Leprechaun

Association to me: Best friend and boyfriend

No K.B is not a red head, but he has this cheery, happy go lucky attitude and a wonderful laugh that reminds me of a leprechaun... I'm thinking of the next time I see a rainbow taking him with me to find the end of it.  I'm sure he'll have some instincts in finding it.  Kirk and I met at work.  We work at a grocery store and while I'm a cashier, he's in charge of dairy and he also helps with the up front stuff too.  We were friends for the longest time before we realized that we liked one another.  We started dating and until I'm out of high school because of my sisters rule I can date other people.  Which isn't too terribly bad, but I feel bad dating other people.  We've gone through our rough patches, but I know deep down that we can get through them.  I believe in holding it out for the good in life, and I have a good feeling about this.  We've both had our doubts, and yes they're hard but like I said.  I believe in not giving up when things get tough.  And yes, if things do end up with a break up then we will still be best friends.  I wont give up a brilliant friend because of things like that.  I found my true friends and they will stay my true friends.  It's funny how opposite we are to each other.  He's considered a wild child, while I'm the good girl.  I think we complete each other in that kind of way.  He's an amazing person.  He likes guitars, he plays and builds them.  He says he'll teach me to play in turn I'll teach him how to ballroom dance.  So far I've taught him the waltz and he wasn't bad.  So if he's reading this than *Muah* and deal question love: Do you eat Lucky Charms cereal? hehe

You have your introductions of important people in my life now readers, there are more friends but not like these guys.  I have great friends but not many best friends.  From now on posts will be real posts and not introductions to people you will need to know.  You'll meet more people along the way, but now... now will begin my story...



The Lovely Additions

Once Upon My Life there were some lovely additions added to my family, and there are more to come I'm sure. 

The first addition that came into my family- or well what I consider to be an addition is my niece Reyna.

(Reyna has always been a free spirit in my mind)

Reyna is my eldest niece, in fact she's older than me by two years.  She's Dustins daughter, he and his girlfriend Lisa had her when Lisa was still in high school.  Now Reyna is this beautiful smart girl, her hair is so curly!  It made me and my sisters so jealous looking at those curls as we grew up.  She has such a free spirit too, or she did.  I actually haven't seen her for a couple of months... as sad as that is to say.  She still is a very strong girl and very smart too.  I love my niece Reyna and hopefully she'll be in this blog more with the future.

The second addition which I really can't call an addition  is my ex sister-in-law Treena.

(One of my greatest childhood memories was sitting out on the front porch in the summer with her and just talking and watching the stars)

Even if she's not married to my brother anymore she will always be my sister.  I grew up with her as my brothers wife and the mother to my niece and nephew.  She was married to Dustin and was Reynas step mom and my other niece and nephews mother.  The two got a divorce and  now Treena is married to a great guy named Chris.  I don't really know a lot about him but I can tell he's a great guy and he makes her smile and I love it.  My family and I see her on every important holiday.  The two of us have these big talks and I love them.  In fact I need to call her sometime so we can have another.  Treena is amazing and strong and on top of that she's a mama bear.  She's an amazing person and also a free spirit.

The next addition is my niece Zoe.

 

(Zoe would always play with leaves when she was a little girl, I remember a story once where in the middle of a ball game she would just sit and talk to the leaves)

Zoe is my second eldest niece.  She will soon be going into the eighth grade.  She's a very sweet girl and has a big heart.  She used to be a very girly girl but now she's hit the age of punk rock.  It's crazy how much she's grown. I expect her to still sing Disney songs... now it's Blood on the Dance Floor... She's an amazing person, and I hope she's as free of a spirit as her mother is.  I can't wait to see how how beautiful she becomes with the upcoming years.

My nephew Cash.

(My nephew Cash's nick name is Cash-a-Roo and he'll always be that to me, even when he becomes an adult I will still call him my Cash-a-Roo... and I will embarrass him)

Aww my little nephew Cash.  He's a little punk but I love him dearly.  He's a little punk though, but he means well in the end.  He's always so eager to tell on his sister, or so I hear anyways.  When he was little he had the most beautiful long curly hair and he has the biggest eyes and everyone thought he was a girl.  We loved the hair on him cuz he was just our little Cash.  Well when Dustin and Treena got their divorce one day one of them trimmed his hair just a little... then the other got mad and cut it really short... then shorter... then shorter...then they shaved it off and it never grew back the same again... it was heartbreaking.  Now he does wild things with his hair... I blame my brother.. last time I saw him he had all but his bangs shaved off. I nearly strangled Dustin.  Truth is though is that he is a sweetheart, he tries to act punk but when you need to you can get to see the side of him that isn't a punk. 

My sister-in-law Celeste

(My first memory of Celeste)

So my first memory of Celeste was when my brother was first meeting her.  He met her online and our computer was in our mothers room. One day my brother Travis was typing away at the computer- I later found out he was messaging someone- and every once in a while the sound "MOOO" would sound throughout the house.  It went all day and into the evening and my mother would be so mad and try to get him out of her room so she could sleep but alas... he really liked this girl.  Then one day she came over and he introduced us and after that... he proposed and they got married.  I was the flower girl.  Now Celeste is a very nice person and has a great attitude on life.  We get along for the most part, sometimes we have our little drifts where we're mad at each other or annoyed with each other.  She's a writer like me, and when she found out I wanted to be an author we connected through that.  We still argue a bit and we don't agree on a great deal of things but she loves my brother and nieces and nephews and that's all I ask.

My niece Mercedies

(Mercedies's nickname is 'Goose')

My niece Mercedies is a lot like her mom.  She was born a day after my mothers birthday and when they were picking names they couldn't come up with one.  Travis and Celeste really like cars and so they named her after the car Mercedes but they changed the spelling because our family likes unique names.  Mercedies thinks of me as an older sister rather than an aunt.  I've been there looking out for her her whole life and I will look out for her always.  She's bubbly, that's for sure especially when it comes to games.  She's also pretty unique with the things she comes up with- now if only I could get her to not make things up randomly.  I can't wait til she starts dating because I'll be the aunt looking the boy up and down and telling him that it's not her daddy he has to worry about.  I wonder how she'll feel about that.

My nephew Tristen

(My nephew Tristen is as cuddly as this puppy)

Tristen or Bobo is a very cuddly person.  He's the youngest out of all the nieces and nephews and he loves it.  He's a sensitive little one even though he loves to fight and trying to kick his sisters butt.  He's called my little prince because he acts princy sometimes and he has this devilish smirk on his face that makes you know he's up to no good.  He's adorable and funny and starts kindergarten this year so he'll be making new friends and having new adventures... I can't wait to hear all about them and I'll be sure to share.

My sister-in-law Viri

(When Viri didn't speak English we communicated through food...)

Viri (pronounced BidE) is from Mexico.  My brother Michael met her while he was on his mission and when he left he gave her our address and phone number and then asked her to be his girlfriend and the two communicated through letters and phone calls.  They fell in love and finally my brother went to my parents saying he wanted to marry her and our family worked to allow her to come to America on a visa.  He went to Mexico and asked her to marry him... she said Si!  She didn't speak English and my sisters and I didn't speak Spanish so...we gave her food.  We didn't want her to be hungry.  Now she speaks English very well, better than me sometimes and she's awesome.  She's funny and amazing and best of all... she gets along with my brother.

My niece Abish

(She's my little fairy)

Abish is Michael and Viri's daughter.  She's adorable and full of energy.  Now fairy's aren't all fun and cute.. they're vicious little marauder too.  Abish can be a brat but you have to love her.  She's loud and loves to get her way and sometimes you have to knock her down a few pegs even though it's so hard to do, it's the only way to get her to understand.  Now she's understanding a bit better she can't hurt people (hitting, kicking) and get away with it.  If she even accidentally kicks or hits you she gets all wide eyed and teary and goes "I'm sorry.. I'm sorry" and she'll repeat it until you say it's ok.  She loves the Disney princesses, her favorite is Rapunzel from Tangled.  The picture above reminds me of her because she would be the little fairy with messy hair, hanging out with owls, and wearing bright colors.  The wide eyes even remind me of her because she is a girl who loves to learn.

The soon to be addition: My brother-in-law Cody

(Cody loves watching professional basketball)

Cody and my sister Meaghan met on myspace and have been dating since.  They got engaged around this time last year.  They will be getting married on September 8.  It's exciting!!  He's an okay guy.  He has his faults but I'm pretty sure he loves her and that's all I can ask of him... well that and taking care of her.  I don't know that much about him actually.  My sisters and I don't really talk all that much and he doesn't come up in subject.  So when I get to know him more, I'll tell more.

So my lovely additions to my family... they're amazing aren't they?  I love them all... and there will be another addition to the family in April....

 

Me, Myself, and My Family

Once upon a winter day I was born...

(This is my friends interpetation of me, until I can get a camera I'm going to be putting pictures I find up so enjoy!)

My name is Caleigh Janean Gregory.

Unique spelling that it is, do not confuse it with other names.  It's CalE like California, not Kaylee, not CalEGH, it's Caleigh.  I have some nicknames such as Calu, Calihey, Calulu, Caliuh, and to my best friends Mai and OB.  Of course the Calihey and Caliuh came from people mis-reading my name I've found them to be fun and amusing so I allowed them to become my nicknames.  There is also Cal, the horrid nickname given to me by my sisters- but we'll get to that later. 

I'm 17 years old, just the right age to look back at my story and understand things and start to take more steps in creating it. 

I'm a romantic.  I'm a writer.  I'm a reader, a student, a friend, a daughter, sister, an aunt.  I'm a dreamer, a dependable person, and I'm the girl who will cry not only after Jane Austens novels but also in Jane Austens own love story.  I'm the girl who will steal you're Dr. Pepper if you put it in front of me and don't share.  I read manga and I watch anime and I enjoy them.  Most of all though I'm a unique person and no one can take that away from me.

My family is one of the most important things in my life, and I wouldn't be anywhere without them.  My immediate family that you readers will hear from the most consists of my mother, my father, my big brother Dustin, his daughters Reyna and Zoe, and his son Cash.  My brother Michael, his wife Viri, and their daughter Abish.  My other brother Travis, his wife Celeste, and their daughter Mercedies and son Tristen.  My sister Meaghan and her fiance Cody and my other sister Shannah.

(This is not my mom obviously -since she hates pictures- but this is a strong mother.  It portrays my mother very well in showing her strength.  That's my opinion anyways)
My moms name is Shelah.
As you can see this is where the unique spelling of names in our family come from. 
My mother is amazing.  I know you all have probably heard that before but to me, my mom truly is.  In my eyes my mother is a hero, a warrior, a person of wonder and someone everyone should look up to.  My mother has been through so much in her life and she took it with stride.  I wont go into details because that story is not one for me to tell- not yet anyways- but just know that she is a person of strong character.  She's my listener and believer.  She knows everything about me and accepts me for everything my good and my bad points.  I can't keep anything from her.  She raised me and all 5 of my other siblings as well as her grand kids.  She taught me and my siblings manners and respect. 

My mom knows if I've been crying even before I begin to talk.  She knows when I'm ill before even I realize it.  She supports me in everything I do.  Most of all though is she knows me.  Everything about me; my dreams, my good and bad qualities, my habits, my joys in life and she loves me for all of it.  Even my bad qualities.  She raised six kids.  She is above all else...amazing.

(Some of my best memories consisted of me holding onto my dads legs and he pulled me across the kitchen floor haha)
My dads name is Matthew or Matt.
One word that would explain my dad is complicated.  You have to learn how to get under his shell in order to understand him.  He has this aura around him that makes it hard for people to come up to him at first glance, but when you get to know him he really is pretty nice...and protective... very protective.  My dad isn't the most perfect person in the world, but nobody is.  He has a temper and he knows how to use it but usually when his temper shows in front of me he tends to buy me a treat to make it up to me- it's how he says he's sorry.  One thing about my dad that is so great is that he tries his best to encourage me with everything I do. 
He is a teddy bear deep down, especially with me.  He's teaching me how to drive right now- I don't have my license yet- and at first we were both really scared but it's gotten so much better.  He doesn't even freak out as much as he did with my sisters!  My dad is really great and I hope that people can see that.

(My brother is one who leaves when he's in trouble)
My eldest brothers (technically brother) name is Dustin.
Like I said in my first post this isn't just a simple fairytale where everything is perfect, my eldest brother is who I like to call the runaway.  He runs away when things get bad.  He messes up a lot and quiet frankly he needs to get hit upside the head.  Now I know the saying "if you don't have anything nice to say than don't say anything at all" but in this case I tell the truth.  I don't have a great ...or even good past with my brother.  So if he's reading this blog- than I'm sorry but I am speaking the truth in my point of view.

(My brother taught me how to play with "Tekken" when I was a young girl.)
My second eldest brothers name is Michael.
My brother Michael is above all else inspirational... and brilliant.  He is so smart.  In high school he took many hard classes and got great scores in them and in collage he did great too.  While my parents worked a lot when I was younger he helped raise me and he was still in high school too.  Sometimes when he's just playing some of his video games I like to sit and watch.  It's amazing what my brother can come up with in his games and I truly wish I could think like he does.  It's funny actually he has a scientific brain while mine is more of an artistic one and we both excel in different things scholarly. 
People think he's a bit rude because he's blunt and because he forces them to think differently.  My brother is blunt because that's his way and he teaches that way.  One has to get used to his attitude but when you do you realize just how kind and generous Michael truly is.  Honestly if I was ever in trouble I know that I can go to him.  He'll help anyone in need.  He'll help anyone who is willing to ask for help and work for it as well.  Really he's my hero.  He's smart, funny, and he knows what to do for the most part.  Hopefully I can be a bit more like him in the future.

(My brother is good with cars and he loves Transformers so...)

My third eldest brother, in fact my last brother is Travis.
When I grew up I didn't really know a lot about Travis, he was at the age where we didn't really talk.  Now that I think about it there were times when I didn't even know who he was to me.  Yes he lived at home but I never really knew him.  Our didn't meet up as much, but now I know who he is and how good of a person he is.  Travis has a kind heart.  He's a man who tries so hard to please.  He's also very political...so much sometimes I have to stop him from talking his head off.  He has his opinions and he likes to speak of them loudly and a lot and sometimes he goes to far but he has his good points that makes people think.  At the moment he's going to SLCC and he's working on becoming a teacher or at least that's what he's saying.  He is still trying to decide what he's going to do and to be honest I'm excited to find out myself.

(My sister is always protecting me and holding me up even when I just want to fall to the ground.)
My eldest sisters name is Meaghan.
Most people don't think my sister is very strong- she tends to be moved to tears a lot but what they don't know is that my sister is very strong.  Unfortunately my sister has had a bit of a past like my mom, thankfully it didn't get as bad as it did with my mother but it did get pretty bad.  Yet there she stands with her head held high.  Now she's not as guarded with guys she knows but when me or my other sister get to know a boy she goes protective.  She wants us safe and happy more than anything else.  That's why I look up to her, I want to be able to protect just like that.  She like most of my family is inspiring and I hope when you read this blog you will see how much she is.

(Me and my second eldest sister don't get along all that well... )
My elder sister Shannah.
Shannah and me are four years apart, and we don't really talk for the most part.  When we grew up we were always fighting- and I'm not talking the simple yelling and screaming- oh no we were vicious to each other.  Hair pulling, kicking, punching, biting, tickle torture, and yes that all sounds a bit normal but let me go into some of the names that we called our means of destruction.  Ring around the Rosie's hair pulling style, purple bites, kicking wars... yeah...childhood was ... fun?  We get along okay now, of course there are still the hard feelings from childhood but we talk and sometimes we'll do things together.  Shannah is an amazing person though.  She's very out going and is able to start up a conversation with anyone.  That's why I look up to her so much, she's everything I'm not and though we're complete opposites we've gotten to the point where we do understand each other for the most part.  She's the out going, sporty, tough as nails -until someone gets under her shell, independent girl.  Not only that, she's my sister.  She's my big sis and like Meaghan she's protective of me even if she doesn't show it until I'm upset.  She's also protective of Meaghan too, just as I am.  That's just the way us Gregory girls work.

I love my family more than anything in the world.  I love them... how could I not?

This isn't all of my family- now I'm not talking extended because well you'll hear about them when they do.  There are too many to write sections for- I have nieces and nephews for you all to adore and in laws for you to learn about which will be in my next post: Once Upon My Life- The Lovely Additions

The Begining

Once Upon A Time....

There was a girl born and usually the story goes on with the girl actually being a princess and living the good life and having a few terrible things happen to her and then her prince shows up and they go off and live Happily Ever After.  Well things are going to be different in this story, you see this girl turns out to be me and my story is really just begining so I've decided that I'm going to take people along for the ride with me and we'll see where my story and ideas leads off to.  So let us begin again with Once Upon A Time....