Miss Jer Bree: January 2012

Monday, 30 January 2012

Getting to know me....

So for my English class... we had to conduct interviews and do write ups.
Here is the one that was written about me...

A Dancer: Jerica Garrick

“I was practically raised in a dance studio,” replied Jerica, in response to my request of her sharing a story explaining her intense passion for dance. Jerica Bree Garrick is from Salt Lake City, Utah, and was born the second of four. Jerica is the only girl in the middle of three brothers. Jerica’s whole family dances, and one of her brothers, she pointed out, is an amazing guitarist. Jerica was gracious enough to allow me the time to interview her and get to know her a bit better. Through a report of this exclusive interview, we will be able to get a better look into the bright life of this young Brigham Young University Student: Jerica Garrick.

Jerica loves to dance, and she is good at it. When asked what her favorite vacation has been growing up, she mentioned that her dancing skills once took her all the way to Florida for the National Championships. She concluded this to be one of her favorite vacations. I have got the feeling that Jerica really enjoys the warm weather while doing this interview because her favorite vacation is Florida and most memorable place she has been: Malibu. I also asked her where she sees herself in ten years and it happens to be in sunny California. Did I mention that her boyfriend lives there? Okay, maybe that also has something to do with it. Yes, Jerica is in a relationship.

Ambition, along with many other great characteristics, is one that seems to describe Jerica well. In addition to living in California, Jerica also sees her future self running her own practice, having her LCSW completed, raising children in a temple marriage, oh! And nice cars of course.

Jerica definitely displayed a sense of humor throughout our interview. “What is your dream car?” I asked.

“An expensive pretty one,” She replied with a big grin on her face.

Jerica also aspires to get a doctorate at some point in her life. Even from this short interview, it is very easy to see that Jerica has all the motivation and confidence necessary to make these goals happen.

While going to school full-time, Jerica manages to make time to participate in the activities she loves. When asked what she would be doing at certain times during the day, she answered that at 6:00 AM she would be getting ready for the day, at 10:00 AM she would be in class, at 2:00 PM she is working at the prison as a psychological technician, and at 8:00 pm she would be teaching dance. I asked what kind of dance she teaches: “all kinds” she responded. Jerica also finds time to participate in other hobbies for exercise including dance, yoga, swimming, running, and even kickboxing! Other interests of Jerica’s include spending time with friends and family, shopping, and watching movies. Chic-flicks including Ryan Gosling or Channing Tatum would be preferable to her, or better yet both of them. She also likes comedies, but her all-time favorite movie is Will Smith’s touching drama and true story, The Pursuit of Happiness. This movie has a special connection to her and reminds her of her dad.

Jerica truly admires her father and reported that he played in the NFL for a time. As for other sports, she dislikes golf and says that rugby “confuses and scares” her, along with many other Americans. It also makes her nervous because it is a dangerous sport that her little brother loves to play, but she still gladly supports him.

As far as cooking goes, she qualifies her liking to cook by stating, “I only like to cook if it’s for college boys because they are generally the least picky crowd. I mainly enjoy baking, but have never found real interest or skill in cooking.”

I asked Jerica if she would be willing to share a story or experience to help

me understand her passion for dance.

In reply Jerica said, “Yes for sure! Here is a story...I was raised by a single mom- a dancer. It was just her and I for most of my life. Because dance was her career and hobby, it quickly engulfed my life as well. I was practically raised in a dance studio. It quickly became my core and all that I knew. There was never a doubt that I would dance for the rest of my life... until Middle school. The doctor discovered that my spine was curved and had me wear a back brace. This affected my dancing in that I would tire very quickly and have intense back pain. After a few years, the doctor informed me that the curve was only getting worse and the dancing wasn't helping. Finally, my sophomore year of high school, he broke the bad news- I had to get surgery or be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. I was devastated, but had no other choice. It was an extensive surgery and an even more intense recovery, but after a long year of rehab, I was allowed to start doing physical activities again. I talked to my doctor about dance- asking what my new limitations were. He suggested that I don't push it, but for me that wasn't an option. He then told me that at best, I could try to re-train and jump back on the horse, but that it wouldn’t last long. Although I knew it would be better if I didn't, I could not ignore my passion and innate love for dance. And so- I retrained my body and ended up competing with my dance team my senior year. Currently, I can only teach, but I proved to myself I could do it and allow dance to live on as an active part of my life. Yay! :)”

Since then, Jerica went on to dance in many competitions and broaden her spectrum of the discipline by taking and teaching numerous classes that took her all the way to Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Florida, and Washington D.C.

Getting into more serious matters, we dove into a few deeper questions.

“Jerica, who is someone you admire and why?”

“I would have to say Emma Smith, wife of the prophet Joseph Smith… because she stood by her man and her religion no matter what.”

“And what would you like to be remembered by?”

“I want to be remembered for my interpersonal relationships and the value and meaning that they hold. This is because I feel that they transcend any other purpose on earth.”

“Do you participate in any volunteer work?” I ask.

“Yes, I volunteer because I love people and want to fill needs. Because social work and psychology are my fields, volunteering is a very key aspect of life to me. I’ve volunteered at the Food and Care Coalition along with many other organizations. Service is very impacting and necessary to me.”

“Okay one last question; please give us one memorable sentence you would like to say to the world.”

“God lives.” Replies Jerica.

A strong belief in God is something very important in her life and everyday attitude. This belief is very evident when seeing her “never give up” will power, positive attitude, and service toward others.

It was a true pleasure to get a closer look into the life of this ambitious Brigham Young University Student, Jerica Garrick.

Wednesday, 25 January 2012

Not your typical love story...

Being the self-disclosing extrovert that I am... I have been telling this story a lot lately (about how I met my boyfriend). So instead of trying to rehash this to all 200 facebook friends... here you have it...

So I was out in DC, but had to fly home in June for my dear mum's wedding. While I was home, i hung out with bff jeffy. Well one morning when I went over for breakfast, Jeffy's neighbor, William Hayes Johnson, meandered over there as well and hung out with us. I had met him a few times in the past, but nothing too memorable. Well apparently he had a little crush on me and boy was he on one, lemme just tell ya... this smooth talker was playing all the right moves and saying all the right words to me but i was Not havin it... well not too much at least. We hung out the entire day long, then it started getting late and I needed to head home, but this smooth talker was not ready to give up. With one last attempt, he offered me a ride in his bmw... and being the polite young girl i am, i obliged. Ohhhh wow. I've never understood why girls like nice fast cars and think that they are such a turn on... oh i get it now haha. So needless to say... we may have had a lil kissy kissy smoochy smoochy that night... it happens... lol.
Well that was that- I went home and returned to Jeffy's the next morning for breakfast again. Wellsss- guess who else was there? Mister nice-car smooth-talker. So we hung out again... and smooched again.. and thus the short-lived routine began! So this happened for a few days in a row, and I was just having fun with this young rocker boy while I was finishing my time in SLC. He kept asking me on dates and wanting to know my middle name, and violating every other 'fling' rule in the book, but i refused. After all- the kid had a pimp chalice and listened to nonstop 80's rock. But alas, my time did soon come to an end and I headed back out to DC.
Now the best way to describe this is as a "hit it, and he forgot to quit it" kinda thing.
I gave him my number... and he called. This, in itself was quite confusing. I was across the country... why did he need to be calling me? haha Then he texted... then we skyped... every night... so random, right? Well. We really got to know each other over the course of the Summer and we both jokingly set our facebook statuses as 'in an open relationship'. At first, it was a joke. But in reality- that's exactly what it was. I fell for him. Hard and fast. But he just wasn't right for me... i thought. He didn't fit that schema of my 'type' of guy. He wasn't black and he didn't play for a sports team.... what ever was i to do? But he was so... different...

He was intelligent(which I would have never guessed by our first encounter). Very very intelligent. Insomuch that I was google-ing half our conversations to find out what he was trying to say to me. I guess that's what private school and Pepperdine will do to ya. He was on the debate team... and trained in karate. He loved to play basketball and had long shaggy rocker hair. He wasn't on a mission, but was raised mormon and def liked to party. He was embracing his youth and living his life with this incredible optimism that I still cannot grasp. He played guitar... fantastically. He made me feel like the most important thing in the world. He had fashion sense... and understood my sentimental side. I loooved talking to him, and he literally made me laugh so hard. It was fun being 'with' him... but there were many doubts that filled my mind. And being so far away... really stressed me out. I didn't know what was going to happen and I hadn't had enough in-person time to know what I really wanted. I was out in DC, and didn't want to worry about any of that. We were in different places... and the chances of it working out were not exactly high. The month I was going to move home was the month he'd be moving out to Malibu. He was great, but i have commitment issues and we were getting too close for comfort. I started to get nervous, and finally broke it off the night before I was heading to VA beach for my bday weekend. That was that. And as you can imagine, I didn't get an ounce of sleep that night. I knew that I cared about him and, after months of growing close and confiding in each other and supporting one another, I really did love him. But I just couldn't handle the cognitive dissonance any longer. I will never forget the look on his face. I don't think I realized how attached either of us had gotten. But like i said, that was that...

So the next morning I headed out with my 2 besties for our road trip to the beach. On our way there... I got a phone call from Jeffy. He told me that Hayes was in jail...
I was shocked, confused, hurt, and mainly... just confused. Jeffy explained that he had decided to drink the night before and ended up getting a DUI. I was devastated.
I obviously still loved him- that doesn't disappear with goodbye. But I was mad at him... mad at him for coping with the break up that way. For being so selfish, when in reality he only thought it would be affecting him. Mad at him for ruining my birthday weekend... when really blame could have been tossed around for anything that was going on. I was mad at myself for not realizing how close we had actually gotten, and for treating it so carelessly. Mad at myself for allowing myself to be so vulnerable. And so I cried. It hurt. And at that point in time, there was nothing I could do about it...
So after 3 long days- he was out. Apparently the whole jail thing wasn't exactly necessary, but def gave us all a wake up call. He lost his license for 2 years... and we didn't talk for a few months.

And then there was silence between us... for many moons.
He moved to Malibu for college and I came home from DC and headed back to the Y. But around November, we started talking again. It was very platonic, friendly chat. A Summer fling that had been buried in the past. I had moved on, and so had he.
Well around that same time, I got news of Beth's wedding in LA, at the end of December. I asked Hayes how far LA was from where he lived, and come to find out, it was only a hop skip away. And so, I asked if M and I could stay with him for our week long vacay. He agreed to it and so we headed out a few weeks later.
Now honestly... I didn't expect anything to happen. Maybe a thank you kiss, but that was about it. Well when I saw him in the airport... holding that George Foreman grill... i knew he was the one for me!!

... just kidding haha. It felt like I was seeing an old friend! It was just good to be in the presence with someone that knows me so well and that I click with. Like I said- we had both moved on.
Well... let's just say it took less than 24 hours for me to completely fall in love with him. Again. But it was different this time. He was different. He had really changed from Summer time. A good change. And I knew for a fact that it wasn't for me because I wasn't involved until this point. He had matured sooo much that I couldn't even believe it. He was a responsible adult and remained the fun, goofy guy i fell for 7 months ago. It was amazing the amount of growing up that took place. It may not have felt right in the Summer, but it definitely felt right now. I soaked up every second I got with him and even then- couldn't get enough. It really felt too good to be true. He was so perfect in my eyes- not to mention he treated me like a goddess! He was so respectful, and kind, and selfless, and humble and sweet. It was great. We had what I think of as one of the best weeks of my life... but like all good things, it came to an end. :(

I cried the whole plane ride home... I didn't want to leave that beautiful place or that incredible guy. I left my heart in Cali... with him... and so. When we landed. I did what any young and in love girl would do and bought a plane ticket back out there. Round two was even better. I got to go out there as his girlfriend and spend some quality time with him. It was amazing...

And so here we are. Switching off weekend visits every few weeks and skyping every night. I honestly don't deserve him. And you would Never put us two together. But we've got this whole "rocker dude- tall blonde diva" couple look workin for us. It's kinda precious, really. We are sooo different, yet I can't think of anyone more perfect for me. He feeds any emotional need I've ever had. I don't ever doubt if he is thinking about me or if he loves me... he never even gives me a chance to doubt that and i am sooo grateful for it! I can actually trust him, and I am allowing myself to be vulnerable because that's how relationships are built. Plus, he makes it easy because he is sooo worth being vulnerable for. He has proven himself to me, and now it's my turn. He thinks he is soo lucky to have me, but in reality I feel beyonddd blessed to have him. He showed me what I meant to him by not letting me go, and instead of telling me that i deserve better- he became better. He never gave up on me, and totally worked to get what he wanted. This is the kind of guy I want to be with. He even gives me my 'emotional space' when I need it but is right there to hold me thru the tears. He is such a remarkable man and honestly 'gets' women... or me at least. But he doesn't brag about it... like you know those tools that claim they understand girls soooo well. He makes me feel needed and spoiled at the same time. Do you see why I love him? haha. He loves me for exactly who I am and empowers me. Excuse the cheesiness... but he really is my best friend and makes me happier than anyone I know.

Now I don't know what the future holds... I was planning on moving out there in August, but after we talked about it we decided he would move home so that we could be by our families and save a whole lotta money. I am a little devastated... Afterall Hayes was only half the reason I loved that vacation hahaha. Cali is where i belonggg! But. My family is here. My school and job opportunities are here. My lover will be here. So here is where I will stay... for now haha. This could all change in a heartbeat anyway, but that is the plan so far.

Now obviously I can only include so many details on a blog... but this is the basic idea: I am in love and that is the only sure thing that I know. Oh and I have a pretty sweet V day package to send him! haha.
but until then... I will keep you posted...