Who Am I?

Hey there!
My name is Desiree Shay and if you can't tell by my name I am part French (Desiree) and very much Irish (Shay) I'm also a smidgen Cherokee Indian but you can't tell by looking at me because of my very fair skin and light blue eyes. I was born and raised in Grass Valley and the surrounding area. I lived in Virginia from summer 2004 until summer 2006, it was quite the experience! (As we go through the semester I will talk more in depth about that time.) I currently live in Lake Wildwood with my family.

As it comes to culture it's hard to pin point it to one 'style' but I was born and raised in a Baptist home. Very moralistic and Christ centered. I had an interesting upbringing in the sense that I have experienced every family style from nuclear family to a single parent home to a blended (in multiple fashions) family home.

Children are the most important thing for me. Not only to have my own but for me to be a teacher that will make an impact on students lives. I think creativity is the most important thing that a teacher can encourage. By encouraging creativity they, in turn, provide learning for children allowing them to use their own minds in their own way to learn a certain task or lesson.

Desiree is a bubbly person. I'm one of those 'shy at first then too much to handle once known' types of people. I am all about my friends and family and spending the most quality time with them as possible. Relationships are so important to me. I had a friend ask me once, "If your soul had a flavor, what would it taste like?" When I meet new people, that is now the second or third question I ask. But my answer? Gummy grapefruits. (One can find such amazing candies at Caroline's coffee in downtown Grass Valley, just in the case of curiosity.) Why gummy grapefruits? Well because these things are covered with this sweet/sour sugary stuff, I would like to think I am sweet on the outside. They come in pink and white which is also relevant to me, I am pale as a ghost naturally and pink as a rose in the summer!
I was born of Darren and Dawna Shay, I am the second oldest of five kids (I have one brother and sister from the same father, a brother from a different father, and now a step-brother.)  My father didn't care for taking care of the children that he so easily had; he was gone by the time I was four. My mom was a single mother for not too long when she married my first step-dad. A not so wonderful man and a not so long marriage, they divorced when I was nine. In that time however, my mom had met James. A man who has been my 'daddy' since I was ten years old. He had his own son who joined our family and made us the blended family we are today. So many things have gone on in my life since that time. I swear if there isn't some sort of drama situation in my family there is something wrong. Haha. Being a big family means more than a few issues but I seriously wouldn't trade the way I was raised for the world. No we never made a lot of money in my life, I can't think of a time when we didn't have welfare, Medi-cal and food stamps. We have always been low socio-economic status. But we were always able to get by and we know that it is our faith in God that has kept us all going. I regret nothing about my upbringing, would it have been cool to have more money and never struggle for things? Heck yes, but that would completely change the person that I am today. I like who I am and who I plan to be.

I myself do not have any children and I am not married... yet. Haha my boyfriend and I will be nearing that station as soon as we both feel we have our feet on the ground. I do have a nephew who has been through quite a lot in his four and a half years of life. He means the world to me and the chances I do get to see him I fill with letting him know how much he is loved. He is currently torn between two not so stable households and both his mom and dad (my brother) are more concerned with the power over him and not the time being spent with him. His new step-mom, Maranda, is wonderful and tries her hardest to show Jadaan, my nephew, tons of love.

I do work with children! I have for the past two and a half years. I work as a nanny for some family friends, my starting there was definitely a sad story. August 25, 2009 I began working with the Wests' helping watch their three little girls (Reanne now 8, Larah now 5, Dawnicah now 3) while their mom, Kathy, was going through treatments for stage four Melanoma. At first I was just a helper so she could spend one on one time with each child. As the cancer developed farther I become the full time caregiver while they went on three to four day trips to San Francisco for treatments. She lost her battle August 27, 2010 leaving the girls' dad to take care of them. Of course I continued to care for the girls and that is what I do now. The situation is a catch 22. It's so good to be with the girls caring for them and seeing them grow, and they are all the perfect age that I want to work with. The downside is, I am a 21 year old woman caring for three little girls who just really need a mommy. It has taken a tole on me and it's been the biggest learning experience in my life.

Having been exposed to a culture much different than that of little old Grass Valley, it has always been a topic of interest for me. Moving to Virginia shook my life. I was very ridiculed for being a small white girl in a mostly black community. I was bullied for being white. I didn't understand it at first. I saw no difference between them and me, nothing. My mom had to explain to me, a 14 year old, what racism was, I just had never been exposed to it. Classes that discuss the way people are or the culture we live in have always interested me. I can't wait to read more into this class!

I love to dance, I love music, I love singing, but that is something I do when nobody is around. I don't need to have others suffer. Haha. I don't sing well, I do sing often. Aside from that I adore being outdoors, even in the rain, snow, wind, I love it. One thing I love more than all that... Disneyland. I am a huge child at heart and I get to release my little kid personality when I am there. I am so excited to be able to go in a few weeks; its a time I love sharing with my mom and this year I get to take my boyfriend who has not been in many many years. That's something I love more that actually going, I love taking someone who will enjoy it as much as I do. As I said before, relationships are very important to me. They became more important after I had a huge reality check July of 2010; I lost my best friend, Beth, in a car accident. It was the first loss I had ever experienced and it was someone I thought of as a sister. I had many unnecessary regrets about the time I didn't spend with her and I neglected to dwell on the amazing times I did get to spend with her. It made my relationships so much more important. I make every effort to spend time with my friends; I currently have a friend who just finished chemo therapy, at 21! It has been the best thing being able to spend quality time with him and his fiance as they go through this. Anyway, as weird as it sounds I love cleaning, I actually spent the bulk of today cleaning my room! I plug in some headphones and scrub away.
Of all the things in the world that I am interested in the thing I am the most anxious for is becoming a mom. Ever since I was little I wanted to be a mommy and that desire has never left me.

I don't know what else to talk about! If you feel I missed something or I just didn't go into enough detail let me know! I want to get this right.

Laughs and Love,
Desiree :)

P.S. this is my first time blogging ever!