My name is Carrie Ann Oscarson Rhodes, and my husband is Todd Rhodes. We are 34 and have been married for eight years. Todd is a business analyst at Wingate Web in Draper, and I am a part-time faculty member at the LDS Business College where I teach Interior Design.
We live in West Provo in our little white house with black shutters and a red door. We have one terrible dog, Fiona, and 6 wonderful chickens. We like to garden and travel together. We are happy people who enjoy our families, friends, and life in general.
For those who are interested... here's our little history:
I am not generally a hopeless romantic. Yes, I enjoy Jane Austin and Elizabeth Gaskell books and movies, but I knew better than to expect magic while dating. Little did I know, that my life would change completely and entirely with one kiss…
I met my husband, Todd, at a party in Park City at a friend’s “cabin”. He was the roommate of a boy I knew, and while I didn’t remember his name that night as we played hackysack in the barn (it was the mid 90’s OK? I was even wearing overalls…) I thought he was cute. He offered me a ride home that night, but I didn’t want to ditch the girls I came with just to go home with some guys… ya know? We always wonder what would have happened if I got in his car that night…
Well, I ended up dating his roommate and he even dated mine, but the point is that for the next 2 years we were friends. He consoled me throughout the breakup with his roommate, and I consoled him throughout the breakup of his old freshman sweetheart. Pretty soon, we were hanging out every day and the group got smaller and smaller until it was just us.
One summer’s eve, we were up late watching a movie, and by some inexplicable force (seriously, what happened next was strictly against my policy…) …we kissed, and I have never been the same. It was as if Todd stepped out of some “only-a-friend” costume and was revealed for the first time. I never wanted to stop kissing him. (And the feeling was mutual.)
Things moved quickly from there. The first time we said “I love you” was in September on a trip with his company (we were chaperoned) to Lake Powell were we stood under a full moon on the lake shore and nervously shared our feelings. I couldn’t believe I was falling in love with “that guy Todd I used to hang out with.” We came home from the trip and set a date for our wedding that night. We got married on February 19, 2000 on President’s Day weekend (so romantic), and enjoyed a wonderful honeymoon in New Zealand.
Eight years later, and we love each other more and more. Todd and I are best friends. Our dear doctor asks us every time we meet, “Are you still friends? Do you still like each other?” He knows that infertility can put stress on a relationship. But Todd and I have grown closer through this situation.
We are a team. We even have a name: Team Rhodarson. We talk, we pray together, we try and figure things out, and there is no blame assigned, no fault finding. We are in this together. I could not have picked a more supportive and loving friend to go through this with. How could I have been so smart at 25? I don’t know, but I am grateful.
We appreciate the support of friends and family through all of this. I could not ask for more supportive, helpful, and loving people in my life. I am grateful for my sister, Sarah, who has taken it upon herself to be our champion… and master organizer. What a service she is providing! What an angel she is to us!
We are grateful for all of you who have made contributions to this cause. It is humbling to be the recipient of charity. And this is true charity. People have contributed out of the most unselfish kind of love…
We hope that this blog will help you get to know us a little better, and answer some of the questions you might have about the Baby Rhodesbud Fund. We want this to be completely transparent. If you have a question about money or where it is going, about costs, treatments, etc., we want you to ask it. We promise complete honesty and lots of updates.
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5 comments:
This takes a certain amount of courage to put yourself out there like this. I admire you for all you have gone through with such grace and all you are willing to do to be parents. You will be great ones!
I am so there with you, up until 2 years ago, that is. It was 8 years for us too. I could share our situation in all it's gory details with you, but I'll spare you and just say that I know a lot of people who have had success on second and third tries. I belong to ivfconnections.net which is a great message board to help you get through the rigors of the procedures. You can join or just follow a group doing the cycle at the same time as you and you can help each other out. We want to help however we can!
I found your blog through Emily. I too went through the infertility saga. My husband and I went through much before our IVF cycles. My first son (now almost 8) was conceived on our 3rd IVF cycle, and our twins were conceived on our next round of IVF (3rd cycle again). We were shocked when the twins were 18 months and discovered we had conceived on our own. I couldn't believe that people just "got pregnant" like that.
Anyway, our story, like yours, is long, and I won't go into details. I wish you all the best!
I still maintain that you will be the best mom in the world--I'm not sure I've ever met anyone more talented, more fun, more genuine, more loving. I've thought that since I first met you. I wish you the very best and I hope things work out for you and Todd VERY soon.
I loved reading your story. The Oscarsons are an amazing clan and a great example to me. Good luck in your journey. I look forward to hearing all about it and helping where I can.
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