Where Are They Now? — Ana Ibarra (Lindsay)

After high school, I attended BYU for a year before getting married (to a PHS grad of ’81). After a couple years I had my son, Alex (now a handsome 16 year old). Becoming a mom gave me newfound inner strength and opened my eyes about myself – little things like my fondness for the color green (really, it has nothing to do with PHS). In SLC I worked at Zions Bank, Linkage Genetics and then First Security Bank. Although it had seemed clear from the beginning, after seven years of hard work, my marriage came to an end. After the divorce I was prompted to move to Denver, Colorado. There I worked at First Data Corp. Two years later I remarried and moved back to Utah. I then had two daughters, Elyana (age 8) and Mariana (will be 5 next month). Although I absolutely love and am grateful for being a stay-at-home mom these last ten years, someday I hope to go back to school. My greatest interest is in working as a funeral director (odd?).

My teenager likes long hair and hard rock/metal music; he played soccer for years and was really good at it. My girls LOVE gymnastics, dancing, singing, soccer, reading, making up songs and performances, and in the summers they learn a little Spanish.

Eleven years ago I began to feel horrible- turns out I have fibromyalgia, therefore I struggle to keep going, and to stay out of depression. So thank goodness for my children, for they are my constant motivation! And I wonder if I could keep hope alive if it wasn’t for the Gospel. The biggest downside for me is the fatigue and it is very hard to exercise (because of it being repetitive). I managed to stay at a good weight, even after my babies; but after my 35th birthday, it seems my metabolism slowed down and now I try harder to exercise, but the weight has increased beyond my comprehension. If it doesn’t stop, it might help to lose my taste buds.

My second marriage has been a roller-coaster ride; working hard to keep it going. Marriage can be difficult, and adding “steps” and “ex’s” has complicated things. It isn’t all bad: the rewards have been beyond my expectations, just look at my girls! Yes, they are mine, I gave birth to them and they are from my own eggs, just in case ;) you wonder (sometimes I even wonder/am amazed). Looks like the genes on my moms’ side of the family are stronger than my Hispanic genes. I also have a step-daughter (and son-in-law; they just got married in May- both finishing up at BYU) and step-son.

My favorite hobby is reading and I love to see rivers- in person or pics. I have three traveling wishes, one of which has just been granted: I finally saw my paternal grandmother after more than 22 years, she lives in Mazatlan, Mexico and I am so happy that my kids got to meet her and she got to meet them. When I left Timpanogos Elementary, we went to live in Puerto Rico, so that is my second wish, to go back and visit/vacation there, I want my kids to see where I spent 5th, 6th and 7th grades. My last wish has no ties to anything, but I love reading, seeing, hearing and learning about Italy, so those of you who have been there, I’m almost jealous! Some day it will be my turn J Our next trip will probably be a Church history vacation which will hopefully include Niagara Falls.

We live near the U of U and we get a hard time about being Y fans. I’ve run into very few of you in these 20 years, and wish I had kept in touch. I’m not a great writer, so if I can take the risk of boring you, you can too. I’ve enjoyed reading every single blog. So whether or not you can make it to the reunion, if you haven’t written yet, please do!