Howdy y'all, my name is Victoria but you can call me Tori. I am married to my best friend, my high school sweetheart, Thomas Belliston, who is a fitness enthusiast and we have one sweet baby boy named Jefferson James. Plus one fur baby, Rudy Bear. We reside in Houston, Texas and LOVE Texas so much!
We are originally from Logan, UT, born and raised. We both had met in a youth choir as young teens but didn't care much for each other at the time. As cool as that would have been. ;P But then reconnected in the winter of 2011, just 10 years ago. Fell in love, went to proms, danced a little bit, grew up together, and went on adventures. We both went to Utah State University! Go Aggies!
Thomas went on a 2 year religious mission for our church "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints! I "waited" for him, which was rough, since it was all about writing letters and one weekly email at the time. And it felt like it lasted forever. But I ventured. I worked at Disneyworld, specifically Animal Kingdom & Animal Kingdom Lodge, for 8 months with the Disney College Program (Highly Recommend), studied in Spain for a summer, and did everything I could to stay busy! Then he came home, which was very momentous at the time. TWO YEARS, felt like forever but also a blink of an eye now.
Thankfully it worked out, we still had a love for each other and dated some more. Then got married and that was the best day of my life up until that point. Then we enjoyed USU some more. Thomas was the ultimate Aggie (Big Blue USU's mascot) and that was cherished. I was in a sorority, Alpha Chi Omega, and I loved it! I met some of my dearest friends/sisters I still talk too!
I landed my "dream job" as a manager for Victoria's Secret that blessed my life and the Cache Valley Mall at the time (I'm sad though they did close due to COVID). Anyways, it was a thrill to land that job and I still love and talk to the management team and my sweet boss. Those girls meant a lot me, I was blessed to work there for over a year and learn and grow.
Then we graduated USU, Thomas and I! Bachelor's Degrees! I couldn't decide on just one so I had to get two with two minors! I was one of those people that had to do so much, almost too much. Was so hard to juggle it all but I wouldn't take it back.
After graduation, I could see myself working up the corporate ladder of Victoria's Secret but knew I had two degrees I could and should use, but just wasn't sure where to go or what Industrial Hygiene jobs (my emphasis with Public Health) I was willing to apply to.
I forgot to mention though, I did do a summer internship in Houston right before Thomas and I got married and it was a good experience and I still did some remote work for the company at the time (Bureau Veritas) and I had told them I'd love to come back. And low and behold we had an opportunity. We were blessed months after graduation to have an offer, they offered to move us down to Houston. We couldn't pass up the offer and it just felt right. The job market was huge in Houston that Thomas could find a job too. We had 3-4 weeks to grab an apartment we had never seen and come on down to Texas in the fall of 2017. So we did it!
Our time in Texas has challenged us and refined us. But thanks to God this whole journey as I explain this to you in summary, knowing the hundreds of little actions, decisions, and people that we met or had lined up in our life to get us to this exact moment. It's all miracle after miracle. Even the mistakes, refining ourselves, taking chances, the trials, and the triumphs. It was all thanks to God that we are here now.
Now, with a baby boy who is our world. Now being able to create content and this blog and whatever else the Lord has in store for me. Learning from other mothers, helping women, serving as a Relief Society President in my Church, being able to stay home with JJ, and with a few things in the works. We are blessed to have Thomas work for the best fitness company in the industry now too, Barry's. Thankful for social media taking part in that and a lot of good things that have come in our life. Blessed we have met some incredible people here and that Thomas gets to work doing what he loves.
Very thankful for these blessings, the people we have met, and opportunities in our lives at this time and hoping to do more.
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