Andrea Watkins-Samuels

Andrea Watkins-Samuels is a character on the TV Generation drama series, Our Lives.

She is the second wife of Mitch Samuels, and the mother of Connor, Karina Kirkland, Alyssa Watkins, Finley Watkins-Cordova, Savannah Watkins and Haylie Watkins.

Andrea works as a hair stylist, head manager and owner of the Blue Sky Hair Salon, and the owner the Blue Sky Beauty Supply Store (both of which were previously owned by her late mother, Kathy Rae) in Oakridge, Illinois.

Early Life
Andrea was born on April 3, 1969 in Oakridge, Illinois at 10:45 a.m. She is the middle child and the second daughter of Kathy Rae and Nick Carson. Her younger sister, Caroline was born when she was 5 years old. She attended Sunnyview Nursery School (later named the Sunnyview Learning Center) and Ridgeway Elementary School. When she was 11 years old, she met Jenn Travis on her first day of 6th grade and they later became best friends.

When she was 6 years old, the Samuels family moved next door to the Carson family and Andrea became friends with Mitch. It wasn't until their teen years that Andrea and Mitch's relationship became romantic. After attending their school homecoming dance in the 10th grade, the two of them started dating each other which lasted throughout the remainder of their high school years.

Andrea graduated from Oakridge High School (later called Oakridge Junior\Senior High School) in 1987 and began attending Oakridge Community College to study cosmetology. After graduating from high school, she and Mitch tried to maintain a long-distance relationship as Mitch attended, but after almost four months apart, they mutually decided to go their separate ways and ended their relationship.

In July of 1988, Andrea met Jason Watkins at a 4th of July weekend party held by one of Jenn's neighbors and they started dating shortly afterwards. In 1989, she graduated from Oakridge Community College with an associate's degree in cosmetology. After passing the Illinois Cosmetology Examination, she began working at her mother, Kathy Rae's hair salon. She was the maid of honor at Jenn's wedding in 1991.

In September of 1991, Jason proposed to Andrea which she accepted and they got married on April 12, 1992. Together, they had five children: son Connor (born in 1993) and daughters Karina (born in 1994), Alyssa (born in 1996), Finley (born in 1998), Savannah (born in 2003) and Haylie (born in 2004).

In August of 2004 (almost a month after Haylie's birth), Jason was killed in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. At Jason's funeral, Andrea reunites with Mitch, who attends the service with his parents. At the time, Mitch was divorced from his wife, Jasmine and living in Mount Larkin, Illinois. After Jason's funeral, Mitch offers to help Andrea out with her children which rekindles their relationship and they start dating each other during the summer of 2005,

The day before Valentine's Day in 2006, Mitch proposed to Andrea which she accepted. They later moved into a new house together with their children.

Season 1
Andrea spends the majority of the season juggling work, preparing for her upcoming wedding and trying to establish a good relationship with her future stepchildren, especially with Bridgette, who is reluctant about Mitch remarrying due to her experience of having maternal figures in her life abandon her and fearing that Andrea would do the same thing.

She also works on mending things with her older sister, Kristin, who had a estranged relationship from her family for a few years. In October, she travels to with Kathy Rae to attend the funeral of her aunt Nancy Jo.

In January, Andrea takes Karina to the emergency room after she sustains a high ankle sprain while running in P.E. class, but Karina reveals to her that she injured her ankle while practicing her sideline cheers, but had been hiding it from her after she overheard an overwhelmed Andrea talking on the phone about being stressed out with the wedding plans. She and Mitch also take turns trying to toilet train Haylie.

In March, when Jason's birthday triggers mixed feelings with her kids (especially Karina), she and Mitch decide to create a memory box for them filled with mementos that belonged to Jason.

In the season finale, Andrea and Mitch get married in May.