A Decade in Review

Here we are at the close of year and a decade. I was pondering over the last year when I started to go back further. I realized the last 10 years have been CRAZY, life changing years.

2000: I survived Jane Beckwith's English class. No small feat, I assure you. (I even got an A *gasp*) High school came to an end with a trip to Powell with some of my closest friends. I moved away from home and into the college dorms -- making all new friends.

2001: My braces finally came off. Seriously. I dated like crazy and sometimes made it to classes. I discovered that Denny's cheese fries are best served between 1 a.m. - 3 a.m. I started working at Iron Parke (late Turn Community Services) with disabled adults and loved it.

2002: I went on an amazing trip to Church History sites, including the Nauvoo Temple Open House with some of my amazing roommates. I opted to stay at college for the summer rather than take a summer job across the country. This proved to be fortuitous as I met, dated and finally married Roy - all within a 6 month period. I also traveled out of the country for the first time. My family and Emalee (roommate) went to Mexico! Also, my paternal grandmother died this year.

2003: Roy and I learned how to be married. I said good-bye to my beloved ladies at Turn. We packed our meager household and moved to Ogden where Roy started going to WSU and I did my student teaching. I completed my schooling in December. Roy started working with criminal kids. This eventually led him to change career paths away from Psychology.

2004: I started my first job with a school district as a special educator in a middle school pull-out program. I actually graduated from college with a dual-major. In September, Roy and I dove head first into parenthood with the birth of our first. I cried when I had to go back to work and leave that little ball of love with a babysitter. Roy took the LSAT and began applying to law schools.

2005: Roy graduated from WSU. He got accepted to 2 different law schools. Neither one in Utah. We moved in with my parents for a couple of months before moving to Spokane WA where Roy started school at Gonzaga. This year we attended the first family reunion in Wisconsin. This was the first I'd met most of Roy's extended family. I got a job working at a Spokane middle school and D headed to a day care.

2006: After praying fervently to not have to work, the way was provided for me to stay home. In true mortal fashion, I was disappointed but quickly recovered. Roy worked his little heart out at school and got a job as a law clerk at a local firm. I started babysitting a few days a week to help supplement our income.

2007: More school for Roy. This summer, Roy got a job on the other side of the state. He would live there during the week and come home on weekends. This was especially difficult as I was expecting our second little bundle of joy. K was miraculously born on a Sunday morning before Roy headed back for a week of work. We started our final year of law school and were offered a position as an Associate Attorney at the firm Roy worked at during the summer.

2008: Roy graduated from Gonzaga Law School in May. He promptly started studying for the BAR Exam. The kids and I headed to Nevada for the second installment of family reunion. A few weeks before time to move K and I spent a few days searching for and finally finding a place to live. Roy took the BAR. We left Spokane to start our new life as Career People, not Students. I started this blog.

2009: In March, I got a bee in my bonnet and decided we should move to a small dive known as the Moldy Creek to save money. We moved and started the search for the perfect house and home loan. Months later we find them both and settle if for the long wait known as "buying a home". In the midst of this baby number three arrives. We spend an insane month getting our house ready to live in. Good-bye Moldy Creek.

Now it is 2010. As I consider the last 10 years, well.... I'm speechless. I started out a high school senior living in the basement of my parents home. I ended as a married mother of three with a college degree, career experience and a mortgage. I hope the next 10 years will be just as happy, even if not as life-changing.