WHAT A DECADE!!!!

I'm stealing this post idea from a great friend/former mission companion! This past decade, 2000-2010 has been an amazing one for me. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say that it will probably be the most eventful one of my life. Who else can say THAT???

On May 3rd, 2000 I entered the Missionary Training Center for 2 months, then flew to the Dominican Republic (on the 4th of July, ironically). I was there for the next 16 months where I became fluent in "Dominican spanish" ( a whole lot different than regular spanish you learn in school!), learned to love merengue, platanos fritos, la bandera, and Dominicans. During that time, Cameron and I got to know each other a lot better through letters. I've said before that about halfway through our missions, we knew we were going to end up together, although we never discussed it during the missions.

I returned home in November of 2001, waited for Cameron's return in March of 2002, and we were sealed in the Mesa Temple July 6, 2002. I really did marry my very best friend that day. We got to travel back to my mission and to other great places to visit friends and family before Haylee came along. In December of the year we were married, we began trying to have a child. That struggle would challenge us for the next four years. We went through fertility treatment, considered adopting, and eventually almost went through with in vitro. In January of 2007 we learned that I was pregnant! I will never forget that day. It was a Sunday. I had taken 2 pregnancy tests in the weeks prior to that day that both came back negative. That Sunday I took the last one and decided that whatever it said must be true and I would accept it and move on. When it said "pregnant", I about lost it! I ran to Cameron, who was still sleeping and said, "Look!!!", holding the test in front of him. In that moment, all the cute, clever ways of telling our families that we were expecting went right out the window! We called everyone right then, at like 8am! Sitting in church that day was the best day ever. We had the happiest secret EVER and we were on cloud 9!!

September 28, 2007 will be one of the happiest days of my life. At 8:48am, not only was I done with a 24 hour long labor experience ending in c-section, but I was given the most beautiful, perfect little girl in the whole world, Haylee Brynn. I was finally a mom. My dream had come true. There are definitely challenging moments in the life of a mom, but I wouldn't trade ANY of the ones that I've had in the past 2 years. I adore Haylee and love learning about the world all over again through her little eyes. I love her personality--independent, funny, intelligent, etc. I love watching the joy and happiness that she brings into the lives of our friends and family. She is definitely a charmer, just like her dad.

This HAS been quite the decade for me. It definitely hasn't all been roses, but it sure has been eventful! I even did a triathalon!! I remember just after we were married, a friend of mine did a triathalon and I thought she was crazy. I wondered how that was humanly possible! Then I learned: you just keep training. I feel so blessed to have the husband I have, the little girl I have and all the other blessings I have in my life. I am so blessed...:) Who knows what the next decade has in store....