Best Decade of My Life!!

I realized today is the last day of the best decade of my life. I was thinking about all of the things that I have done and all the people that I've met over the past ten years and it made me feel very nostalgic and amazed at all the experiences that I have had.

To start off the decade was one of the best experiences of my life: My Mission to the Dominican Republic. I served there from April 2000 to Sept of 2001. I remember the day I got my call like it was yesterday when in reality it was Feb 18th. My mom called me at work to tell me the envelope came and I raced home. I called Nate and my mom into the room to open it with me. Of course I didn't read the whole thing, I just scanned until I found the words "Dominican Republic Santo Domingo West Mission" and started to cry and jump up and down. I knew that that little island and its people would change my life forever. And it did. I met people there that will never know that I have engraved a part of me forever. Chicha, Junior, Sergio, Fior, Alejandro, Raquel and too many more to name. The children were beautiful. I loved them and they loved me. But most importantly, my testimony of the gospel was sealed there and it is something that I will never lose. How could I after witnessing the hand of God in my life and the lives of those sweet Dominicans??? Impossible.

After my mission I had fun. Lots of it. I travelled. Germany, Paris, Switzerland, back to my mission. Visiting friends and family. I didn't have any money but I made it work. It was ok to not have food if I was doing fun things. I was working by day and partying by night. I had the best of friends and cute boys to crush on. I was going to school but nothing serious, just at the community college. Looking back I wish I would have just finished. It would have been much easier then but hindsight is 20/20. My sister Beth came off her mission to Thailand and we moved into our first apartment: 2440 Twin Lakes Dr. I loved that apartment. We had such fun times there. Parties, game nights, dinner parties, dance parties, AWESOME roommates. The bestest of roommates was when Me, Beth, Virge and Erin lived together. There were no other girls that had as much fun as we did. One of my favorite memories was when church was cancelled because of a snow storm but that didn't stop us from going to a nearby friends house to borrow her AMC version of Pride and Prejudice. We sat in our jammies all day and watched that movie and talked about how much we loved Mr. Darcy. Great times. I love those girls!! *Matt wants me to give an honorable mention to all the dudes I dated before we hooked up. The only thing that I will say is I am soooo glad I didn't marry them!!!*

My next phase of the decade was Matt Price. I knew from the moment I really talked to Matt that I was going to marry him. Strange huh?? I always judged those people who got engaged after a few weeks of dating and that was us. Well, maybe a few months. But not that long. From first date to marriage was 6 months. What a fun six months. Because I had dated a few guys before, I knew what I didn't want and Matt was everything I did want!! He was fun and spontaneous (I took him to the witches grave as a test and he passed), thoughtful and sweet (he would always hold my hand in his coat pocket to keep it warm in the winter when we would go walking around Birmingham) and totally cute and successful (he took me on a tour of his office on our first date and showed me the softball team he was starting) He kissed me on the cheek and held my hand on the first date which was the cutest thing I had ever seen a boy do. It was perfect and so him! Life has been amazing since we have been together and it is just getting better.

My next phase is that of motherhood. Wow!!! What an amazing thing to be a mom. Honestly. I can't get over the emotions that I feel for my girls. They are so beautiful and perfect. Even on their bad days and bad moments. They light up my life and make life worth living. Being a mom is probably the hardest job I've ever done. Being a missionary was hard and stretched me in ways I couldn't imagine back then. That was 18 months. This is for eternity. I know Ruby and Belle won't be babies forever and I treasure this time with them. Staying home, eating spaghetti-O's and mandarin oranges for lunch. Late night feedings. Watching baby einstein DVD's five times a day. Holding them and snuggling with them. Watching them experience new things every day. It doesn't get better than this. I'm thankful I can stay home with them and take care of these precious little souls. Ruby is such a spunky, funny girl and Belle is the calmest personality ever but when she wants something, watch out. She will let you know. I love them both so much.

2000-2009 has been amazing. I have made friends, lost friends, had amazing experiences, horrible experiences, but it has all been worth it. I love where I am now and it is because of all that has happened. I hope the next decade will be as fabulous as this one. But I know it will be because I have Matt, Ruby, Belly, the gospel and everything else that makes me happy.

Happy New Year!!!