The last 10 years......

One of my very best friends just wrote about all she had to be thankful for over the last 10 years, and I think that is a wonderful way to start a new decade. I have so many blessings, a few stumbles, and of course, I am much wiser than I was at 25 years old.

Erik and I didn't get married in the last decade, but we sure started our life together through the last ten years. We have moved (a lot!), had three bright and amazing kids, have three dogs that we adore, and have relocated to Colorado (again). We started out the decade here, moved back to Arizona in 2001, and then settled here in 2005 - for once and for all hopefully! We have had a rich existence, full of wonderful friends and neighbors. Erik started with GE in 2001, and is still there, so we have a stable job to be thankful for! I started the decade as a Cherry Creek teacher, and was lucky enough to end the decade back in Cherry Creek (there really is no better place to teach!). I am also thankful daily that I was lucky enough to be home full time with my children from 2002 until 2008. Those wonderful, formative years were a treasure to me.

This decade brought Jake, Blake, and Kate to our lives - there really is no greater gift. Even though I am pushed to my limits some days, I would never trade my life for anyone else's! Nothing in life can prepare you to be a mother, and I certainly can't describe how it has changed me. My empathy for others, my level of compassion for the plight of others, and the above mentioned wisdom would be a start to what I am truly thankful for. When I really step back and think about who in my life is most important and influential, it all comes back to a level of love for my children. All of my close friends and family members are the ones who care for and are guiding my children in a way that I would and hopefully do. All of our big decisions are first seen through the lens of how it will ultimately affect our kids. Being a parent is such a blessing, and I am so thankful that this decade (and many more) will be spent watching them grow! On the other end of the spectrum, I am truly thankful that Erik and I both have grandparents still living and loving us and the kids. We are fortunate that our parents are all still alive and healthy, and that our siblings have all been in fairly good health and are still around to give us a hard time once in a while. :)

I left my twenties during this decade. I have never been one to mourn an age. I saw my thirties as years of potential. I was pregnant with Blake on my 30th birthday, and couldn't have been more excited to be right where I was. As I look back, I love my 30s! I can see where the lessons of my twenties are guiding decisions and paths that I am taking, but my thirties are a decade of coming into my own. I have enough life experience to be taken seriously now. I have enough years to know about how to leave the toxic behind and continue with the positive. But most of all, I have the education and experience to really become all I can be. I am a much better teacher, parent, friend, wife, etc... with this combination. I don't have to accept drama, except from an appropriate place, like my three year old. I don't any longer have to conform to other's expectations, but have a firm grasp on my own. I can right the wrongs of my teenage years and twenties, and be proud of just who I am and who I have turned out to be. I can be a good example for my children, and a present Mom.

Oddly enough, ten years ago, we were just about to move in to our first new Richmond house on January 20, 2000. It is less than a mile from here, and our new house today is a Richmond too. We moved into our new house on 1/1/2010. It is just where we want to be. It is beautiful, and not too much or too little :) We learned in the last decade that our kids going to a great school is paramount for us. We are there. We spent a lot of time looking for the best option, and thought we had it, but know now for sure what we were missing. Almost as if the puzzle found it's missing piece. Everybody is so much happier, and the kids are settled finally. Like I said, it is just where we want to be. Only took us eleven years to find!

The last decade has taught us about quality. We are choosing to surround ourselves with quality people, people who make our existence better and brighter. We are focusing on the quality of life this year. More ski trips, more family time, more vacations, more walks after dinner, more celebrations, more reading together, more singing and dancing, more joys, more of us! Less shopping, computer, worries, drama, time in the car, frustrations, negativity, emptiness, material possessions, perfection, the list could go on and on....

If you read this, thanks for the role you have played in my life to this point. As a mom, teacher, friend, wife, child, I have only just begun! I absolutely can't wait for the next decade bringing proms, high school, driving, and my forties.