Happy 10th Anniversary!

It could have been a trip to Hawaii...

But we chose to be practical. We moved our free living room set down into the basement and searched high and low for a nice looking, low maintenance, cat friendly, child friendly set that we both liked to place in our newly remodeled living room. The dozen roses make a beautiful addition.

And here's 10 for 10:

Year 1 (1999): We marry in the Mount Timpanogus Temple for time and all eternity. I move in with Eli while he goes to school. He celebrates our 1 month anniversary, and surprised me with, a pink carnation and a homemade dinner. He drops out of school. I work part-time through a temp. service and play house the rest of the time. I start my own business doing freelance graphic design. I try to be a "perfect" wife. He has a different idea of "perfect." It is tough to adjust to living with someone. What counts is, we make it though our first year!!!

Year 2 (2000): We buy our first home, a fixer upper. I wonder what in the world we have done. I then learn that it's even harder to remodel together. We learn that we don't like anything the same. We learn to communitcate, compromise and sometimes just let the other have it their way. In the end, we both love our home and each other even more. We bring home 2 dogs and a cat. I start building ads for the newspaper. I start infertility treatments. I bring home adoption paperwork. I feel crazy. But, our love for each other has grown.

Year 3 (2001): My job at the newspaper ends when they have to downsize. Because I am the new kid, I get the boot. I feel sad but within the week have a new job with an advertising agency that stretches my skills and gives me more creative freedom. I loved it. My old job is offered back. I decline. Eli continues to work for Cascade Auto Glass. The World Trade Centers collapse and I experience a new fear. I cling tighter to Eli. We continue to try to get pregnant. We finally turn in our adoption paperwork. Almost every night feels like "date night." Our dogs have 6 puppies. We kept the girl.

Year 4 (2002): My boss, who works out of her home, decides it's time for her to move away. I travel with Eli for a little while and then find another job working for a car ad paper. At first I go to work from home, but eventually move into his office. I HATE this job! Eli also starts traveling a LOT more for business, for months sometimes. We are trying to get pregnant so I tag along whenever possible. I finally lose my job because of it, but, I am relieved and happy.

Year 5 (2003): I can clean a home, but, I learn how to maintain it during the in between cleanings. I learn how to organize my time. Our home is beautiful. Eli and I have more quality time together than ever before. I begin babysitting my brand new niece. I begin doing freelance for a press and take in a few other small jobs. Eli and I think we might always live in that same city. I consider becoming a nurse. I start taking early morning classes at the college. I feel happier than ever... but begin to give up the idea of adopting or conceiving. Crying spells come at the oddest moments. Eli is always so gentle. Eli starts classes again.

Year 6 (2004): Eli's parents invite us to move in with them so Eli could attend school full-time. We move almost everything into storage, putting all our baby things we had slowly accumulated into the very back because we were giving up for now. We pay off our car and rent our home. We move into a single bedroom. I start attending school full-time as well and Eli and I eat lunch on campus together. Eli takes a work-study job. I begin working part-time for the American Classifieds and well as continuing to free-lance. We are taken by surprise when we learned a birth mother had chosen us. I quit my classes. She changes her mind. We are heart-broken. I keep as busy as I can so I can't think about it. Still, I cry a lot. I start school again the next symester. I take a test to see if I can get into the nursing program. We try another round of fertility shots. We celebrate our fifth "silver" year together with a trip to the mall. Eli buys me a silverware serving set. I put it in storage. LDS family service calls us again. I do my best to stay focused in school.

Year 7 (2005): She's expecting twins and she choose Eli and me to raise them. As much as I try to keep myself in check, the excitement continues to leak until I can't contain it any longer. I drop my classes one by one. I have to earn as much money as possible before the babies come as well as get things ready for them. Finally, the day comes. I quit my job to become a full-time mommy. In the meantime I am accepted into the nursing program. I choose not to reply yet. Eli will graduate in a few weeks and already has a couple companies interested in him. We have some money in savings, but just enough for the adoption. We have some coming in from our rental and some from Eli's work study, otherwise we are the poorest we've ever been. They send us home without the babies. We are now the saddest and poorest we have ever been. Emotionally spent, we put our last bit of hope in the Lord's hands. We do what we can, He does the rest. The next day we came home as parents. As beautiful and amazing as this time is, it takes Eli's and my commitment to each other to a whole new level. We step up to it. We fall even deeper in love. Eli graduates. Eli starts a new full-time, good paying job with benefits. I grow restless and want a place of our own. We move across the field into one of Eli's parent's rentals. I start working very part-time from home for a community paper geared towards young children and their families.

Year 8 (2006): This is a year of wonder, but it is also a blur. I enjoy this time being a mommy and wife to my little family. Eli announces that we will be relocating. I am so excited to be onto something new, but am soon overtaken by a wave of guilt as I realize we will be moving our babies far away from the grandparents they love so much. We buy a minivan. We find a small little apartment and turn it into our home. I start a crazy, healthy way of eating and loose 17 lbs. I feel better than ever before, even high school! My children eat all kinds of veggies and fruit --- like it is candy! This might well be one of the happiest pockets in our life. But, we are lonely and restless and want a home of our own. We want room for a bigger family.

Year 9 (2007): We sell our rental and buy another fixer upper. Our children love the space in this house. I love the potential the house and its yard have. I love the hardwood floor under the old yucky carpet. If we got "stuck" here, I feel like that would be ok. We start working on our home and our healthy eating habits go out the window. Eli is called to be the Elder's Quorum President. I start a playgroup. We make friends. That makes a world of difference to me. Life is good. We apply to adopt again.

Year 10 (2008): We refinish our hardwood floors. A friend helps put up a banister. Eli and I finish it together. It is so much fun I find myself having a natural high. We paint walls. We tile a bathroom floor and tub surround. Eli helps me build a raised garden. The twins are introduced to preschool for a couple months. I receive the Sunbeam teacher calling for 4 little girls, the "princesses." I love it. Eli continues to get raises. We love being a family. We complete our adoption paperwork. Eli and I continue to enjoy "our time" after the kids go to bed.

(Present): I get to teach my children in Sunbeams until I receive a new calling as the 2nd counselor in the primary. I become a teacher's aid in Payton and Alyssa's preschool as well as continue doing the layup for the community publication. Our children turn 4. I think this must be the most precious age of a child. Eli gets another raise. We begin remodeling the basement. I stop remodeling because a mom can only do so much. We spend time watching Heros and Lost together. I am living the future I use to dream of and I want to get it right. Because of Eli, I have it all.

Thank you Eli for these incredible 10 years of adventure and love! You are the best --- my kind of "perfect." Thank you for sticking with me! I'll love you forever.