I have been trying to write this post for awhile. I just haven't felt up to it. Nothing major is going on, but lets just say I have never been so glad to see a year end. Aside from the obvious (see two and three posts below) 2010 was awful! We've had trial after trial after trial, including that huge blessing (see aforementioned posts). Mike and I have never had an easy married life (between us has been fine, it's the outside crap that's been hard) and last year was no exception. To be honest, the last 3 years have been tough. We have both felt like 2011 was going to be different, it is going to be better and it has so far. We have been blessed with Mike's work, our girls are wonderful, we're healthy etc. I know it's so important to hope. But hope is exactly what has been tough. Mike and I are dreamers, we don't let things get us down for too long. But I am so tired of hoping just to have it come crashing back down again. Each time it was harder to get back up. It's like watching a fight scene and one person gets knocked down get up knowing the next blow will come again and knock them down, not just once but again and again.
Thankfully we had just enough faith to keep us going. My family knows that there is a refining process that occurs during this mortal life, but never did I imagine that I had THAT many rough edges that had to be knocked off so forcefully. We have come out of it, a little battered, a little bruised but also a little brighter. We are so grateful for the blessings we have received and know that the trials have been for our benefit but I would be lying if I didn't say there are times I felt like we were forgotten about. Like when you put a child in time-out and you forget they are there. ( Countless times Isabel has been the bearer of that) It now feels like Heavenly Father remembered us again.
On a more upbeat note. We are very excited to go to the beach this spring for my cousin's wedding. A week at the beach will be awesome. We are also going to try and sneak over to Orlando and take Isabel to Disney World for a couple days. We truly are blessed, now if we could just act a bit quicker on those blessings so we don't run them off life would be amazing. We have done our family goals for this year. A bit wiser then in years passed, we kept it to about 6, we edited out the obvious ones because they kept us focused on them, not the bigger ones. Besides, shouldn't family scripture study be a habbit by now as well as family home evening? We do those anyways and they should be ingrained.
I have to brag about my husband for a minute. I married an amazing man. Yes, he's a dreamer but that's one of the things I love about him. He has worked and worked and worked some more to achieve his goal with his business, granted we're not there completely, but he NEVER gave up. No matter how many times people would tell him to do something else to get another job etc. He never lost sight of his answers from Heavenly Father (even if at times I did). I am so grateful to this man who takes care of me, pushes me (and my buttons :) ) and is a great father to his beautiful children. Thank you Mike for picking me, for choosing me and for loving me.
