Lucky number 13

I am BACK in the blogging world.  I am sure not for long, but it feels good to clear my head with writing.

In THREE days, I will have been married for THIRTEEN YEARS!!  I now feel pretty darn old and by old, I mean lucky!  I have a new computer that I haven't transferred any pictures over to so pretend below is a picture of Barrett and I when we dated.  Ah, look how cute we are.

As I was feeding the baby today, I got to sit and think about what the last 13 years has been like for us. Today I feel thankful.  We have come such a long way and I feel like our hard work is FINALLY paying off!  I am not saying that we don't have problems, because we do, but life has gotten more crazy (5.5 kids will do that) but it has gotten easier in a lot of ways.

Barrett's job:  After 10 YEARS (yes, 10) of our marriage, Barrett FINALLY has an awesome job!!  During medical school we actually PAID for him to work!  Those times were hard.  I have no idea how we made that work, but it taught us a lot and even though they were happy times, they were very hard.  I learned a lot about what you can make due on.  Learned to coupon like a crazy lady, found a deep love of yard sales AND found out when to call uncle! He is such an amazing guy and LOVES what he does.  He is happy to get up and go to work every day.  It is a blessing that he has been given this talent and uses it.  We were recently talking with someone about what strengths people do and don't have.  Barrett is a hard worker and he is driven and I am glad it is his strength.

Our house:  We were super blessed to buy a home in KC while Barrett was a resident but I knew we wouldn't be there for long, so it didn't really feel like home to me. When we moved here to Logan, I knew we would be here for the long haul and feel blessed to have found a home here to buy.  It feels like home to us and I am happy that we own this home.  I hate renting and the thought of moving this circus any time soon makes me a little sick! It isn't our last move or home, but we are getting close!  We recently put in a yard and flower beds and every time I pull into the garage it makes me happy we have a yard I can work in.

Our family: Holy struggle of the century.  There is not enough blogging time in the world to write down the saga of getting our family here.  It has consumed us and our marriage for almost the whole 13 years we have been married.  It has been my biggest trail, my darkest days and in the end, my biggest blessing.  I know that our Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers.  It was 100% sure not on MY time frame, but it came.  I have felt nothing but immensely blessed to be having this last little spirit in our home.  What a perfectly sweet "ending" to the hardest most daunting chapter (or chapters!) of our life.

My job:  Does my job get any better?  Yes, yes.  There is A LOT and I do mean A LOT of diapers, crying (mostly me), hard times, yelling (again, from me), frustration and craziness that come with my job.  I could NOT be more thankful I get to be home with my kids.  There was a time when I felt like all I did was run around and worry about how ends were going to meet.  I worked LOTS of jobs to help us get by.  They were not always jobs I loved or wanted to work but I did it.  Today I feel blessed that I get to "just" be a mom.  It is insanely crazy around here and if I had to throw work into the mix I am not sure my high strung personality could take it.  Barrett makes that possible for us and again, it is a blessing!

We have come such a long way and the Lord has given us a lot to be thankful for.  I am glad we are where we are at.  It feels good and right to finally take a deep breath and exhale!

Here is to anther 13 (and more!) years!