I am in the Best Years of My Life...Are you as Well?

I can honestly look at my life right now, or more specifically, in the last three years, and say that they have been (so far) the BEST years of my life. In my last three years I have gotten to do SO much, and be so much, and to stretch myself beyond what I ever thought was possible. I have taught middle and high school science with one of the best groups of students that I have ever known (I am honored to still get emails, wedding invites and even texts from a few). I have stayed home the year before Isaiah started kindergarten with him, and learned to see my younger boy apart from his brother, getting in time that was so valuable, (so frustrating sometimes, lol), and so indispensable to me being a good mom to both boys. I have gone on school field trips with the kids, been team mom for soccer, and helped with Cub Scouts. I have worked with nothing short of juvenile delinquents and their probation officers, learning that ALL students can achieve and deserve love. I have traveled to Maui, Cozumel, and Oahu, as well as Seattle (my favorite big city) multiple times. I have completed my CNA certification, passing my skills section with 100%. I have camped many, many times with my family at the coast, in the mountains and by pristine lakes. I have been accepted to both nursing schools I applied to. I have gained wonderful grandparents (my in-laws-B's parents have passed), that shower me with praise and affection, and wrap my boys in love. My sons have gotten to know the love of a man that hugs them each and everyday, helps with school homework and soccer skills, reads to them, shows them how to use tools and includes them in projects....most importantly though, Barrett shows the boys how to treat a wife, to tell her she's beautiful when she least expects it, to have no problem helping to take care of the household chores, to sacrifice for her dreams because you believe in her, and daily he gives them the gift of a happy mom.

I have learned not to stress (as much!), that it is a better choice of time to hang out with my boys than to sweep the floor, how to exercise and eat better, and mostly that when you have a man that supports your dreams and treats you as a partner in life, there is no limit to what you can accomplish.

Three years ago tomorrow Barrett and I married in a quick ceremony in Reno. We had had a decent sized wedding planned for 2-12-12, but it was getting complicated, expensive, and was too far in time away. I had already had a (beautiful) fairy-tale wedding once, but fancy weddings don't mean happy marriages, and B had no desire to celebrate our love in front of others. So, after a long drive overnight to Reno and a very late check-in to our room, Barrett and I would wake to do paperwork for a marriage license and to later marry at 3:00 in the hotel's chapel, he in khakis and a button-down shirt, and me in a simple green strapless dress (that I'd worn to multiple occasions already). We do have pictures in a wedding gown and suit, because the clothing was already ordered and paid for (though not yet ready) when we decided to elope. We figured we could at least have wedding pictures as well. Though I sometimes regret not having our "planned" wedding (nuptials on a steamboat with a river cruise), and we already had the most beautiful invitations ever (snowy white branches with burgundy ink), I have never once regretted the marriage. These have been the happiest, truest years of my life, and since Barrett entered the picture, I expect no less than the rest of our lives together being this happy as well.

The immediate future holds nursing school on the horizon, two boys with soccer practices, games, homework and projects, a first grader and a third grader, a family trip to Maui for our Christmas presents this year (because we decided experience and memories outweigh material items), and Barrett continuing to work and excel at the company he is part of (he has even increased from one work-at-home day a week to two!), supporting our family steadily.

I am not sure what will happen past that, or even past the next year or so. I know school will be difficult, but I also have no doubts that I can do it. I hope to find the area I feel called to be in, and to narrow down the list of specialties I think could be good fits (emergency, operating room, NICU, women's health, or oncology). Professionally, I would like to go further than my RN, perhaps to be a Family Nurse Practitioner, or perhaps to teach later on. I know I want our family to travel lots, showing the boys places they've never dreamed of, and making memories along the way.

I am, still and for all the foreseeable future, in the happiest years of my life. Are you as well? If not, perhaps it's time to make some changes...