The Holidays

Happy Holidays!

I love this time of year. I love this time of year a lot more than I have in the past for some reason. As I got older, the holidays became boring to me. I take on too much and stress myself out and that’s never fun. Our families have awesome traditions and I really enjoy those but the time leading up to the holidays is never my favorite. This year has been different. I started shopping early, I have a week full of fun activities planned for the family the week of Christmas, I’ve listened to Christmas music daily while at work, I’ve found several delicious holiday recipes I’m excited to try & we have plans to go downtown to eat dinner with our great friends and see the lights at Temple Square. I don’t feel overwhelmed this year. I’m really enjoying the season.

Thanksgiving was amazing. I loved spending the time with family. We drove to St. George and it was warm, t-shirt weather. I was in heaven. I’m thankful for my Mom’s good cooking and the time spent with family. We went shopping for a bit on Black Friday but the nieces and nephews had other ideas of fun so we cut our shopping trip short so that my Mom {a.k.a. Grandma} could spoil her grandkids. We missed Jake’s family but are excited to be with them next year. I have so much to be grateful for this year.

I’m so blessed, even on the not so great days. Jake’s been such a supportive husband. He’s been the one to put up with my crazy moods, anger, sadness, frustration etc…I don’t know how I got so lucky but I am. I thank God every day that I married him, even on the bad days. I’m thankful for wonderful parents. I always go back to the day I had surgery. My Mom stayed with me and then went back to St. George to work for a couple of days and then came back to take care of me some more, make our meals, clean my house etc. She’s amazing. She’s also my very best friend. My Dad came in my hospital room with a dozen red roses and they were the most beautiful flowers I’ve ever seen. He’s not a fan of hospitals so I expected that to be it but to my surprise he stayed with me EVERYDAY for four days straight. He sat in silence while I rested and watched daytime TV. He snuck me fast food and made me laugh. He’s a great Dad & during those hard times I am more thankful than ever to have the parents that I do. Love them to pieces.

My siblings are crazy but I love them and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my nephews to the moon & back. Jake’s family is equally wonderful. I’ve grown closer to them this year and I’m thankful for them in so many ways. I love the chaos at Sunday dinners and all of the sweet kiddos I get to love on. I was blessed with more nieces and nephews than I ever thought possible. I am thankful that Jake and I spent time with his Grandma while she visited this past summer. She and I have a bond that I can’t explain but I love her so much. She’s the sweetest little lady ever. I’m also thankful that for the time I get to spend with my Grandparents. Both sets. They are truly amazing people. Our friends are also awesome. I can say that we have those few GREAT friends that we can always count on and I’m so, so, soooo thankful for them. Always!

It’s been an eventful past year. I’m so excited that tomorrow on the 7th will be my VERY LAST round of Lupron. It’s been a long 6 months on this shot. I hope the emotional rollercoaster was worth it. My options now are to find a way to get pregnant or have a hysterectomy. The hysterectomy isn’t an option for me right now so we have to find a way to get prego. It’s not something that will be easy but in the end I’m sure it will be worth it. It’s hard not to know the unknown. I wish I had a crystal ball sometimes to make my decisions for me. The research and options are overwhelming but how do you know what’s best for you and your body? It doesn’t help that “infertility” can cost thousands and thousands of dollars and that in itself is very stressful. What if I waste money trying certain things? What if those things just don’t work? Then what? I have a lot of questions without answers so for now I will be patient and am thankful that this will be my very last shot on this dreaded medication. I got lucky, my side effects weren’t as bad as I thought they would be but it was a pretty rough 6 months for this girl and my body.

Here’s to 2012 rolling in with more blessings than I can count.

That’s life in a nutshell.

Pictures to follow……