What a great decade!! I can’t imagine another decade where our lives will change so dramatically! We feel so blessed for our amazing lives!

2000 - Billy and I got our chocolate lab Brody for each other for Valentine’s Day, he was just 6 weeks old. I graduated with my masters and Billy with his bachelors in May. We moved to KC and got our first apartment with just the 2 of us. We bought our first car together (Jeep Grand Cherokee). We started our first professional jobs in June…me at Grant Thornton, Billy at Sprint. Billy’s mom was diagnosed with cancer in October and she passed away on Christmas day. Billy’s grandmother passed away on Christmas Eve.

2001 - Worked a lot. Partied a lot:) Attended a bunch of weddings. Bought our first house in April. My grandpa passed away in June. Got engaged on 9/21.

2002 - More weddings. Got married on 9/14/02. Went to Ireland for our honeymoon (my 2nd time in Europe, Billy’s first) and Billy finally caught the travel bug that I’ve had since birth!

2003 - Went to Las Vegas for vacation. Billy loves, I’m not a fan. Decided to “get skinny” from the college weight and Billy and I started Weight Watchers…in 4 months I lost 40 pounds and Billy lost 70 by NYE. More weddings.

2004 - Spent 3 weeks backpacking through Europe with Billy and was one of the best experiences of my life (England, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, and Czech Republic). Changed jobs to a company with a better work/life balance and started trying for a baby. More weddings.

2005 - Found out I was pregnant with Lauren in January, loved being pregnant, and gave birth to her on September 27th (induced 5 days late). Ecstatic to be a mom. Went to NYC for vacation while pregnant.

2006 - Returned to work after maternity leave in January, balance not as good as I’d like. In August, accepted a position at a small firm with a former senior manager I’d worked for at GT with a very flexible schedule and still love it to this day. Billy and I took our first “couple” vacation w/o Lauren to Playa del Carmen in October. My first nephew, Damon, was born in April and I got a fabulous new sister in law with Katie. Billy and I both turned 30 this year, I planned a big pub crawl complete with party bus, we let mine pass quietly:)

2007 - Billy took a position with Embarq to create a new team and is incredibly happy he made that decision. Took a vacation in October with Billy, my sister, brother, and Katie to Clearwater, FL and had a wonderful time (Shane and Katie got engaged there!) . A month later, Billy and I went to St. Martin for our “couple” vacation and had an incredible time and can’t wait to return to the Caribbean…our second favorite vacation after Europe.

2008 - Finally decided to lose the rest of the baby weight and started Weight Watchers (again) and spent the year working out at 5:30am roughly 6 days a week. In the best shape of my life and actually enjoyed running for the first time ever. All of us traveled to my sisters wedding in Asheville, NC which Billy officiated (gorgeous and got a great new brother in law with Brian!) in May followed by a trip to Columbia, SC to see Billy’s grandparents. The three of us went with Shane, Katie, and Damon for a long weekend in St. Louis and had a great time. Billy’s grandpa was diagnosed with colon cancer in July. We started trying for baby #2. Billy, Lauren, my parents, Damon, and I spent a week in August in Destin, FL (Lauren’s 1st beach trip and she’s still begging to go back!). Billy and I spent our “couple” vacation in Key West but spent most of the trip with the stomach flu, ick. Decided to build our “forever” house in December and found out we were pregnant with Mason on 12/26.

2009 - Sold our old home, spent 4 months living in a duplex, built and moved to our new home. Took the first vacation with just the 3 (sort of 4!) of us to Chicago. Billy officiated his 2nd wedding for our best friends who (finally) got married! Didn’t enjoy pregnancy as much the second time around, likely due to living in a duplex and being so busy with a 3 year old and building a house, but still loved the amazing feeling of being pregnant and feeling Mason moving constantly and all of his hiccups. We found out he was a boy in April. Gave birth to Mason on September 8th (his due date and papa’s birthday!) and completed our perfect family of 4!

I am hoping 2010 holds the following for our family: getting skinny and in shape (again), a trip to “Cinderella’s castle” and the beach in Florida in September for Lauren’s 5th birthday, hopefully a short “couple” vacation for Billy and I, and lots of “1sts” with Mason.