One Year Older & Wiser too...

Well...goodbye 26...hello 27! It really didn't feel like my birthday today...aside from the tremendous amount of phonecalls and voice messages I received today. Thank you everyone for thinking of me! I'm also looking forward to Jake's "Presents" or "Presence" next weekend...whichever! :)
Ashley did a year in review on her birthday and I thought it was a great idea, so here goes...

I started out my 26th year wildly pregnant with stretch marks in places I won't even begin to share with you. I had planned to be induced on my birthday...it was a Friday last year and my mom could be here for the weekend plus a few extra days and I didn't mind being in labor on my birthday because they seem to be a bit overated anyway...but, the hospital was totally booked up and there was no room that weekend for us, so I was rescheduled to July 2nd...
Now THIS was a great way to start my 26th year! Emma Jean came on her own on July 2nd, the day I was scheduled to be induced. She has made me a mother and taught me so much about life and love in her short life so far. She was the best birthday present!
In August we went to Craig for the Steal'n Reunion! 4 Generations were together and my baby got to hear her grandpa rock out...something she will only experience from a CD later in life. Of course people judged me and couldn't believe I had a nearly new born at a rock concert...but HELLO...did they not know that I was once a newborn at a rock concert?! This awesome weekend was followed up in Grand Junction blessing Miss Emma at the Stake Center at a private family meeting. What a special experience.
In December I braved the world of flying and aiports with a baby...yet another new adventure. We went to Denver to see my friends and in-laws, who ended up stuck in the worst storm they'd ever seen in Wyoming. As a reminder...Emma did not actually drink Pepsi.
In February, my sweet brother Jake came home from Deutchland and met my husband and baby. The first thing he said after hugging me was, "Tiff, she is really big!" And that has been their relationship since. Emma thinks Jake is really big and Jake thinks Emma is really big. It was awesome to spend a few days with him and get to know him all over again!
I learned this past year to enjoy the messes, the noodles on the floor, the stains and just have fun. Em will only be this age once and I want to enjoy this time with her. I think that we've had some pretty fun times.

I got into biking...something I swore I wouldn't do...and got Em a trailor. I even got a new bike. It's been fun to learn what all the craze was with the Kokopelli. And while I don't have ANY desire to mountain bike, I wouldn't mind showing that Glenwood Trail that I can beat it now!

I love spending time with Emma. We find fun new things to do everyday. Sometimes we do our hair the same, sometimes we dress the same. (She of course always pulls the outfits off a lot cuter than I do!) She is my shadow and my help in whatever I am doing. I will be sad when she can't be entertained playing with a piece of trash and tic tac container, but happy that she will be able to talk to me and we'll have new adventures.

I got into gardening, another thing I swore I wouldn't do. I have really shifted my focus and am working on my food storage and emergency preparedness things. I am excited to see the things that I put into the ground growing and thriving! I don't consider myself a green thumb, but I am loving the experience and can't wait to taste my very own veggies!

Most of all this 26th year, I've learned the value of family. I have learned that Satans greatest plan is to destroy the family unit and will stop at nothing until he has done that. I am grateful for a loving Father in Heaven who knows what I'm capable of and is aware of my family and works with me on a daily and even minutely basis to thwart Satans attempt at destruction. The battle is not over and will continue on...but I am hopeful at the outcome and more determined today than ever before to reclaim what is rightfully mine...not the adversary's!

This 26th year has been, hands down, the most difficult year of my life. Up until this point, my Junior Year in High School held the record for being the most difficult but it doesn't even compare to some of the things I have experienced personally this past year. I spent the first few months filled with feelings of post partum depression, the next few months in "Albuquerque" where I experienced deep heart break, the months after that were filled with grieving over the loss of Todd's Great Grandma and Emma being in the hospital and on oxygen for what seemed like forever. Following that long winter spell we moved into the scary thoughts of Todd going to Iraq and then to seperation, followed by a scary week of near divorce, which brings me to exactly this minute as I type this post. Would I change it? Would I do anything differently? Would I take anything back or wish it away? The crazy thing is no, I wouldn't. I would do it ALL again because as I sit here and reflect on the things that I have been through this past year, I realize how strong I am. If someone were to have told me a year ago that I would go through all of these things and in the end say I wouldn't change a thing, I would have thought that person were absolutely nuts. Isn't it amazing what eternal perspective will do for you and how it will change your life. Every event prepared me for the next, which then prepared me for the next and so on. So that now...while I am still in the midst of a trying time, I feel more confident, more at peace, and more prepared to go through it. WOW...I feel almost liberated to actually write/type this all. I am so grateful for everything. Someday, when Todd and I have pushed through all of this mess and are sitting in our old people rocking chairs on the front porch, and we are reflecting on our lives and all of the thousands of memories that we have had and moments we've shared, he will ask: "How did we get here, how did we make it this far?" And I will say, "Because what I thought was one terrible, awful, no good, very bad 26th year, actually became the turning point for the rest of our lives!"
So...to all of you who have helped me and made a difference in my life this 26th year, Thank you! Thank you Ashley~for being with me during some scary post partum days and for being willing to do whatever you could to help. Thank you Alisa for coming to Emma's blessing and always being such a "good"/Best friend. Thank you Sherry for coming to be with me for a week last September and sharing a part of yourself that I didn't know, which helped me love you even more as the mother of my husband. Thank you Brielle for calling me out of the blue when you were thinking about me and even though you left a message and I didn't call back...it meant the world that you called. Thank you Jenyfur for being an inspiration to me and helping me to see a dream come true and being a partner through it! Thank you Margie for always being willing to call and check on me whenever and to talk about kid things! Thank you Aubrie for staying my best friend even though we haven't seen each other for 2 years because of crazy busy lives! Thank you to every blog-stalking Puckett who has been and will always be my best friends! Thank you Melanie for your tear jerking message the other day and for your friendship and memories! Thank you Shirline for always inviting me camp out at your house when I'm in town and being so supportive! Thank you Danny for being a living example of what the power of conversion can do in people's lives! Thank you Jake for being my "big" brother, when I should be your big sister! Thank you Grams for thinking about me and calling me! Thank you Uncle Mark for your spiritual guidance and testimony. Thank you Mom for "holding my hand" this past year from Grand Junction and helping me to push through. Thank you Dad for being the man that you are and helping me to be the woman I can be, for the moments where I thought I couldn't make it up the hill and you rode along side me and put your hand on my back giving me the confidence and the "push" to make it a little farther. And last but certainly not least...Thank you Todd for taking the blame for the burnt biscuits, for my birthday cake, for the birthday song at Texas Roadhouse, for frosting and graham cracker picnics and for the hope of a tomorrow! And to all those who I didn't mention by name, Thank You for helping me, for loving me, for being an example and for guiding me gently through this 26th year!
I hope that my 27th year is as rewarding as my 26th year has been!!!