Today is my birthday and I do plan to record all the fun that I've had in the past 2 days, but tonight I thought that I should take on question 2 of the "This is me challenge". Question 1 was pretty easy and simple to tackle, but question 2 really gave me something to think about. The question is
What are some choices in your life that affected where you are now?
I have often thought about this question. I know that I have made many decisions that have affected where I am now in my life, but for this challenge, I will list a few major, influential decisions. Let me start by recording a bit of my personal history. Many years ago as a Senior in high school, I had a decision to make about where I wanted to go to college. I always knew that I would go to college because for as long as I can remember, I desired to become a Kindergarten teacher. I had planned to go to Utah State as I knew they had a great program for my major. I had been accepted, an apartment had been reserved, and I had a good friend who was going with me and was also going to be my roommate. This was probably one of my first major decisions. Just as it was coming time to go, my friend came to me and told me that she just didn't feel right about her decision to attend Utah State, so she was backing out. I felt scared at the thought of going alone, but my plan was to go ahead and continue on, but as the time drew near, I too felt that this was not the right path for me. So, I switched gears and decided that I would stay home and begin my college education at Salt Lake Community College until I could decide what to do. That felt right and that's what I did. Shortly after that, I felt like I needed to go to Brigham Young University. This was a strange thought for me. I had never considered BYU before and believe me, my grades in High School were not good enough to get into BYU (they were good, but not straight A's by any means), but at SLCC I took school very seriously and worked hard and did really well there (It's funny how much more important your grades become to you when you are paying for your education.) I fought the feeling that I had to apply to BYU, but eventually I decided that if this was meant to be it would work out and all I really had to do was get my application in. I did what I needed to do and the day that it was due I drove it to Provo and turned it in. A short time later I received an acceptance letter. This decision has affected my life tremendously! After moving to Provo, I felt like I needed to apply for a job as a teller at a local bank. I had been a teller before and had sworn that I was done with that job for reasons that require a blog post of their own, but suffice it to say that my prior job in banking left me the awful memories of being robbed at gunpoint 2 times in 6 months and that, so I thought, was end of my career as a teller. So, when that feeling came, I thought that I had lost my mind. But, the job was in a bank in a grocery store and I felt much safer in that setting. So I applied, got the job and through that decision, I met Brett's cousin who set the stage for Brett and I to meet. Brett and I met, dated, fell in love and look at us now going on 15 years of marriage and raising 4 fabulous boys! The decision that I made to marry Brett truly was the best decision that I have ever made. It was a major decision and has affected my life in a very positive but life changing way. Shortly after we married we began our life together back east in Connecticut. I gave up for a time, the decision to become a Kindergarten teacher as I put my schooling on hold to become a wife and to support my husband in his new career with IBM in New York. Never in my life would I have thought that I would ever leave UT and there I was young and newly married navigating life in what seemed like a foreign country. But it was one of the best times of my life. I met so many wonderful friends, I had a job in a flower shop that I loved and Brett and I were very happy. The decision to become a mother was a no brainer for me. It was something that I always aspired to and during the course of our time in CT, we were blessed with the births of two of our boys. Then another decision moved our family to CA yet another place that I would never have imagined myself living. But here we are and while I've had ups and downs with adjusting to life in CA, it is home and we are happy. And during the course of our time here we have had 2 more children. It truly is amazing how our decisions really affect our lives. One little (or perhaps big) decision to attend BYU was the best decision that I could have ever made. It led me to becoming a wife and a mother and provided many opportunities for growth and joy in my life. One thing that I know for sure is that my Heavenly Father has had a hand in my life. He has guided me and blessed me in more ways than I can count.
