A Decade in the Making

Normally I write about my kiddos here, but I don't have a journal and my friend did this on her 30th b-day so I thought I'd do it as well. I have a couple other fun me-related posts coming up, so if your in it for the kids feel free to skip.

A decade of Kendra:

• Oct 2002: This was my sophomore year of collage and by far my favorite while I was single. I had amazing roommates who I loved, enjoyed my classes, and being social. I knew everyone in my ward, held multiple callings and was nicknamed 'Special K'. I still didn't know what I was going to study but was taking care of those general study classes. This was the year I took far too many classes, slept little and was very involved. I was part of BYUSA, BYU's leadership program and was actively involved in planning campus wide events, helping new coming freshman and other projects. I got a part time job to help pay for school. Primarily I worked at the Taco Bell at the Cougareat, which I never thought I'd enjoy working fast food (I had only worked in offices) but it was a ton of fun and I met a lot of new people. It was probably one of my favorite jobs. I kept in touch with many missionary friends, one of which would later be my husband.
• Oct 2003: I was two months away from entering the MTC to serve in the Bolivia, Cochabamba, Mission. The decision to go on a mission was pretty quick and it all happened very fast but when I knew, I knew. I left most of what I owned in Utah and came home to prepare. For 3 months I was at home living with my mom and getting ready to leave. I worked at Mervyn's to help save money and when I wasn't working I decided to refinish my old room because we 5 teenagers had kind of left my mom's house trashed when we all moved out. So I repainted the room, sanded and refinished the furniture and redid the molding hoping to leave my mom with a nice guest room when I left. 
• Oct 2004: I had just been transferred the week before from my sweet little village of Punata to the historical, grand capital Sucre. My new companion, Hermana Yadira Zamora from Ecuador was my new companion and we were beginning to get to work in the area and get to know each other. The capital was beautiful, we lived on the outside edge and part of it was in a small village. Lets just say it was a lot of walking. True to form I stayed in this area for over 6 months and learned to love it. I sure miss Bolivia sometimes and my companions. They became my friends in a way no other, besides my husband, had or has. When you have friends or even roommates you see them here and again, but a companion is by your side 24/7 and most of mine were for 3-4 1/2 months each. I wish they were all my neighbors.
• Oct 2005: I had just gotten home from my mission then two months later gotten married right before school and we were both back at BYU. Our first apartment was a tiny basement apartment, basically a hallway but compared to Bolivia it was pretty nice living, at least in my opinion. This first year Jason forgot my birthday, though I have to admit there was a semi good reason. We had been planning a birthday trip back to oregon but it was not on my actual birthday so he mixed the celebrating day with the real day. Still like to give him a hard time about that one. I had also just gotten a job as a teacher at the MTC teaching English speaking missionaries and getting ready to teach Welfare sisters.
• Oct 2006: I was still at the MTC, still teaching Welfare and English. I was also working a lot in the call center at the MTC and loved it. I worked on a number of Sunday's there and they were some of my favorites. Our first apartment got flooded after a flash rainstorm, it was terrifying because I was at home alone while Jason was working and I had just getting out of the shower. During the course of this year I decided I would major in social work and got into the program and began with my social work classes.  We had a full year of marriage under our belt and doing well, though I was a little frustrated with the fact that he never had to study and I pretty much was working, in classes, or in the library studying. Two months later I would find out I was pregnant.
• Oct 2007: Jason and I had been married two years and were adjusting our lives to being new parents. I had finished a long summer pregnancy while I working part time at the MTC, doing a part time internship at Scenicview Academy as a case worker working with those who have learning disabilities, and going to a full load of classes. Busy busy busy. I was only 3 classes shy of my degree when Levi was born. By this time, Levi was two months old and we were living in a tiny basement apartment right at the foot of BYU. It was the one time in my life where I was not working and not going to school. Only a month later my grandpa would get sick and we would move back to Oregon during Thanksgiving break. 
• Oct 2008: We had been living at my mom's house for a while after my grandpa had gotten sick. I had Levi who was one and a half at home with me and I loved being his mom. He was  getting funnier and funnier. I had family and long time friends around for help trying to figure out how to be a mom, which is tricky business. My mom loved having her grandson in the house whose first task in the morning was getting down the stairs to see her and share a bowl of oatmeal. I was working part time for Vial Fotheringham doing work from home along with doing household work at my grandparents house during the week. I had a month before found out I was pregnant and got much sicker with #2 than my first, probably because with my first I was too busy to notice it.....
• Oct 2009: Max had been born and was six months old. It had been a big year for all of us. My grandfather passed away, we were now living at my grandparents house with my grandmother who I helped take care of. I was still working part time from home for the lawfirm and I had finally taken the leap and started an online store on etsy. It was something I was very nervous to do because I couldn't believe someone would pay for something I made. I was so nervous about it I made my sister be my first sale.
• Oct 2010: By this time I had a 1 and a 3 year old which kept me on my toes. On top of that, my work at the lawfirm had gone from 1-2 hours a day to 3-4 hours without any days off, so needless to say it was quite stressful. On a more positive note my etsy shop took off and I was making quite a bit, enough that I could justify quitting the law firm, though I was extremely nervous to do so. Luckily it paid off. Even on the craziest day of working on stuff for my shop it  is 100x better than doing boring law firm work.  Jason was laid off which at first was hard but on the positive we took advantage of him being home and I was able to drop everything so I could finally finish the last of my classes  that I needed to get my degree which was a huge lifetime goal I had made for myself.
• Oct 2011: We had been living in my grandparents house for a while and worked on many projects since we first moved in and it felt every day a little bit more like it was ours, rather than we were there guests. It's not the most conventional arrangement and never what I expected but it works. Levi was now in preschool and Max was 2 and still napping. It was a great time with them both being older and able to do more things and communicate. I began to realize just how hilarious they were and how absolutely fun it can be to be a mom. Kids are so funny and smart! Jason had been working at a number of places as a temp looking for just the right place to start his career. I was recently called as a counselor in the primary presidency which was a first for me but it was fun being around all those awesome kids.
• Oct 2012: And here I am living with my three favorite boys, grandma and many family members who visit on a daily basis (the boys LOVE seeing their uncles, aunt and grandma at least once a week). I am the mom of two sweet, kind, smart and hilarious boys. I have wonderful friends in my ward and in past wards who cheer me on as a mother and as a person. Jason now has a permanent salaried position in a job he enjoys doing. My shop is doing so well I'm having to really pick and choose what I do and am contemplating how to scale back soon so I can have more focus.  Life is great and I am so grateful for all of my many many blessings.