I decided that to start my adventure I wanted to review one of the best years of my life. I am finding that I am really bad at seeing the future. In January of 2010 had you asked me what I thought the year would be like I would have told you awful. I was convinced that turning 30 would be such an experience that it would overshadow anything good that would happen. By mid-year things were not going bad but there was nothing that stood out either. Then on a warm August day I went to work expecting a normal day and got exactly the opposite.
Like most girls I had day dreamed my entire life about meeting prince charming and being swept off my feet. Also like most girls I thought that is how it would stay. Just a dream. Sitting at my computer I looked up and out of the corner of my eye saw the man of my dreams pass by the front desk and walk outside. I held my breath and watched him walk with one of my co-workers past my office window. When I finally was able to catch my breath I turned to my friend to find out who it was. Then by seemingly by chance (which I now know is actually fate) I found out the my dream guy was on his first day working with our company. A few minutes later my co-worker came and introduced me to Jay and when our eyes met for the first time I knew I found my soul mate.
We started dating about a week later and made it official on August 19, 2010 when I won his heart by cooking him dinner from scratch. He had told me the day before that the way to win his heart was through his stomach and I wanted his heart so bad that I put my heart in soul into the meal I cooked for that night. The most amazing thing in life is when you meet that person who you feel that you have known your entire life but at the same time every moment is brand new and exciting. My life seemed like it started that day and everyday after has been nothing less than a blessing and a miracle.
2010 brought a lot of other fond memories. My sister Amie got married in August. If there was ever a person who you could confuse with an angel it would have been her that day. My two nephews Shaun and Seth turned 3 and 2 (respectively) that November and had so many fun sleep overs that my photo books don't have enough room. My brother Henry did some shows with his band Item 9. We had a huge pool day at my house with five of my nieces and nephews. Might I suggest if you ever try that to have two adults per child (kids have way too much energy). My beautiful niece Jewel turned 10 and had her family birthday party where Jay meet most of my family for the first time. In October Jay and I took my nephews and his cousin to a great family pumpkin patch where we spent most of the day chasing the kids around. Later that same night Jay and I went back alone to go through their haunted barn (a great excuse to grab his arm in fear).
Then the infamous day came. My 30th birthday. It happened to be on a Friday and when I showed up for work the girls at the office had decorated my whole space with brightly colored items all with the number 30 on them. If I had wanted to lie about my age that was no longer an option but they made it all better by giving me a princess crown to wear. Mid-day the owner of the company came to take me to lunch and when we got to the restaurant a special birthday message was on the board and our menus. Finally when the day came to a close Jay told me he was taking me out to dinner. We got to the BBQ restaurant we had wanted to try for a long time the man I had fallen in love with seemed to be overtaken by some strange malady that caused him to sweat and stutter. When I asked him what was wrong he said it was a surprise. Moments later my mom and dad showed up for my surprise family dinner. The meal was great, company was great and presents were great. I think my favorite was a coffee cup that read "I'm not 30 I am 18 with 12 years of experience"! We had been seated by the kitchen but by the time dinner was over Jay looked like he had sweated out half his body weight. I thought he was sick so I wanted to go home and take care of him but when we walked in the house he grabbed me by the hand and pulled me to the balcony. As I started to question him he stopped me telling me there was something very important he had to say. Nervous, excited and confused I stood there looking into his eyes. He started by telling me that he never thought he would ever meet someone like me and I fulfilled every image of the perfect woman. To him I was his dream girl and he loved me with every fiber of his being. He then dropped to his knees pulling my left hand to him. With a shaking hand and an equally shaky voice he said the most amazing thing "Barbara would you make me the happiest man in the world making my dreams come true by being my wife?" I started to shake myself and with tears of joy in my eyes I said yes. Falling to my knees next to him he put the ring on my finger and we held each other crying and kissing while everything else in the world disappeared.
As if meeting the man of my dreams, having a great year and being proposed to wasn't enough Jay had another surprise for me. He grabbed bags he had packed earlier in the day out of our room and took me to the car. After an almost two hour drive we wound up at a hotel right on the beach and yes he picked one with a fire place. We spent the weekend doing nothing but sightseeing, laughing, kissing and being in complete bliss.
In wrapping up the year we decided to start our own Christmas tradition. Since family is an important part of our lives we found a way for us to both spend time with each of our families. Christmas Eve would be spent with his aunt, grandmother, mother, brother and little cousin (which included a super fun sleep over) and Christmas day would be at my mothers house with my massive family. It was a bit strange to be at his families house for Christmas Eve as I was still getting to know them and did hope they liked me even a little bit as much as Jay did. After a few hours of being nervous and walking on egg shells the ice broke. The rest of the day was incredible! Jay's mom made a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner of fondue (still one of the things I brag to people about my mother-in-law), we opened a few presents, played games and laughed so hard everyone's checks hurt. The next morning we woke up had Starbucks that Jay's grandmother brought, opened presents and took so many pictures I still don't think I have looked through them all. I was and still am thankful that I was blessed to have this experience with my in-laws that year. After that we went to my moms house and joined all twenty something of my family members that were there. Presents, food, hugs, laughter filled the remainder of the day. After eating till we were so full that even the sight of food made us cringe we went home.
New Year's Eve came shortly after and can be summed up as such. We had been blessed with meeting each other, growing our families by deciding to join them, had love in our hearts and looked forward to the future.
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