Another Year

Today is my 26th birthday (don't worry, this isn't a ploy for you to send me cards or anything ;)) and I can't help but think about how much my life has changed in just one year. On my 25th birthday we were still living in Omaha, unaware that we would soon be moving to Little Rock. By the end of the summer I had relocated and started a new job. By Christmas I had found out I was pregnant, by February we were told we would be moving AGAIN, and in March we learned of our baby's devastating diagnosis. And then in April I started another new job here in Independence. Whew! I don't think I ever would have predicted all of this happening in just one year. Not only has my physical address changed multiple times over the past 12 months, but I feel like I as a person have undergone a transformation as well. Not only has my faith been enriched in this experience, but I feel like my overall perspective on life has been altered. I see a lot of things differently now, and appreciate little things that I may have taken for granted before.

I also tend to daydream about what my life will be like on my next birthday. Will we still be living here? Will I be celebrating it with Ethan? Might I even be pregnant again? It's too soon to really think that far ahead, but sometimes imagining good things happening in the future helps get me through the present. I can only think of one wish that I have this year. Though I can't tell you what it is (or it won't come true!) I think you can probably guess.

Keith and I will be going to dinner tonight, and tomorrow my mom and his mom are coming down to celebrate with me. We're going to be staying the night at the Embassy Suites near Country Club Plaza. It should be fun! Poor Keith has to stay at home with the dogs...but I think he secretly enjoys that :)

So here's to another birthday, another year of life. I can only hope that there will be many good things to come this year.

Love,
Ashley