So, I have a whole lot of posting to do, but I thought it would be fun to reflect on the past decade and reflect how far I, and now we have come throughout this past decade.
So here it goes...
2000
In January of 2000, Y2K, I arrived in Paris, France to do a Study Abroad with BYU. It was one of the greatest experience of my life, and I loved speaking French and eating French, and doing everything French. I learned to love the French people and I loved the girls that were doing the Study Abroad with me. It was a great time. Justin was on his mission in Hermosillo, Mexico at this time, and he was loving it. He would send me letters to my house in Orem, UT, and my parents would be so excited to open them and fax them to me. I wanted them to be faxed, because I couldn't wait to hear from him. Justin did not know that my whole family was reading his letters from his mission. Good thing they were very spiritual letters. I guess I was used to my brothers and sister reading my stuff, because I would often come home from school and find my journal opened on my bed. Sometimes, they would leave comments in my journal about stuff that I had written.
2001
Justin was about to come home from his mission. I was a little nervous because I thought he would come home like a big fat gorilla, and we would no longer have anything in common. This Summer I did an internship in Cadiz, Spain. It was so fun, I learned so much about family history and I had the greatest time with this group of students. In the Summer I did a Summer at BYU Hawaii with my little sister. We had such a great time together. Even though we learned to live with mice and cockroaches, and I held hands with a guy from Sri Lanka, kind of crazy.
Finally, Justin came home from his mission. I talked to him over the phone while my sister and I and some of our friends spent the night sleeping on the floor in the Hawaii airport, because our friend had stand by tickets and we wanted to be first in line. Justin and I got engaged, and this put an end to my crazy travelling life (or so I thought)...
2002
Justin and I were married in the Salt Lake Temple February 1, 2002. A long awaited event and the greatest day of our lives. We had a wonderful wedding, and a dance at the church with a Peruvian band. It was so fun. Now begins our life. We start out with a honeymoon to Rocky Point, or Puerto Penasco, Mexico. I always wanted to go on my honeymoon to a beach in Mexico, but seeing as we were pretty low on funds, as we were both full time students and Justin had a job at a camera store, we had to go to wherever we could afford. We flew into Tucson, AZ where we then rented a car for 1 day to drive down to Mexico, then we drove the car back to the airport the next day, which was 4 hours away, and rode the bus back to Mexico. This was a very bumpy bus ride, and it took us 7 hours to get to our destination. So our first two days were spent riding a bus in Mexico, because we were trying to do everything cheap, yet complicated. Great times. Not the end of our travels, because that Summer my Mom won a car in Chiapas, Mexico. Justin and I decided that we wanted to fly down to Chiapas (which is on the border of Guatemala), and visit all of the Book of Mormon archeaological sights. Little did we know there was a drug war going on and we were stopped and searched every hour by soldiers with machine guns. But, we had so much fun driving through Mexico and made it across the border with a new car. Oh, and this year I graduated from BYU with my Bachelors degree in Latin American Studies. I almost forgot, but also important to remember, this year on November 21st, Justin's Mom passed away after a 14 year battle with cancer. She will always be loved and remembered. Justin loved his Mom so much and she loved him and his brother so much. But, we can only remember the great Mother and example that whe was and know that she is in a wonderful place and we will see her again someday.
2003
Not the end of our adventures. This year Justin got accepted to the Washington Seminar program through BYU and was accepted to do an internship with "The Council on Hemispheric Affairs", in Wasington D.C. Justin was also asked to be the R.A. for the BYU student housing which was a huge blessing, because we did not have any money. So, first thing we did upon arriving in Washington D.C. was for me to find a job. The only job that I could find on such short notice was at a small coffee shop down the street. I had never made a coffee in my life, let alone tried a coffee in my life. This was quite commical for many of the other ladies that I worked with and I went the entire month without ever trying a coffee, and was glad to find a new job working for the Juvenile Justice Center processing Grants. Justin and I had such a great Summer living in Washington D.C., we were called to attend the Spanish Branch, and walked down the street of a very run down part of D.C., and a guy walked up to us and said, "you look like Latter Days (I guess that is what they call Mormons)". We lived in the Institute building in D.C., and loved Institute with the Senior missionaries, who were so wonderful. We really loved them. It was a great experience. Justin loved "The Council on Hemispheric Affairs", and hopefully we will go back someday. Oh, by the way this year my sister got engaged in Washington D.C. just before she got her mission call to Washington D.C. She decided to get married. Finally, to top off our year our first little baby was born on December 30th. What a great finale, and beginning.
2004.
This year we enjoyed our first year with our baby boy Dallin. We were and still are so in love with this little boy. He got so much attention, seeing as he was the first grandchild on both sides and we lived with my parents. Justin graduated from BYU and prepared to take the LSAT. He began working with my Dad's law firm in Orem, UT and learned how exciting Personal Injury, litigation law and immigration law can be.
2005
This year My whole family and our 16 month old little boy decided to take a 1 month trip together to Europe. It was a great time, except for the fact that Dallin got sick in Italy and we don't speak Italian, and the doctors didn't speak English. But, I must say that the Italian doctors were extremely nice and we loved touring Italy, Spain and France.
This year Justin got accepted to a few different law schools, Hofstra in New York, UNLV, in Las Vegas, University of Oregon, and University of Utah and BYU waiting list. But we chose, the University of Iowa. Which, we were so excited to be so close to Nauvoo, where we would be able to see the newly built temple. So happy that we chose Iowa, because we met some wonderful people and moved into the greatest apartment complex ever, where all of our neighbors were students just like us. We had such a great time. Of course, I did more than Justin, because as he stressed away with his first year of law school, I spent the days hanging out with friends and watching our kids run around as we talked and walked around the mall. It was the life.
2006
This year Justin did his first internship with My Dad's law firm, seeing as we had our newest addition to our family, Trena Elise Vance, born on June 29th, 2006. This was a hot Summer in Iowa and extremely humid. It was not fun to be pregnant, nonetheless, Elise was born before I had to endure too much of the Summer. We are so happy to have a little girl this year as Justin begins his 2nd year of law school.
2007
This year Justin accepted an internship in Reno, NV with Laxalt and Nomura. He loved his internship and we got used to living in Reno, NV, coming to grips with the fact that we were probably going to end up moving to Reno after law school.
2008
This year Justin graduated from law school. We were so sad to leave Iowa and all of our friends, but excited for the next chapter of our lives. So, we move to Reno, NV as I am 8 months pregnant and we did not know a single person, and I did not have a doctor. Kind of a crazy time. But it al worked out great, we met some great friends, I found a doctor, we found a great place to live in Sparks, and our little baby boy Jayden Austin Vance was born on September 21, 2008. Such a great year.
2009
Getting used to life with 3 kids. Most of the time running around as I tend to a crying baby or a little girl who needs help because she's getting potty trained or a 4 year old who needs help with his legos that are falling apart. But, life is great!!! We are able to buy our first house this year and move in. Such a blessing and we are so excited to finally settle down for a while after many years of travelling. What the next decade has to hold no one knows, as I look back on these past 10 years and see how much has happened, I am so excited for the next 10 years.
2010...
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