10 years ago, 10 years from now

My sister Lindsey and I are 10 years apart. Sometimes, when I'm talking to her, I think, "I'm not sure I'd think/do that, but then again, she's 19 and I'm 29. I totally would have thought/done that at 19." While thinking about that lately, I thought about my hopes and dreams when I was where she is - 19 and in my first semester of college. I remember having a dream of where I'd be in 10 years. And you know what? NONE of the things I thought would happen happened. OK, there is one exception - I did graduate college, and that's a pretty big one. But other than that, I guarantee you that pretty much nothing went according to my "plan." Let's look at what my plan was when I was 19.

By the time I reached 29, I would:

• have been married for, like 8 or 9 years, to someone who was from the Utah area who was probably going to be a doctor or a lawyer
• have 3 or 4 kids and probably even be done having kids
• have my degree, which would be a nice check to put in the box, but which I'd probably never use
• have been a stay at home mom for, like 5 years (if you include going to school as not being a stay at home mom)
• own a beautiful home in Utah that we probably built

In reality, at 29, I had:

• been married for 5 years to someone from the Boston area who is a computer software person
• been blessed with one beautiful boy, who caused me a lot of grief getting here (both in trying to get pregnant and trying to deliver him - thank you, DJ), but who we love and who we hope isn't our only little one to join our home (no, that's not an announcement - calm it down, peeps; this kid is only 4 months old)
• had a career of teaching that spanned nearly 6 years and which was an enormous blessing for me
• just barely entered the stay-at-home mom stage of my life
• moved across the country twice, was still living in an apartment but had started house shopping, and had just moved to Vegas

Looking back on my original 10 year plan, it seems so silly. Not that any of those things are silly, but looking at what my life has become, the lessons I've learned, the places I've been, and the experiences I've had, that plan does not fit me. But at 19, I totally thought it did. And though none of those things are bad, I'm so glad my plan didn't work out. Granted, in the midst of it not working out, I wasn't always so happy, but now, I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father had other things in store for me. And as I look forward another 10 years (with some life experience under my belt), it makes me wonder where I'll be at 39. Will we still be in Nevada? Will we have been able to have more kiddos? Will I still be staying at home? I could keep listing questions, but the answer is the same: I don't know, but whatever happens, it'll be what's best for me. And as I continue to learn and grow, I need to be better at keeping that in mind. Heavenly Father, in His infinite wisdom, gives us each what we need when we need it. He has our best interests in mind, and if things happen or don't happen, He's got a reason. Granted, that's much easier said than done, but I think that will be one of my goals for 2014 is to try to keep what I'm going to call a "10 year perspective." In 10 years, I'll probably appreciate what seems like a challenge or a pain now. And since I was feeling grateful for my 10 year perspective and so blessed in ways that I needed to be blessed over the last 10 years, I thought I'd share my thoughts with you.