2011 for the Lewis Fam

I can't believe another year has flown by. This year was very bitter-sweet for me.. But I want to remember the year that I grew so much as a person..

January- Ash starts Paramedic School and is continuing to work Full-Time

We started off the year knowing that the possibility of us conceiving a child on our own was slim and that we should look into advanced medicine or adoption. January was a month of research and pondering.

We also celebrated Ashley's 27th birthday with family and friends! I am so thankful this boy was born and love celebrating his day of birth!

February- Ashley and I enjoyed a nice weekend away with dinner, a movie and a wonderful stay at Grand America!
We celebrated 1 year in our home!
We celebrated Sophie's 1st birthday!!
We choose In-vitro fertilization. We choose a doctor and begin the VERY long process of paper work..

March- We speak with the doctor and find out that we will begin the IVF process in August.

April - Finished up the ski season
Ash continues paramedic school. He went to class every weekday that he did not have to work at the station. There were multiple weeks that he would work Saturday and Sunday then have class Monday - Thursday and then work Friday & Saturday. He continued to pick up extra shifts at the station which kept him very busy.

May - MOAB! We went with the Lewis Family and took our motorcycles to Moab for a very much needed vacation! We stayed in a beautiful 3 bedroom condo and enjoyed riding through Zions, playing games, hiking and enjoying time with family.

Begin working on the back yard!

June- I am anxiously counting down the weeks until we begin IVF.
Work for me starts to pick up again and the Conference/ Wedding Season begins.
Ashley finishes paramedic school

July- Celebrate 4th of July watching Ashley in the Park City Parade.
Lots of time spent in Coalville at the Blonquist Ranch.
Motorcycle Rides
Ash takes the national paramedic exam and PASSES!
All of the medication for IVF arrives.

August - WE BEGIN IVF! All of the medication is overwhelming. Shots, pills, patches, etc.. I feel anxious and am so nervous that I am going to miss something. Lots of ultra-sounds, blood work and doctor visits..

Ashley starts another semester of college. He will graduate this year with a double bachelors!

September - The hardest month of my life. We find out on September 6th that I am not pregnant and our IVF cycle failed. I was at work when the nurse called to give me the results from the blood test I had taken that morning. Looking back those minutes when she told me were all a blur. I've NEVER cried so hard in my entire life. Luckily, I had told my boss that either way, good news or bad, I would need the rest of the day off. (I wasn't productive that day anyways.. I was very anxiously waiting for the phone call) I immediately called Ashley and went straight to the station.. I looked a mess.. I had mascara running down my face and my eyes were already puffy.. And the station is only 5 minutes from my office.. My sweet husband just held me while I cried. He then told me he was leaving the station for the rest of his shift. (That is not like my husband to leave work in the middle of a shift with no one coming in to cover him).

We went home and I cried the rest of the day and night. Ashley is the best man. I know what I was feeling and I can't even imagine what he was going through.

October - My wonderful husband and I celebrate 5 wonderful years of marriage on October 4th!



We celebrated apart unfortunately. The Bachelor was filming at Canyons and it was my event! So I was at a private concert for The Bachelor with Clay Walker!! (It is going to air on January 16th, 2012) - What a fun event to be apart of!!

I turn 25!! I spent the weekend with my mother-in-law shopping, seeing Dracula, having dinner and staying at Grand America! At work my friends and I all went out to lunch and Ash brought me flowers to work! I was spoiled!

November- Ashley and I finally celebrated our 5 year anniversary with a 5 night vacation to San Francisco and Oakland! We went to movies, out to dinner, shopping, site-seeing, and to the Oakland Raider Football Game.. We had 3rd row seats at the 40 yard line right behind the Raiders!

December - Busy! Busy! Decorating our home for Christmas.
New York!
Ash went to Denver for the Denver Broncos football game with a friend
I work on a huge Columbia Event and get LOTS of free Columbia gear!!
Lots of family time and parties

I feel that I spent the most of 2011 counting down the weeks/days/ hours until we began the IVF process. That is one thing that I am not going to do this year. I want to enjoy every minute of life. Don't get me wrong.. I enjoyed everything we did January - July but I feel that I was always checking off events which made us closer to beginning.

I have not talked about our experience very much with IVF - I think it is due to embarrassment and disappointment that it didn't work. We had been told by doctors/ nurses and others that the since we "were so young and healthy" IVF would work.. I never really thought that our IVF cycle would fail.

Overall, 2011 treated Ash and I very well. We grew so much as a couple this past year and learned more about each other every day. I would not have wanted to go through 2011 with anyone other than Ashley. He is an amazing man and I am so lucky to call him mine!

2012 has already started off as a wonderful year and we are very excited for the year ahead!