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!
I have THE BEST in-laws EVER!
For my Christmas present this year I got the opportunity to go to New York City with my Mother-in-law.. Some people might think this is weird and they could NEVER go on vacation with their mother-in-law..but that is not the case for my family! My mother-in-law is amazing and I love spending time with her!
Day 1 - The TODAY Show!! It was so much fun! We watched part of the today show and stood in the crowd. We saw Charlize Theron! 
The NBC Store was right next to the show. The NBC Show had shirts, mugs and games from almost all the NBC Shows (The Office, Friends, Law & Order, Mad Money, Seinfeld, Park and Rec, Minute to Win It and much much more!)
Rockefeller Center had the beautiful Christmas Tree all lit up.. It was beautiful!
We also went to the New York Manhattan Temple. It was amazing! The feeling of this temple was so peaceful! One minute you are standing on a busy road with lots of people, traffic and noise and the next you are inside the temple. It was so beautiful and I am so thankful we took the time to do a session in this temple! It is a memory I will never forget!
We went to New York with Anita's (my MIL) friend from High School and her daughter who is also named Whitney.. :)
Street performers!!
The 9/11 Memorial was very special. I had a really heavy heart when we were there. All of the names of those who were lost due to this tragic incident were placed around the infinity pools. It was very beautiful. The Museum was still under construction while we were there but I definitely will be back to walk through it!
We went to the Financial District, Little Italy, SoHo, China Town!
Day 2:
We went to the Rockettes! WOW! These women have such talent! The performance was amazing and definitely put me in the Christmas Spirit!
Next was the Empire State Building.. It was SUPER busy! The view from the top was breathtaking!
Day 3:
Day 3 was my favorite!! First on the agenda was a Carriage Ride around Central Park! Central Park was breathtaking! It is SO big and was busy even at 9AM on a Sunday in 40 degree weather!
Next was FAO Schwarz.. SO MUCH FUN! They had HUGE stuffed animals that were practically looking me in the eyes.. (Well, I guess that is not hard since I am only 5' tall.. )
The BIG PIANO from the movie BIG was HUGE. It was really cool. It carries a price tag of $250,000.. so unfortunately, I do not think I will ever have the opportunity to have one in my home.. BUMMER!
Times Square was SO FUN! The atmosphere and the energy there was Exciting! And YES.. We did find a 4 story FOREVER 21.. And yes.. I did shop on every level!!
Last but not least was:
WICKED!! Wicked was SPECTACULAR! I loved every minute of it! The talent, the stage props, the costumes, the story, and the company was perfect! I am SO glad we were able to do that!
We were able to stay in this very clean and cute apartment in Brooklyn. It was very easy to hop on the subway and get to any destination.. If we ever were lost or needed to get someone FAST we would just hop in a Taxi. It was an amazing trip. I loved every minute of it.
I am one lucky girl to have a mother-in-law who is fun, sassy, trendy, smart, beautiful and an amazing mother. This was a Christmas Gift that I will never forget!
I put my cute little Sophie in a Dog Show this summer!! She did so good!
Here we are getting ready to leave for the Dog Show.. Sophie has been groomed, had a new collar and was ready to show everyone how pretty she is! :)
Here is her Costume.. She is a little spoiled and "kind of a BIG deal" in the Lewis House!
Here are some of her ribbons, toy and trophy!
Last week we went to beautiful Moab!!
We put the motorcycles in the toy trailer and hit the road! We stayed in a beautiful 3 bedroom condo with a huge downstairs and upstairs patio! It had a nice kitchen and family room!
Monday we rode to Arches National Park. It was so pretty. The weather was warm but there definitely were some dark clouds hanging around. We rode for about 2 hours or so and then the storm broke.. We were caught in a hail storm.. WOW! It hurt! The hail was like little pellets aiming for my legs..
Brandon flipping the camera off.. He loved me taking pictures of the whole trip!
The storm finally stopped and I was drenched! So we headed back to the condo, got showered and changed and went to do some shopping. When we got home Ashley made the family a delicious shrimp pesto pasta dish.. It was amazing.. He sure is becoming quite the Chef.. We were all very impressed.
After that it was game on for Monopoly.. It started out well.. I had successfully gathered some good property and then it went down hill fast.. It was a constant battle of trading and buying property from each other.. we are all very greedy.. In the end... Kyle won! He put up a good fight..
Tuesday we drove to Monument Valley since the weather was not that great... Monument Valley was beautiful! We ate a great lunch looking out over the area. We visited John Wayne's Cabin since he filmed a lot of movies there.
Wednesday we went back out on the bikes. We rode and followed the Colorado River. It was amazing. The sun was shining and it was so nice. Then it was off to Dead Horse Point. I had never been there before. It was breathtaking.
Wednesday night we grilled hamburgers and chicken.. had delicious grapes and watermelon and enjoyed the evening.. After dinner it was date night for Ash and I.. We went back on the motorcycle, rode around the city of Moab and then went and saw the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie.. I can't tell you how much I love my date nights with my hubby!
On our date night we discussed how glad we were that we made the purchase of the motorcycle. (Even if it was MY idea that we get a motorcycle!) We have really enjoyed it! It is nice to hop on and go for a ride after a long day at work or take it on our date nights! Plus my honey looks so good riding it! :)
Ashley and I had a wonderful time with the Lewis family!! It is always fun to be with those you love..
Up next.. My little sister Lacey's graduation and spending the afternoon with my family!
Love, Love, Love him!
He is the one that I call when I am having a rough day.. and it amazes me how hearing his voice can instantly make me feel so much better!
Wow.. It has been such a long time since I have updated this old blog.. I love looking at other's blogs because their lives seem so interesting and exciting. From new babies, to toddlers to funny stories... Things in the Lewis Household have been wonderful! Here is a quick update about us: Ashley- is still in paramedic school. He studies, studies, studies.. He is anxious to get into our yard work projects for the summer. :) We have been on 1 motorcycle ride because the weather has decided it wants to stay winter a little while longer.. Me- Work, work, work! The winter season at Canyons is finally coming to an end and life will be more mellow in my small world for the next 6 or 7 weeks. I am very excited for the break and to catch up on my much needed work projects. Sophie (The puppy)- Well.. she is in trouble today.. She ate my shoe! My very cute, gray colored shoe with the cute design on the toe.. Yep.. Chewed a hole right through the toe.. She NEVER chews on shoes and I don't understand why this morning she was suddenly bored out of her mind and decided that my super cute shoes looked like a toy.. For a personal side note: We have made great progress with our infertility struggle.. We now have a plan and a date to begin the next steps.. More to come on that later.. For now that is all..
