Goodbye 2010 and Hello to Our Future!

2010 was a good year in most respects and it wasn't like previous years in my life; you know, those years where you were looking forward to the end in order to have hope for a better year ahead of you? All-in-all this past year was a good year for us in the Newland-Rice household. Not to say that it was completely smooth sailing, because we had our share of ups and downs with a side of challenges.

The beginner of 2010 greeted Chris and I with questions of where our relationship stood and how "WE" fit into each others life plans. Our relationship had been tested a lot over the past 3 years and we were at a point of breaking. How did we refocus on our relationship? We turned to couples therapy, and boy are we glad that we did! We spent three months going once a week and discussing the issues that were slowly ripping us apart. Week by week the pieces that were torn from us begin to reattach themselves and we started to become a better "Us". Instead of being two people trying to mold ourselves into this acceptable form of a relationship we began to become a couple, something we had never really been. I fell in love with him all over again and maybe more in love than I had ever been.
This past year was the second year of my college endeavor and I am only weeks away from completing my dream of being a college graduate. A lot of sacrifices were made this year not only by me but all of my family. We have had a financial struggle like no other and have managed to keep our heads above water. My children have been going days at a time over the past three months without seeing their mom and Chris has faced life like a single dad, while I have been away on fieldwork. I am so appreciative of their support and acceptance for my absence. I cannot wait for them to be able to see their lives change for the better because of what they have helped to make possible.

In July we took our first family vacation to South Padre Texas! We were so blessed to have the chance to take our boys to the beach and to be able to watch Rayden step foot on a beach for the first time. It was a summer to remember that's for sure:)My sister Beth received her GED this summer and I would like to say to her, well done Beth!! Your future will continue to brighten as you begin college this month!!!

In 2010 my baby turned two and my oldest turned 14! Nothing ages you like seeing your children get older and older. It is so hard for me to accept Dalton as a young man, it seems like yesterday that he was Rayden's age. In a little over 2 months Rayden will be three and will begin preschool this year. It is equally hard to be letting go of my baby and see him as this older child as it is to watch Dalton approach adulthood at lightning speed. The main comfort in this is being able to look at what great kids they are and know that I had a hand in raising these wonderful people. They are my pride and joys and my greatest achievements. If I was to do nothing else but raise them, then I will have had a wonderful life.

We spent the holidays spending time with our respective families. Christmas Eve was at Chris's dad and Step-mom's house. Nana and Papaw spent the night so they were there on Christmas morning and then we drove to Grayson and spent the rest of Christmas at my Mom and Dad's. New Year's Eve it was myself, Chris, Rayden, Mike, and Veronica playing Wii and enjoying adult conversation after Rayden went to bed. It was the first New Year's Ever that we spent with friends since 2007!!! So, that was a treat to say the least.

This year has been good to me and I am looking so forward to the years that are ahead of me/us. I have grown as a person in so many ways and realized a lot about who I am and what I am made of. Chris has made many improvements to his life and has made great efforts to be a better partner these past 12 months. I predict that 2011 will offer our family many awesome changes and that our lives will only keep getting better. I am so excited to see what these next 12 months will bring us. I have butterflies in my stomach and tears in my eyes just thinking about all we will be getting to experience and how happy we are going to be.

Of course I have a resolution and of course one of those is to lose weight but that one is on a revolving door when it comes to resolutions. My main resolution is to be happy. To be happy with who I am. To be happy with life and find the silver lining if times get bad. I want to keep life in perspective and not lose sight of what is most important to me. Most of all to hold strong to the idea that life is what we make it. We choose every morning whether or not to smile and go with the flow. Our lives will have ups and downs but we don't have to let those downs bring our very essence with them. You can change the world one smile at a time:) so give it a whirl. I hope everybody has a wonderful 2011 and I wish everyone a Happy New Year. Best Wishes and God Bless!