The Decade That Was.

With a new decade starting I started to think back to all the events of my life the past decade. I am proud to say that I've experienced a lot of great things in the past decade. So let's get it started....

Starting in 2000 I was in a relationship (marriage) that was miserable. I was way too young to be in any kind of relationship, but I got divorced in May and moved back to Montana. I had spent the previous three years in Boise, Idaho. I loved my time there. But I was back in Montana with no job and no money. But I was happy. Happy to be around my friends and family. I got a job at a software company in Fromberg, MT. It was my first techie job. I started off eager.

Then in September, I went out with a co worker and she introduced me to this beautiful blonde. Her name was Jennifer Cristando. Spoiler Alert! My future wife. That night we drank, talked, danced, and talked some more. I asked her for her phone number and what does she do. Yep. She gives me a fake. Now she'll swear up and down she didn't mean to. She'll give you some story about just moving and not really knowing her number. Whatever reason I ended up getting her real number and the rest is history.

In the mean time, in 2000 I take her to my cousins wedding where she knows more people than I do. Heck she knew the bride. She tells me she loves me. I teller her it's mutual. We spend the night laughing harder than I've ever laughed before or since.

For Thanksgiving, I went home with her to meet her family and experience the most hostile game of Monopoly that anyone has ever experienced. We spend Christmas with my family and on to New Years. We had the night planned out with 80's movies and pizza. The only problem is, Jen falls asleep at 8pm. This should have been a hint to me how the next ten New Years will play out.

In March of 2001 we decide to move into together. We got our first apartment at Olympic Village. A month later I lose my job at Gateway Software. I was laid off. I wasn't disappointed about losing the job, I wasn't very good at it. But I was certain that Jen would leave me. But I was wrong. She was more than supportive.

I applied for every tech job I could. Finally I get a call from First Interstate Bank. I didn't remember applying there, but who am I to question it. I guess I applied for the help desk. I interviewed for the job with Alice Lahren. She asked me a bunch of questions and she had a terrific poker face, because I swear she hated me and I bombed the interview. About three weeks later i_Tech offered me a job working in desktop support. i_Tech was a sister company for First Interstate Bank.

Shortly after getting the job Jen and I decided to buy a pickup. A 1999 Fort F150 for $16,000. Things are getting serious. We're buying cars and living together.

That August I won a trip to Seattle for a baseball game. My first professional baseball game. We watched the Mariners get beat by the New York Yankees. We had great seats and had so much fun. We ate a bunch of good seafood and brought back some crazy good crab legs.

Then like every American I remember exactly where I was on September 11th. Jen and I had just finished getting ready for work and we always had the news on while getting ready. And the Today Show came on and a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers. I didn't think it was a big deal. I thought something like a Cesna had hit the tower. But then there was another explosion. They showed the footage of the other plane hitting the second tower. We were just stunned. That was a surreal day. Watching two towers collapse, our nations capital under attack, and the thousands of lives lost. There were TV's every where you turned with the news on. It was hard to focus on anything but the disaster.

Two weeks later Jen and I traveled to Texas for her best friends wedding. We spent 18 hours flying or in airports. All but one flight was cancelled. That was both to and from. But it was well worth it. The wedding was beautiful and fun. Jo-Dee and LeRoy will be married for nine years this year.

The rest of 2001 was quiet for us.

2002 was a special year. Shortly after Valentines day Jen and I traveled to Thermopolis, WY to go swimming and check out their dinosaur museum. I got a cool CD holder for the truck and Jen got a proposal. I asked her to marry me. And naturally she said yes.

The rest of year was devoted to planning our wedding. Later that year we decided we needed to build a house. So we were planning a wedding and planning our home.

2003 was the year everything came together. Toward the end of June we moved into our new home. And a home wouldn't be complete without a dog. So we went down to Help for Homeless Pets and adopted Pablo. We renamed him to Duncan. He was a feisty puppy. Full of love. We also received a "free cat". She was an all black mystic cat name Katrina. She had what I liked to joke "a leaky butt." She had no control over her poop and it was watery. She let loose on my sister at one time. Jen and I were less than excited about this cat in our brand new house. So we would let her out with hopes of it not coming back. But she kept coming back. So we thought we should take her to the vet. It turns out it wasn't her fault at all. She had a tape worm. Poor girl. So after some medicine her poop was under control. She has been a lovely cat.

A week after moving in my future father in law wanted to give us a sprinkler system for a wedding gift. And we were going to install it ourselves because he has experience. That week we spent most of our time fighting with each other and taking 20 trips to Home Depot a day. It was a stressful week. It turned out that John had never installed a sprinkler system but everything worked. Well kind of. But he did a great job, and we loved it.

On September 20th, Jen and I got married. We were surrounded by our friends and family. The Justice of Peace, Judge Hernandez, told me to keep by knees bent. That way I wouldn't collapse. Good idea. Jen was so beautiful. To this day I'm the luckiest man.

We didn't go on a honeymoon. We went to Red Lodge and had fun.

2004 was a year of adjustment. I switched jobs at work. I went from desktop support to ITI support. I thought it would be a good move, but it turned out to be one of the most stressful times of my life.

Jen also had a career change. Not necessarly by choice. While in a meeting she called her boss a prick while he was out of the office. Someone ratted on her and she was fired. She was having a rough time there and was miserable, besides she was just calling a spade a spade. He was a complete jackass and Jen was better off.

Jen started teaching swim lessons at the YMCA. She was a lot happier. We lost some income but we were happy.

In August Jen got a job as a contract worker for the BLM. She works on the help desk.

A week after Jen started working we found out we were pregnant. Very scared. And very excited.

2005 is the year we have to be responsible.

In February as we're getting ready to have a baby I decide to get another dog. She's a crazy dog named Skittles. Of course we renamed her to Casey. As if a new baby isn't enough responsiblity we add a puppy to that. Crazy.

With a baby just around the corner and a new puppy we decide to build another house. Less than a week before the baby comes we decided this. You may question why Jen stayed married to this guy. And my answer is. I have no clue. Couldn't tell you.

Aspen Jo Martin arrived March 28th. Jen was in labor for 17 hours. Both of us were so happy.

A week after Aspen joined us we put our house on the market and signed the papers to start building our new house.

Three weeks after putting the house on the market it sold. For full asking price. So we needed to find a rental. We thought we would go cheap so we could save money. We should have known we were asking for problems.

We picked this duplex and it was a living hell. A five month living hell. We lived downstairs. We experienced flooding which forced us to live in a motel for a week. It was a nice reprieve. It had air conditioning and Food Network. The sewage backed up into our shower. This still makes me sick to my stomach when I think of it. And a landlord switch a month before we move out. The new landlord was an old man who pushed every button I can have. He called me a low class jerk. All because we wanted proof that he actually owned the property before we gave him our rent. It took a lot for me not to knock this old fart on his ass. After we moved out he called me to say a tenant never cleaned the house as nicely as we did. I just hung up on him and moved on.

In 2006 I decided I needed to change jobs. I didn't like how my professional life was taking affect on my family. I was always on call. We're talking 24/7. Spending time on a conference calls while my sick daughter is screaming in my lap. She deserved better than what she was getting from her dad. I didn't like myself. I felt like I was making my family suffer.

So I applied for a job in the First Interstate Bank server department. There was a huge reorganization and FIB wanted their own technical staff. So Mitch Svihovec was kind enough to give me a chance. Mitch and I are friends but I didn't want to let him down thinking I could skate on our friendship. He assigned me to a technology the bank was looking at. They were looking at a product called VMware. It's server virtualization. I was hooked.

That September I got the chance to go to San Francisco for VMworld. While I was there, I got to take in my very first NFL game. And it happened to be my beloved 49ers on Monday night footbal. I loved it. I loved San Fran.

In the meantime, Jen really excelled at her job. She became an office favorite and beloved by her co workers. Compared to her previous job where they were clickish, her new co workers accepted her with open arms. She continued to teach swim lesson at the YMCA where Aspen and I joined in.

2007 and 2008 kind of blended together for us. In 2008 we finally put in a yard. It was so nice. That September Aspen joined a dance class. She attended Rainbow Dance Studio where she is taught by Nancy and her daughter Mercedes. She absolutely loved it. Her dream of becoming a ballerina was one step closer.

In this time frame we experienced heartache. With the joys of pregnancy it can be devestating when it ends unexpectantly. And it ended three times with such heartache. As a man I felt like it was my fault. Like somehow I let my most beloved down and I couldn't make it better. But we pushed on.

And towards the end of 2008 we found ourselves pregnant again.

And Christmas time was coming. It was a couple days before Christmas and my sister in law Jazz was driving home from college. Just outside of Columbus she had hit black ice and roled her Pathfinder. She called Jen and we were on our way.

Just the day before there was bank wide email sent out that a gal from our credit card department was killed in a car wreck on the Montana/Idaho border. So with this in mind we went to get Jazz.

The roads were clear as day. We had just passed Park City and just up a head we saw the lights of an emergency vehicle. The semi-truck in front of us dropped snow off of it's trailer and I couldn't see anything so I let off the gas and our Explorer started to fishtail. We fishtailed for 100 feet or so with me saying oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. And when it finally seemed like we were coming under control our rear end slides around and we're heading towards the median. And as we're sliding everything goes into slow motion. But with the slow motion came a certain calm. It felt like we were going to be ok. Jen and I talked about this afterward. We both felt the same.

Once the tires hit the dirt we rolled on Jen's side first. Then the roof, then we stopped with the driver side down. I called out to see if Jen and Aspen were ok. And they were. Then in what seemed like seconds there were men there asking if everyone was ok. I just shouted that there was a baby in the vehicle and to get her out first. They rolled us back onto our wheels. Aspen didn't start crying til these strangers pulled her out of the car. I barely had a chance to express my thanks before they were off on their trip. (This is what is so great about Montana. Strangers helping strangers.)

My cellphone launched out of the Explorer during the roll but I was able to find it. I dialed my father in law to let him know that we were also in an accident. But I was on the phone for a few seconds before a sheriff showed up to see if we were alright. So I told him we rolled our car and had to go. I'm sure that left a comforting feeling.

The ambulance showed up to check us out. Jen's wrist was banged up but we were unscathed. The sheriff's brought Jazz to us. At least we were all together now. An insurance companies nightmare family.

A sheriff was going to give us a lift back to Park City. We ended up going to Columbus then back to Park City. A long the way we saw that we weren't the only people with bad luck.

It's maybe 20 miles between Park City and Columbus, and there were 10 to 15 other cars in the median.

So we're in the Sheriffs car riding back. We look over his shoulder and he's going 90 miles per hour. On ice! Maybe I should have reminded him we were just in an accident and a little skittish, and we're crammed in the back seat with a two year old with no car seat. This is when Jen leans over to me and says, "he's going way too fast." Yep, I know.

In what seems like minutes was actually two hours. Two hours with a two year old potty training. A two year old potty training with no diaper on. Jen and I were scared to even mention the word potty out of fear we'd spring a leak in the back of the police car. So while we cursing him for going so fast, we wish he would get us there faster.

We did get to Park City, and Aspen pee'd like a race horse. We were so proud of her for holding it like a big girl.

Our Explorer was totalled. A couple weeks later we purchased our Ford Expedition. We were months away from paying our Explorer off. A month removed from replacing the transmission. But everyone was safe, and the baby was ok. What a way to end the year. 2009 had to be better.

2009 was one of the most trying and rewarding years we've ever been through. We were excited to find out we were having a boy. Our thought of 3 girls ended but with delight.

On May 2nd, Bryant Mason Martin joined us. But not without drama. He was born with a EA TEF. A detached esophagus. We spent the next 5 weeks in Salt Lake City at Primary Childrens Medical Center. He had a surgery to fix his esophagus. We met some special new friends that helped us with our journey more than anyone would know.

In that time Aspen spent a lot of quality time with Papa Lonnie, but anxious to meet her new brother. Then on June 2nd it happened. They met and haven't stopped laughing.

We've pretty much become hermits this year. But we've enjoyed our family and friends that much more. Duncan is starting to show his age. He turned six this year and has arthritis in his hips. He even got stung by a bee or bit by a spider and his entire side of his head was swollen. Nothing medicine couldn't fix. Casey is still full of love. She still snags abandoned socks. And Katrina stil looks over everyone. Making sure everything is just so.

We wanted to say thanks to all of our friends and family. We love you guys.

That brings us to the end of the decade. And the start of a new one. Today Bryant turns 8 months. Aspen continues to grow up no matter how much we insist she slow down. And Jen and I are still very much in love. Best Friends for life.

But with looking back it's hard not to look forward. Here are somethings that are certain to happen in the next decade.

Jen and I will turn 40 at some point in this decade.

We'll celebrate our 10 year anniversary.

Aspen will be a teenager and two year shy of getting her drivers license at the end of the decade.

Bryant will beat his dad in basketball if he chooses to play.

Those are things I'm pretty sure will happen this decade. Jen may refuse to turn 40. I'll have to let you know.