Friday, June 29, 2012

Jenny Hobbs Steiner




I remember wondering when I graduated where I would be in 10 years.  I can't say that all my dreams came true or that all the criteria I set for myself has been met, but I can say the last 10 years turned out completely different than expected, and l have been richly blessed. In some ways, not much has changed. I still play soccer when I can, I still live in the area, and I still cuss the winter and wonder why I still live in the area. I get to see some of my good friends from high school once in awhile because like me, 10 years settled them right here as well. But for those of you that don't see me in the local Walmart, here is a short synopsis of my life since high school.
 
After getting accepted to several colleges, I decided to let  BYUI pay me to go to school. I actually made money the first two years and enjoyed a study abroad program in Europe and a new car as part of my education. I took school pretty seriously and made sure I got good grades. Little did I realize, the real world would care more about my major and less about my grades. Apparently, a BS in History doesn't go far in SE Idaho. I did make one good decision in college and married a MHS class of 2000 alum, Mark Steiner. We shared a seminary class together when I was a sophomore, but he never came so we didn't know much about each other. Kurt Schwab set us up on a date in March of 2004, and we hit it off. We were married in October that same year. I graduated BYUI in 2006 and worked a number of pretty crappy jobs for a few years waiting for Mark to finish.  My plan was to work until I got pregnant; I could endure any job for a few months right?! Unfortunately, my plan never really worked out and I never could get pregnant. I suppose someone pitied my situation enough and thanks to my Exercise and Sports Science minor and networking through various soccer leagues, I landed a temporary dream job teaching soccer classes at BYUI. It literally saved me and gave me a reason to smile in the morning. After years of discouragement, I started to realize my path to motherhood was destined to take a different direction. Mark and I started our adoption process in late 2009. We were just about finished when our world came crashing down. Mark was diagnosed with stage IV Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma February 12, 2010.
 
We spent the next few months in and out of medical facilities and thanked the heavens above for health insurance. I honestly felt our adoption was out the window, but a good doctor encouraged us to keep the hope alive. We learned that hope really is the best medicine. After months on hold, we finished our paperwork and were officially approved to adopt in May 2010. We were cautiously optimistic and absolutely floored when a birth mother contacted us in July. She will ever be our saving grace and angel on earth. The cancer didn't scare her off, and perhaps more shocking, neither did our "nerdiness". On December 15, 2010 our little Paige came into the world and became one of the most loved babies on the planet.
 
Today we find ourselves living pretty normal lives. I stay at home with Paige and Mark works in software sales for NAVEX Global. He has been given a clean bill of health and we really are kind of boring now. Paige keeps us on our toes, and we are so grateful to have her in our home. We are in the process of building a home and learning patience. Thanks to serious pressure from Jill Hancock, we will be attending the reunion and look forward to seeing some of you there.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

you are MOST welcome, planters! great post! lets go for a run when i get home next week!

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