Where Are They Now? — Nicholle Crossett (Smaellie)

I have been at a loss for words thinking that 20 years has really passed by - thus it wasn't until I was "peer pressured" that I actually sat down to write something. Believe it or not I never made it as "The Star of Days of Our Lives" – as predicted.

I married pretty close after graduation, to my husband Doug, and in January we will be celebrating 20 years. I have 3 incredible children, Alexa 15, Addysen 11, and Kyler 7. Amazing how my two girls are so interested in this reunion, my yearbook, who wrote in my yearbook, etc. It's pretty weird for Alexa to be going through the high school years now and as I give her advice or tell her what will probably happen, "when there is a crisis," – she comes home from school and says, "mom you were right – how did you know?!" High school hasn't changed that much! Ha Ha.
About 6 years into our marriage, Doug was recruited to Washington DC to work for a conservative political publishing company. He worked right on Capitol Hill and because his company was politically motivated, we really got to do some amazing things and meet a lot of people. I worked for the corporate headquarters in Potomac, Maryland. We settled in Maryland so my commute wouldn't be as far – and lived there for 8 years. We were fortunate to have some pretty incredible nanny's work for us – many who we still keep in touch with today.

After 9/11 happened we re-evaluated our lives. Our home was located directly between Camp David and the White House, so it was not unusual to have military gun ships buzz the house everyday, which was a little too close for comfort. Our children had not had a fair opportunity to know "family" so we decided to re-locate to the Utah area where most of our family lives.

For no other reason than the warmth, we picked St. George – and that is where we have been for the last five years. What a change from living back east. I have always loved to exercise and immediately found myself in a running group. Since this story is getting way too long – suffice it to say that I qualified for Boston on my first St. George Marathon - and ran Boston the year they had record breaking heat temperatures. The next time I qualified for Boston, and ran it, they had record breaking cold temperatures (the Nor'easter). After 6 marathons, heat stroke, dehydration, hypothermia, kidneys shutting down, & 4 hospitalizations – I have decided that although I am incredibly addicted to running – I am out of the competing end of it. I still run with my friends at 4 in the morning but you won't see me at a starting line.

A big change for our family was a year ago when my husband decided to go from a business man, behind a desk, to an officer – putting people behind bars. We don’t know if it was a mid-life crisis but I can say that he loves what he does – and in the end – that is an important element.

As you can see from the pictures, we love to be together as a family and love to watch our kids play sports and excel in their academics and activities. (Alexa – #5 shooting the jump shot and Addysen #25.) My kids have the perfectionist and competitive streak like me – I don't know if that's good or bad but hopefully it will take them far in life.

The one thing that has been consistent in our home is change – so we'll keep our seat belts fastened and see what the next 20 years brings!!