I can't believe that a very long, very hard decade just ended. Thinking about the 00's or whatever they are calling them, I was 13-23. That is quite a span and my life has really been all over the place. I don't want to go into a ton of detail, mainly because I don't remember a lot of detail, hah! but I do want to look back a little and remember the good times, forget the bad and rejoice in all the blessings I have now, coming out of the decade in the best, happiest place I have ever been.
13 was probably the most traumatic, stressful and earth shattering year of my life, follows by 14-16 which were no cake walk either. If you know anything about my personal life, you know that my mother passed away when I was 13, very suddenly. It was the beginning of many years of downward spiral involving my remaining family and what would become of me. After several years of hard road and barely keeping a float, I came out with what I consider a new family. I am very lucky to have met this family and to have somehow wiggled my way into their lives. Guardian angels do exist.
By the time I was 16, I was at least stable enough to enjoy high school and I met the boy who would become my husband and father of my baby. Although our road has also been a little curvy, we made it through. Moved in with him at 20, married him at 22, bought a house at 23 and will have this baby just before 24... not bad for two simple folks from Parkersburg. He is the biggest blessing of the decade, hands down. He supported me when I was young, broke and finishing school and it gives me great pride to now be able to help support myself & him.
College was in this decade, 2004-2008. Whirlwind tour of Marshall U and D&E College.. wow. College is one part of my life that was very freeing to me. It was hard to support myself without a lot of help from family, but I was determined and got the job done in 3.5 years. I used to work my butt off and take summer school and people thought I was crazy, but I had a job to get done so that I could start making money and living on my own, fully independent of anyone else, so for me it was not about the partying and living off my parents for a few more years (although I did my share of partying) I got in and got out with as little debt as I could incur and swiftly moved into the world of work.
Girl Scouts was my first career out of college, they took a chance on a driven young kid and honestly, it was a great place to start my career. I got a huge handle on how corporate businesses work (even though it was a non-profit, it was still very structured) Plus I was thrown hurdles of being new, young and learning everything while the department I was in was re-structuring and re-hiring for almost every position. It was a serious learning curve and it prepared me very well for my job at SOBER where I was coordinator of anything I wanted to pursue. I love my job at SOBER, it is very adaptable and since there are only two employees, we have a lot of control. I will really hate to see it go whenever that time comes.
2009 was the best year I have ever experienced, I blogged about it already a few entries before this one but I could not have asked for a more productive and fruitful year. We spent the entire year back in Parkersburg, settled down in our new house and started the photography business that I hope one day to fully fund my family, or at least my half of the income =] It is a big goal and right now, I don't have a target year, I want to organically let this thing happen and be able to adapt as times change and business comes. With a baby in the works, my priority will be family for a while until I can get the hang of both. Good thing this decade taught me so much about perseverance and multi-tasking. =]
2010 is here, time for resolutions and being a better person than before. I am starting with my goals of choosing my words and battles more wisely. Spending more and better time with my husband (and soon child.) Taking a relaxed and simple approach to raising Miss Analeigh Quinn, when she arrives and of course, loving people and learning from them every chance I get.
Here is to another year of all the very best things imaginable!
<3
