The Last Decade

Today I decided to participate in Tell Us Tuesday, hosted by Ashley at Everything Happens for a Reason! This week's topic is "A Decade of Events". I hope you will play along, too!

For "A Decade of Events", you are to tell everyone about the last 10 years - recap how you spent them & any highlightes that happened along the way! I'm going to try this the best i can! Like i told Ashley, the last decade mostly consisted of my 20's & that was nothing but a constant switching of apartments, roomies & jobs (not to mention i was a bridesmaid a jillion times)!! Disclaimer: to any family members, friends, bosses or old roomies that read this post: i am not pulling out old journals to recap the last decade, so this is kind of difficult going off this memory of mine! Please don't mind any mistakes (though you can comment them if you catch them!).

So, i will give this a go & I hope you do too! Go to Ashley's blog hop  to link up! =)

Year: 2000

Age: 21

I moved out of my parent's house for the first time & i was SUPER excited!

I'd been wanting to do this FOREVER now! I moved in a cute little house by LSU with 3 roomies: Aimie & Amanda (sisters) and my BFF Sarah. We had a BLAST being roomies! I think it was in the fall of this year that i also became a nanny for the Graphia family, who i still love & keep in touch with! =) I also transferred from the local community college to LSU.

Year: 2001

Age: 23

My best friend Sarah & I moved out of the house & into our own apartment. I continued being a nanny for the Graphia family. I will never forget 9-11. I remember where i was when i found out (in my bedroom at our apartment) & later watching the news all day with Brooke (the mom of the kids i nannied.). Another girl i babysat (& my parent's next door neighbor) also died unexpectedly that year (age 9) & i was heartbroken. Sarah & Mark were dating & became engaged. We also went to an awesome missions conference that December & experienced the COLDEST WEATHER we had ever been in! HA!

Year: 2002

Age: 24

Sarah & Mark got married & i was a bridesmaid for the 3rd time (the 1st & 2nd times being in 1999!). When Sarah moved out to be a married lady, my long time friend Ali moved in her place! Early this year was also the year i began doing Springhouse: a home for troubled teen girls in the area. I felt that God wanted me to do it while at the Missions conference i mentioned, so i talked to Becca at church about it since she was the chic heading it up! Little did i know we would become prayer partners & very dear friends! We (& other dear friends) ended up going to springhouse every week for the next 8 (or so) years - spending time with the teen girls there & doing Bible studies with them. =)

Year: 2003

Age: 25

I was still living with Ali & also becoming great friends with Amanda. We were still very involved as youth leaders in our youth group. Amanda & I were both doing Springhouse & Ali joined later! I was still a nanny & loving it! Still attending LSU (or possibly had dropped out by this point! Yeah...school was never my strong suit). Ali & i decided that getting a 3-bedroom apartment with Amanda would help out with bills so we did just that - got aNOTHER apartment & Amanda moved in with us! I am pretty sure my family was about sick of helping me move! =)

Year: 2004

Age: 26

Lots of wonderful friends!! Amanda, Becca, Jenn, Heather, Ali... lots of fun in our apartment then! The Graphia family got a job transfer & moved 4 hours away, so my nanny job was done but boy, i missed that family like crazy (& still do!). I began doing some part-time nanny work for another family that i met thru the Graphia's! =) And another job too but i don't remember?? The end of this year was the next Urbana Missions Conference & this time Sarah, Mark & I went with a whole group!! =) It was great! But i may be off on the years. Ahhh! This is not easy!

Year: 2005

Age: 27

I got a job at the corporate office of a restaurant chain & was thrilled. A "real job with benefits!" is what i would say! I started as receptionist & later on was promoted to the Risk Management Assistant! My roomie Ali got engaged & moved home to save money/plan a wedding, Amanda had moved home too & so i had to move home as well. I was sad. I did not want to move back home, but it is VERY hard to be a single girl & make ends meet with no roomies to help you split the bills! I had to move home for a little while. I hated that!! I lasted for about a year...

Year: 2006

Age: 28

My life totally changed this year. You see, for the past 15 or so YEARS i had been going to the same church & i LOVED it. Since i was 14, i was involved in the same youth group & became a youth leader in that same group when i was 17 or so. At 26, i was still very much involved & loving it completely. Then. It all changed. The same month i turned 28 (March), our church SPLIT. Something none of us thought would ever happen! Long story & i would never get into the details here but everyone who was involved remembers & is glad that time is behind us. To me, things ended up WONDERFULLY- the way  things ought to be now & it seems that most everyone's walks with God are still intact. =) God took care of us all through this time, is what i am saying! But. It was a hard time for everyone & i can't skip over 2006 without saying it. Lots of friends stayed at our church. Others felt they should leave & attend where our awesome youth pastor was beginning his own. I didn't know what to do. I felt lost & afraid. I began to attend HeartsEase, a nearby church that a friend had invited me to, until i found out where God would have me. I ended up staying at HeartsEase & LOVING it. BUT - i missed my friends from Victory DEARLY.

HeartsEase had an AWESOME music team & i joined to sing backup, too!

ALSO in 2006, I finally did what i'd been missing since HIGH SCHOOL (10 years before!) & auditioned for the local theatre. I auditioned in May of 2006 for Beauty & the Beast & was cast as a villager & dancing placemat! That summer, i met some amazing, funny, awesome, brilliant, hilarious, accepting, kindhearted people & i am still in contact with many of them! I learned a TON about theatre, music, how a show works on stage & backstage! It was the best experience & i am so glad i am still a part of it! When that show ended, i couldn't get enough: I worked backstage for My Fair Lady, Asst Stage Managed MOUSETRAP & then performed in A Christmas Carol that December with another theatre company!

AND - ALSO in 2006 - after getting that promotion at that restaurant corporation i worked for?? Well. I got FIRED. Yep, me. Not because of budget cuts or layoffs, but because of something stupid I did. Careless. It wasn't something i did - like an accident that got me fired. It was opening my big mouth & saying something about someone that i shouldn't have said. I was ashamed & embarrassed. My boss was kind of awful. But great, too. And even though i made some excuses to justify it back then, i look back & wish i had not said what i said. Another thing that changed me. 

AND - remember my old roomie from 2000? AIMIE? She & I were the ONLY SINGLE GIRLS OUR AGE LEFT! She had also moved back home. She called me one day in 06 (i think) & asked if i would be roomies with her again! I said "ABSOLUTELY!" & we got an apartment in town quickly! We stayed roomies until we met our hubbies (in 2007) & married them (in 2008)!

Yeah so, Lots to say about 2006! Apparently i should have started blogging THEN!

Year: 2007

Age: 29

Playmakers Tour - me with David, Christian & Molly. GOOD TIMES!

This year i had two part-time jobs. One as a MAID. And one as an ACTOR. Being paid to act is the BEST. No, it wasn't TV or the movies. There's more acting jobs than you'd realize!! 4 of us were paid to travel to elementary schools in our city (& surrounding areas) & we had to put on a play at the schools. We were paid $40 a show & sometimes did 4 shows a day so it wasn't bad!! We were great friends from the start, because we had done A Christmas Carol together. That was an AMAZING time!!!!! I miss those guys like crazy! =) I stayed big into theatre doing lots of Stage Managing & performing as Little Becky Two Shoes in Urinetown, the musical. I began to think more seriously about acting as well, wanting to learn everything i could & be the best i could be! Aimie & i were still roomies & were getting a bit tired of our singleness! (Much as we loved each other!)

Me & Aimie - always silly:)

This year was lonely for me & full of temptations i'd never had before. A hard time.

My ex-boyfriend came back into my life from 11 years prior & it kind of felt like a mean trick. I did not understand why God would bring my first true love back in my life when it was so OBVIOUS he was not the one!! Aimie met her future husband at this time too!!

YEAR: 2008

Age: 30

I realized i was wrong. He definitely WAS the one!!! My LOVE part of our story began & it was a whirlwind!! (see my sidebar for more about our love story!). We were engaged in March & married in November of this year, so this year was FULL of wedding planning!! I also started my new job (where i am now) in July of 2008. We got married 11/14 & went on a cruise for our honeymoon! We had THREE weeks off work for this (1 week before wedding, 1 week honeymoon & an additional week after we got back!) & it was a dream! I worked the summer musical that year as stage manager, but went on theatre hiatus after that to finish planning the wedding & to enjoy my new life with my husband! =)

YEAR: 2009

Age: 31

Began to blog. Began to cook!!! Began weight loss journey. Got back into theatre in the summer with The King & I. Realized i loved it just as much as when i was single, except now I miss my husband terribly. =) LOVED year 1 of marriage! Celebrated our anniversary in San Antonio.

Year: 2010

Age: I will be 32 on March 2

SO MUCH IS IN STORE! I think it will be the best year yet! =)

Well, that was WAY longer than i meant for it to be but it was fun!!! I think a lot of dates are mixed up, but oh-well! Loved walking down memory lane!!! Made me think of some friends i miss & some good times! I want to search for more pics to put up but wow- it is already wayyy past my bedtime!