Tuesday, March 12, 2013

The Last Decade

People I'm turning 30 tomorrow.  30.  I can't even believe it and I swear I don't feel a day over 16 sometimes :)

My 20s have been a huge adventure full of change.  I wanted to write some highlights (and low lights) of each age in my 20s (that I was able to remember!):

When I was 20 I was still living at home with my parents.  I had just gotten my first "real" job at a dentist office working for a horrible man (whom I worked with for 2 1/2 years).  I was a dental assistant.  During this time my boyfriend and I were living with my parents while trying to save up to move out on our own.  It was also later this year that I decided that I was unhappy with my appearance and got brace put on my teeth in order to straighten them and correct my awful overbite.

I turned 21 and remember ordering my first drink from a restaurant.  I went with my boyfriend who made me feel guilty about even having a drink, it was a house margarita.  He drank all the time but decided to make me feel guilty and ashamed for having one drink.  I took only a sip and left the rest.  Since I didn't have any girlfriends at the time I didn't have anyone to take me out for a real 21st birthday celebration.  During my 21st year I also came to the realization that my boyfriend of 5 years sucked.  Not only had we still not moved out of my parents' house he would make me feel bad for not paying for his bills (since at the time I made significantly more than him).  One day I developed a horrible stomach bug and had to go the ER.  I had no one to drive me there and had to call his boss to force him to come  home and drive me to the ER.  After sitting in the waiting room with me for 30 minutes he became angry and left me alone puking in the bathroom.  My dad drove by the ER on his way home from work and was angry that I was left alone and went home to get my mom so she could sit with me the rest of the night.  Then my asshole of a boss told me after I was sick for 4 straight days that if I didn't come back to work the next day he would have to fire me and hire someone else because he couldn't run an office with someone who was "sick"!  I had a stomach bug!  I went to work the next day totally weak and laid on the floor in the break room half the day.

22 was the year I got smart.  The dentist I worked for retired and sold his office to a shady guy that eventually drove the place to the ground.  I walked out one day without telling my boyfriend (who was always depending on me for money AND we were still living with my parents) or my parents (who were often times depending on me to pay their mortgage).  I took 2 weeks off from working, opened my own bank account (I had a joint one with my boyfriend) and got a new job where I actually still work today!  I met up with Josh who had given me his phone number a few months before (he was a patient at the dentist office I worked at) and we went on a date after I told my boyfriend he would have to move out of parents' house because we were done.  After 2 weeks of the loser not moving out I packed my bags and moved in with Josh (it was supposed to be temporary until I could get my own place).  Later that year I had my braces removed, went to a dermatologist and got a haircut, completely transforming myself inside and out!  I had friends, a nice boyfriend and a place to live on my own!

At 23 I was rear ended in my Jeep by a kid without a drivers license on my way to work.  Thanks to the accident I had surgery for the first time on my knee and ended up needing it done twice.  Josh and I took our first vacation together to Key West and we decided that we were going to be a long term thing.  We got Bo, our dog and at the end of the year Josh asked me to marry him.  We were married in February of the next year.  We decided to get married at the courthouse because we couldn't believe how expensive a wedding was going to be when we started looking into it!  We were afraid that we'd never get married because we'd never be able to save up the thousands of dollars we needed so we spent $80 on a courthouse wedding!  Neither one of us regrets it at all!

I was promoted twice at work when I was 24.  Josh was laid off twice.  It was a rough time as we moved from a one bedroom apartment to larger 2 bedroom apartment since we wanted to start trying for a baby.  We became frustrated that month after month and finally a year we weren't getting pregnant.  We visited a specialist but all the tests came back fine.  I also traveled to Sweden with my dad during this year and it was my first time out of the country.  It was amazing to get to see where my dad grew up and visit my grandparents.

One significant thing I can remember about 25 is going to Sweden with Josh.  Two non-Swedish people in a country together.  We had a good time and a bad time, things were rough at this time as we still weren't pregnant and were debating on what we were going to do so we weren't always getting along.  At one time we turned to adoption but became frustrated after one class with the state.  I decided to get laproscopic surgery to see if I had Endometriosis, I did and it was removed.  2 months later just 2 days after our 2 year wedding anniversary I found out we were pregnant!

26 was clearly a big year as Annika was born!  We waited and wanted her for so long and she was (and still is) perfect!  Josh had a surprise birthday party for me this year and it was pretty exciting!

Oh, the dreaded 27.  Do we even want to go there?   Josh and I both struggled trying to manage our jobs, life and paying a fortune for daycare for Annika.  She was always sick and we were missing tons of work because of it.  I had to put her in a daycare my work pays for when children are sick and it was heartbreaking to not be able to stay home with her while she was sick but I was feeling a bit better that she was at the daycare a the hospital with nurses caring for her.
Just as I was settling into being a new mother I lost my mom and dad within a 7 week period.  27 years old was the year that my life changed the most.  I no longer cry at stupid little things, or care about stupid little issues with people in my life.  I ignore people I was friends with because of the way they reacted (or didn't react) when my parents died.  To some people I'm different, maybe a bit cold?  But I lost my parents and I've still never really had enough time to process it all.  I also started running and ran my first half marathon.  Annika turned a year old and Josh was laid off of work.  We pulled Annika out of daycare and decided that Josh needed to get a job at night which he got 2 months after being laid off.

I did not want to turn 28.  I didn't want to have a birthday without my parents but I did and ran a half marathon on that day. Josh and I decided to expand our family so we moved into a 3 bedroom townhouse, I was promoted at work again (perfect timing) and we became pregnant with Annabel!  Annabel was born later that year.  Right after Annabel being born I lost my grandpa in Sweden, it was sad not being able to say good-bye.  We took our first family vacation while I was 18 weeks pregnant with Annabel to Orlando for a wedding and went to Downtown Disney with Annika.  We actually had a lot of fun without having to spend a ton of money on an actual Disney theme park!

Just like I didn't want to turn 28 I hated 29 too.  I hate birthdays without my parents because they always made such a big deal about my birthday.  Shortly after turning 29 my grandmother died which brought back feelings of my parents dying.  It was a rough year with Josh and I working opposite schedules and dealing with family drama.  Finally after much realization of the last year I now know that the only person in this world I can count on is Josh (and the girls) and if it's just us together it's okay with me.  We also decided to look at houses to buy and built one!!  I've had a great year raising these two crazy girls even though our life is sometimes crazy and hectic! 

Now I do hope for a calmer, less life changing decade up next please!!


2 comments:

  1. Wow. Your twenties have been pretty eventful. I hope that your thirties will bring you peace and much, much happiness! My life started when I was 32 and had my first child, so maybe your thirties will be wonderful, too. I hope so! (PS I just turned 37, so it's 40 I'm looking at on my horizon. Blech!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy 30th birthday to you! Actually I think the early 30s are much easier than your 20s. Getting closer to 40 is harder. It sounds like you've come a long ways and may this decade bring you joy and happiness.

    ReplyDelete