It’s New Year’s Eve 2019. We are about to embark on not just a new year but a new decade. And with that comes all promises and hopes for new goals and dreams. But before I look forward I need to look back…
Looking back to 2009- my god that seems so long ago. So much has happened over the last ten years of my life. To think 2009 was the year I graduated with my Masters degree.
2010-2019 this decade has left me with more than I can even fathom to think back about. But ultimately before I move forward I must look back. So here goes.
It’s 2010… living in an apartment by myself. Learning what it’s like to have a full time teaching career, pay my own rent, and live the single life. I somehow managed to go out to the bars on Tuesday and Thursday nights with my bestie. We frequented the same bars, did the same songs on the juke box and had a blast doing it. It was at this point in my life that I realized how to be on my own and how to enjoy time to myself.
2011- The year I spent 3 weeks in Italy with a bunch of high school kids and my best friend. This year I learned that age doesn’t matter when it comes to needing help. I’ll never forget being lost in Rome and needing the 18 year old students to speak Italian for us to get back to our hotel. This trip also pushed me over the edge to my obsession of traveling.
2012-with a new found obsession with traveling, and a friend and CoWorker moving to Abu Dhabi, I conquered my fear of traveling over seas by myself. With no phone, I flew to Dubai to meet my friends. A new time zone and culture to learn from and explore. This trip gave me both confidence and fear as I quickly learned that military time was used for flights. Ooops but so grateful for my family and friends who rescued me from that crazy disaster. Oh and looking back I also realized that it’s ok to make mistakes and to never put work before myself: to never stress myself out for any job because they aren’t stressing for me.
Disclaimer-2012 was also the year I met my husband, but my life lessons this year weren’t impacted by the start of our relationship.
2013- I call this the Melrose Place year. This is the year, my boyfriend and I, aka my now husband, moved into an apartment together. We moved into renovated mills. I loved this apartment. It was huge and we had so many memories there. This was however like a daily episode of Melrose Place as the tenants were all about the same age, and met up at the river walk fire pit for cocktails. It was a time of introducing my husband into traveling, with him getting his first passport at the last minute (literally arriving a few days before our flight) and our first of many future trips to Mexico. I learned so many things this year but I’d have to say the one thing that truly sticks out is- never get stitches in a Mexico hospital 36 hours before you start a new job. 🤣 I’ll leave that story for another time.
2014- Holy crap, I’m about to be 30 and we bought a house!!!! This year taught me so much life lessons, like what the heck a sewer assessment is, errors and emissions insurance and how to be a home owner. Little things you never realized you needed to learn. Like where do I get a recycling bin for the town? How do I drain my jacuzzi? How expensive appliances are and what an incredible gift 🎁 a new oven is.
2014 was also the year my sister in law and my sister both got married and my husband and I got engaged. It was a year of love. I feel like I gained two new families that year (ironically both brother in laws are named Mike). 2014 was the year I learned about commitment and persistence.
2015 all things wedding with our three weeks in Greece honeymoon. Looking back this was the year I learned to put my husband and myself first as our new family. To make as many memories as we can as newlyweds and to accept changes that are out of my control (like being transferred to a different school and position two days before our wedding). Oh I also learned that when you plan for things in early July it is bound to be the worst winter with as many snow days as possible with school letting out June 29! (1 week before my July 3rd wedding)
2016 and 2017 can be summed up with learning about life, loss and heartache. I learned that I am the strongest person and can get through anything. This was honestly one of the toughest times of my life. I shut out almost everyone that loved me as I struggled through having a family. After failed and failed attempts at having a child, I tried to remain strong. The emotional impact that every month took on me during these years felt like a flash before my eyes looking back now. These years in my life have truly transformed the person I am now. They have made me a different person, and a different mom. I see every child as a blessing. I know I am not alone in these years of struggles and I will forever remember every appointment, every injection, and every ounce of strength it took me to not give up.
2018- I was the healthiest I’d been, living a vegan lifestyle for a year, and found my passion for the direct sales industry. 2018 was the year that I learned to start a business, my desire to be an entrepreneur and my ability to be a leader in an industry that I never thought I’d find success in. 2018 was the year Kalaia came into my life.
2018 was most notable though for my dreams finally coming true. After many failed years and attempts and losses, we were finally in a healthy pregnancy with our son. It was the most nerve wrecking and exciting time in our lives as each day gave me joy and fear. I learned to be patient. I learned to relax and of course what sober life was like 😂.
And so here we are 2019. With a 9 month old baby boy, this year I learned and continue to learn how to be a mom. How to work, to be a family of four (because our little dog is a part of the family), how to survive on no sleep, the struggles of breastfeeding and pumping and how to be a part of this incredible tribe of MOMs.
So as this decade is coming to an end I will take all that I have learned, take all of my losses, fears, and memories and propel them into the next decade. I will learn from my past and continue to grow. I know I can not change who I once was, the things I’ve been through and never forget the experiences I have had. I will embrace the life I have in front of me and I’m so excited to see what life will look like from 35-45 years old.
Goodbye 25-35. It’s been real. I came, I saw, I conquered and moving on to new goals, new dreams and an incredible amount of traveling.
Happy New Years everyone.
Mompreneur Life 