It seems like in my 20s I was blissfully ignorant. By that, I mean, there was so much I didn’t know or understand, but I didn’t realize it or maybe just simply didn’t care! During my 20s, I liked the freedom of “not knowing completely what I wanted to be when I grew up” because it meant I could sample a little bit of everything.
When I initially worked on this post, it ended up being about ten pages long. Since the initial intent and idea behind this piece was not to bore everyone into a coma, I decided to pair it down a bit. Trust me, be glad I did. So here I go with a flashback from my 20s (it ended up being sort of Marley and Me style).
Age 20-22:
College. Grades. Studying. Homework. Sorority. Choir. Internships. Networking. Friends. Parties. Honors Society. Part-time Job. Resumes. Interviews. Stress-and-excitement rolled into one. Engaged to high school sweetheart. Daydreaming of wedding plans. Planning wedding. Getting married. Cancun honeymoon. Relocating to Arizona. Newlyweds. Dirt poor. Lots of tuna noodle casseroles. Weekend hiking adventures. Sedona. Camelback Mountain. Happy. Content. Simple.
Age 22-24:
Hubby graduating from grad school. Missing family back home. First “real” jobs. Moving apartments. Meeting new friends. Climbing the ladder. Adopting a puppy. Spoiling the puppy rotten. Church involvement. Working on my master’s degree. Dog parks with the pup. Obedience training with the pup. Agility with the pup. Lots of free time. Into home décor. Into scrapbooking.
Age 24-26:
House hunting. Buying a house. Painting every room of the house. Repainting several rooms of the house. House décor. Packing. Moving. Settling in. Housewarming party. Subdivision. Walks. Neighbor friends. Cookouts. Landscaping project involving sprinkler installation. Doggy door. Goosebumps every time we pulled into the driveway because that little house was really ours. Repainting again. The sudden loss of my husband's wonderful father. Wind knocked out of us. Being with my husband through such a very difficult time. Wanting to take his sadness away but knowing I couldn't. The quest to have a baby. Fertility struggles. Two pink lines. Sheer joy. Morning sickness for five months. Wearing maternity clothes before I was showing. Student teaching with morning sickness. Alaskan cruise with morning sickness. A roadtrip to a friend's wedding in Vegas with morning sickness. Midnight cravings for blueberry muffins. Growing belly. Decorating nursery. Baby showers. Graduating with a Master’s in Education. New baby born 3 weeks early. Utter amazement. “Babymoon” phase where sleepless nights couldn’t bring me down. Lots of relatives visiting. Exhaustion. Painful breastfeeding. Colicky baby. Reflux. Non-stop screaming. Marriage taking a backseat. Questioning why I wanted a baby so bad. Knew pediatrician by first name. First grins. First laugh. Portrait Innovations. Went back to work. Researching child care. Ear tubes. Sleep at last. Happy baby. Happy family. Bonded with beautiful child. Knew all the work was worth it.
Age 26-28:
Baby’s first steps. Baby’s first words. Outgrew little house. Bought new, larger, really-couldn’t-afford house. Repainted whole house. All new furniture. Went to town on the decorating. Hubby starting his own company. I took my first teaching job. Photocopying. Lamination. Preparing for my first classroom. Creativity. Garage sale books. First day of school. Sheer fear and excitement. Big hugs and smiles. Lightbulb moments. Going home with funny stories everyday. An audience that always forgives when you need improvement. Learning as much from 9 and 10 year olds as they did from me (probably more). Husband getting a job offer to move us back to the Midwest. Having to leave 1st teaching job after the first quarter. Sadness and excitement. Lots of tears between class of kiddos and me. Anticipation to finally raise our daughter near grandparents. Fear of not being able to sell new home with declining economy. Fear of ever being able to afford a new one. Huge move. Penske truck. Scratches on new furniture. Moving into my mom’s house. Bugging our realtor every day to see if our AZ house sold. Family events. Family holidays. Daughter getting to know her relatives. Kindermusik. Trips to Chicago with cousin and sister. Seeing daughter's face light up when she saw snow for the first time. Girl’s nights. Catching up with friends from high school. Job offer to work from home. House in AZ sold! Getting to house hunt.
Age 28-30
Buying a house in IL. Packing. Moving. Settling in. Realizing I was pregnant after I moved all the heavy boxes and had a martini night with girlfriends. Daughter starts preschool. Growing belly. It’s a girl (again)! Doctor’s appointments. First ballet class. Mom’s groups. Hosting family holidays. Baby shower "sprinkle". Deciding on a name. Water breaking 3 weeks early after a night of laughing so hard we almost peed at The Midnight Swinger who performed at the local comedy club. Birthing another beautiful baby girl. Excitement. Daughter met her baby sister. Feeling very warm and fuzzy. Maternity leave. More breastfeeding. More colicky. More ear infections. More strain on marriage. Sleepless nights. Exhaustion. Why us? Can you really have two colicky babies? First smiles. First laughs. Ear tubes for baby at 8 months. 2nd set of ear tubes for Big Sister. Ahhh, sleep at last. First dance recital for Big Sister. Baby dedication. First Christmas as a family of four. Sweet giggles of two little girls.
This blog will be continued as I write about my much more mature life discoveries and philosophy since turning 30 last December. By mature, meaning I’ve realized that with all this hustle and bustle…I have left few margins to actually live. But there’s still a lot of life left in me so here I go! Afterall, according to Oprah, 30 is the new 20 but, you know what, I don't even need it to be! 30 can be the new 30...I'm quite excited for the next 10 years in this phase.
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