30... Here I Come???

Anxiety is wracking my brain... working on taking me over with each day that brings me closer and closer to the big 30! So, my goal between now and March 21st is to come to terms with this big birthday of mine. This brought me to the idea I woke up with this morning... Recapping my twenties. So, let me begin, because this has the potential to be a long one...

20: I was a sophomore in college at ECU this year and let me just say that I LOVED every minute of it, but it took me about five years to realize this. You know, when you're in school all you can think about is being done with school, so you don't stop and realize how lucky you are for these moments of relaxing on the couch studying. All you think about is.. HOLY CRAP.... I am so tired of studying for tests! At least that's how it was for me. So, now that I'm no longer there, I realize how wonderful those four years of my life were, when I was earning my degree in elementary education. How peaceful, youthful, and responsibility-free those years were.

This picture is of me and my baby brother, Jarrett, he was born the week before my eighteenth birthday and everytime I would go to my dad's house for the weekend during college, he would beg me to take him back to school with me.


I worked at Applebee's waitressing all during college and this is a picture of me and a friend on Halloween... I was a flapper, she was a french maid...


21: My 21st birthday was by far the wildest night of my life. It started out at Applebee's with all my girlfriends from there and before we left, I ended up "riding" the horse in the picture window. I think this picture is definitely going to come back to haunt me as my children get older... whaddya think? :)

This was about two days after my 21st birthday, with my little sisters. It took me a while to recover from that night before I could be around my family... LOL

This is me and my first child, Charlie. He was my constant companion from 17 until he died when I was 23. I loved this dog so much. He was my only room mate in college until my senior year, when I did have a human room mate.

22: I met Tony a few weeks after I turned 22. Don't ask how we met, it's not a story I can share on the computer, or with our children, for that matter... I'll tell you in person one day. :) This picture below is the first time he met my mom. I took him with me to our annual family reunion to meet my family for the first time. No pressure there...

December 15, 2001: Graduated from college and one week later....

December 22, 2001: We got married! 8 whole months after we met.. NO I was not pregnant!

In January, the month after we got married, my Granny, who lives next door to us, and my Aunt Donna, who also lives next door, came to Jacksonville to meet her ex-husband with the kids for the weekend and while they were there, they had dinner with Tony and I before they left to head back home. We ate at Logan's and it was a really fun time... lots of food, fellowship, and laughter. When they were on I-40, driving back home, a drunk driver hit them from behind and there ensued the worst accident that has ever happened to anyone I know. They were both thrown from the car, my aunt into a tree, and my grandma, through the trees into the middle of the forest. Luckily, there were marines in the car behind them who were trained in search and rescue and they found my grandma in the middle of those woods, barely clinging to life.

This accident really changed my life. It filled me with intense desperation for my grandma to live and I did more praying than I have ever done in my life. Thank goodness, after months in the hospital, a nursing home, and rehab, all was much better and they were both home, changed, but alive.

23: In April of that year, Tony and I went to visit his family in Manassas, VA and while we were there, we went to D.C. It was fun, but we had no idea where we were going. It was my first time there.

That summer was Charlie's last summer alive. He so loved the beach...

I moved back here, to Stedman, where I'm from and my whole family lives that summer. I just couldn't bear to be away from my family after my grandma almost dying. We made the decision that Tony was going to get out of the military, so I went ahead and came here to start teaching and he stayed in Jacksonville with his sister until he could join me here.

I started teaching fourth grade that year. I loved the school. It's really old. My grandpa actually went to high school there. This is a picture of me working to get my classroom ready for school to start...

Tony got sent to Yuma, Arizona for two months of training that fall and I went to visit him there...

That December, Tony and I bought our first house. We did a lot of work on that house to make it home. I really miss living there, but it's okay, because my mom bought it from us, so we still visit it all the time. :)

24: I moved to the local middle school after one year of teaching fourth grade. I taught sixth grade English there.

That fall, I was studying to become a pilates instructor and we went on a trip to Busch Gardens with Tony's family.

This is a picture of me studying for my certification in the condo we were staying at. I LOVE my hair here!

Us all at Busch Gardens...

In February, the month before I turned 25, I got pregnant with Emma.

After I found out I was pregnant with Emma, I knew I was not going to go back to work full-time after she was born, so I knew I had to find something to do to make money on the side. So I started business attempt #1: Princess House. This did not hold my interest long. I think I only did three parties with them.

25: I spent most of 25 being pregnant with Emma. Best time of my life. I did so many projects preparing for her to enter my world. I was so happy to be getting my little girl that I'd dreamed of my whole life. I was about 8 months pregnant here...

Emma was born October 15, 2004, 4 weeks early. She wasn't due until Nov. 11th. I had high blood pressure and I was swelling really bad, so my doctor induced me on the morning of the 14th and after 18 hours of hard labor, I had to have an emergency c-section. This completely violated every dream of mine and the actual birth had not one thing in common with my "birth plan".

She was 5lbs. 4oz. and was 18 in. long.

26: I started teaching water aerobics the summer before Emma turned one.

When Emma was 10 months old, I started teaching fourth grade again, but only part-time, from 8-12. My mom could keep Emma during those hours, so those were the only ones I worked.

Emma turned 1 in October!!

In January, I decided to teach myself how to make hairbows, since I was spending so much money on them for Emma. This turned into business venture #2: Sassy Girl Bows ( I still do this... in case you're wondering)

In February, we commited to building our new house on the farm, moved out of our first little white house, moved in with my grandma (the one who got in the wreck, who lives right beside where we were building, which is where our house is now) and my mom moved into our house.

I also found out I was pregnant this month with our second baby. I was so excited about it, because her (I'm convinced it was a girl) due date was Nov. 12th, which was one day after Emma's due date. They would have been exactly two years apart.

27: This was probably the most trying year of my life so far. I found out on my birthday that I had miscarried this baby that I was so excited about. I was only about 6 weeks or so, but I already loved this baby and I still wonder every day what this baby would have been like.

April: I started business venture #3: Arbonne... AKA-- worst decision of my LIFE!! I should be SHOT for throwing our money away like that... FOR REAL! But again, I had good intentions, I was trying to bring in another line of income for our family, especially with the new house being built.

May: We broke ground on our house.

July: We got Marley, our dog that we have right now. He's in the picture below with Emma...

Above is my mom in front of our house in progress that fall.

October: Emma turned TWO!! She had an Elmo (Mo-Mo) party!

November 2006: Tony left to go work in Iraq.

December: We decided to seperate. I know this is a shocker, being that we were in the middle of building our house, but it's a super long story and the year had been very over-whelming and stressful in many ways. This was just the right thing at the time.

February: I visited Lake Tahoe. It was really an amazing site. Such a visual of how amazing God and his work is.

28: Emma and I drove cross-country from New Jersey to Nevada with an old friend. It was an amazing experience and something I've always wanted to do. I hope to do it again one day. There's nothing like seeing the landscape of the country change so much each day. Again, it really shows you God's amazing work.

June: Tony came home for 2 weeks R&R from Iraq and after spending a lot of time together with Emma, we decided that our marriage was worth saving, so we reconciled. Best decision ever.

While he was home, we took Emma to the National Zoo in Washington and to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. It was the best family time we've ever spent together and Emma loved every minute of it.

Tony went back to Iraq after two weeks of being home and Emma and I moved from my grandma's house into a little apartment until I finished the building of our house. It was very cramped in that tiny apartment, but it was so wonderfully sentimental. It's the house my mom and all her brothers and sisters grew up in, so it was nice spending a few months there.

August: My great-grandma died and Tony got to come home for that. This is when Noah was conceived.

We also had Emma's birthday party in August so her daddy could be apart of it.

October: Emma turned THREE!!

November 30th/December 1st 2007: We moved into our house.. 18 months after we started building it! Hallelujah, Praise Jesus!

December 25th: Christmas Day: Tony came home for his one month visit! What a great Christmas present!

January: I started business venture #4: Selling Pampered Chef... I also still do this, in case you're wondering. On the 25th of this month, Tony went back to Iraq until he would come home again in May for the birth of our new baby!

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9: In March, right after my birthday, my oldest and bestest friend, Amy, took these pregnancy pics of me at the beach. I was 34 weeks pregnant...

April: My Uncle Al passed away very tragically. We all miss him so much.

May 15, 2008: After three days of labor, I again had a c-section to birth my sweet butterball, Noah. How did I ever live without this baby? I have no idea!

Noah was 7lbs. 7oz. and 21 inches long. Absolutely perfect, I've wanted to eat him since the moment he was born. I mention it to him each day and he just laughs at me, so I decide to put it off another day... :)

October: Emma turned FOUR!!

And now, I'm 42 days away from turning 30. I have two beautiful children and a husband who loves me a lot.. what more could I ask for? I am a very lucky girl. I only hope my thirties bring me as much love and joy as my twenties have.... and hopefully, a lot more wisdom! :)