Tonight I started thinking about anniversaries and wondering what was happening last year, two years ago, three years ago, etc. So, I pulled up some old blogs via MySpace and pulled old journals off the bookcase and this is what I’ve discovered:

11 years ago – wanting to move slowly in this relationship I was in, trying to figure out what I was doing with myself and my life, where I would live and who I would live with. Full details about the last day of high school and this guy I slapped.

10 years ago – visiting friends in northern Wisconsin, getting all dressed up for an evening out. That was such a highlight for me. Dreams about reconciling a lost friendship that never came true and still haunts me today. Lying around outdoors in the sun, wondering what to do with my life. Drove to Michigan City with my brother to buy a pair of khakis that I still cherish today.

9 years ago – Full of joy having just returned from Greenville College’s Agape Fest and meeting a ton of new people. Thoughts about never being good enough for this one particular guy who was pretty much perfection in the flesh. I think he still is.

8 years ago – Graduating from Community College and faced with “the hardest decision of my life” – which college to go away to. My first experience with consuming alcohol. Being so nervous about a job interview for a summer position at a moving company and then so excited to get the job! A family friend, a young husband and dad who was suddenly on his deathbed and who has since miraculously recovered.

7 years ago – Finals week and thus procrastination and avoidance. A hall-mate braided my entire head in tiny braids like a Jamaican girl. I realized what a fun person I am because I take Pop Rocks to share with friends in the back row of Science class and carry random things like silly putty, bubbles, and crayons in my purse.

6 years ago – end of my 1^st senior year at college. Arguments shared with guys long since forgotten. Kisses shared with guys long since forgotten. Incredibly sleep deprived, staying up late and oversleeping for class, meetings, and other appointments. Our dorm was evacuated for an evening. Today in 2002, Sarah, Wendy & I had an SP (Slumber Party!); we were always good for those.

5 years ago – Huge graduation weekend event, which made me decide I want to elope when I get married. Family Vacation to Indianapolis that I kept sleeping thru. Choosing to let go of a problematic situation. Subbed for elementary school and loved it. Preparing to move to Los Angeles.

4 years ago – Applied for a teaching job for the first and only time in my life. Trying to learn from a failed relationship. Friends moving on.

3 years ago – Today in 2005 I left my life in California. I slept alone at a hotel in Willcox, Arizona. I cried.

2 years ago – I met my future sister-in-law. My temp contract ran out, and I was hired on full-time by the lumber company. I was hating my part-time job at the church and decided I couldn’t remain a part of it. Got my first digital camera – a huge ghetto one that was taped together and on indefinite loan from a friend.

1 year ago – losing weight, going to physical therapy, preparing for a trip to Naples, Florida, having my heart broken by the end of a relationship – even though I knew he was trash.

And here I am today, May 10, 2008. A lot has happened in the last year. Love, heartache, marriage (not mine), heartbreak, roommate, travel… And who knows what May 10, 2009 will hold?… Stay tuned.