Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The Twenty Year Tag

I saw this on a friends blog site and thought it is a cool way to not only remember days gone by, but see where you have come.

Twenty years ago I:

1. Was 17 turning 18
2. Graduated from Aloha High School
3. Started working at Thriftway in the Deli Dept
4. Took art classes/sociology classes at Portland State University
5. Looked forward to being on my own
6. Hung out with my best friends Colleen Turner and Danette Sanchez (still keep in touch)
7. Got a '74 Datsun B-210 the previous Christmas and got my drivers license
8. Also hung out with my best friend Karie McLaughlin
9. Started going to Relief Society
10. Made silly movies and audio tapes with my wacky cousins Ted and Joe/Carmen and Jared and of course my brother Austin

10 years ago I:

1. I was 28 and living in my In-laws basement
2. Was the mother of three kids (ages 6,5,3)
3. Started going to Apollo College to become a Medical Assistant
4. Was the second counselor in the Primary Presidency of the Brentwood Ward
5. Making new friends
6. Just moved from Beaverton to Portland (having lived in Beaverton for 13yrs)
7. Focused on getting a career to help support my family
8. Taught preschool for Becky and Riley
9. Learned to sew
10. Enjoyed the last Bybee (Grambo) family reunion that summer

5 years ago I:

1. Was 34 yrs old
2. Mother of 4 children now
3. Was a stay at home Mom
4. Busy taking three of the kids to baseball/softball practices
5. Volunteering at the kids school
5. Was one of the Achievement Day leaders in the Ward
6. Loved making baby blankets for all my friends
7. Hung out as much as I could with Grambo
8. Found out I had a passion for writing poetry
9. Realized I was pretty good at it.
10. Was struggling with the illness/death of my dearest Uncle Cork

3 years ago I:

1. Was 36yrs old
2. Applying for any job I could with Kaiser Permanente
3. Was consumed with kids/sports/church activities
4. Was one of the Webelos Den Mothers in the Ward
5. Writing a ton of poetry
6. Decided to have some poetry published
7. Started working again for Kaiser in Cardiology
8. Worked on healing family troubles
9. Still heavily mourning the loss of my Uncle
10. Started our family anew

This past year I:

1. Am turning 38 yrs old
2. Enjoying living in Clackamas
3. Still working in Cardiology
4. Made some efforts to change jobs
5. Glad they didn't work out
6. Getting better at being a mom of 3 teenagers
7. Enjoying every moment of Katie
8. Learned to love Football
9. Have made some life long friendships
10. Started planning Miranda's Sweet 16

Today I am:

1. Enjoying that it is the first day back to school for the kids
2. Love that I have today off
3. Savoring the quiet in the house
4. Looking forward to reading my book (New Moon)
5. Am very excited for all the kids (Becky's first day of High school, Riley's first day of Jr High)
6. Appreciating my life and all my blessings
7. Happy to be doing laundry
8. Looking forward to when the kids come home and to hear how their first days went
9. Trying to prioritize
10. Just being lazy :0) (pretty funny being Labor Day and all)

Tomorrow I am:

1. Going to work
2. Coming home and taking kids to mutual/scouts
3. Starting my diet and getting back to exercising

This next year I am:

1. Going to finally get my motorcycle endorsement


So far this is it. Who knows what's next. Wow. Time flies. My kids are growing so fast. I'm just around the corner from 40! Holy cow. That can't be right. Well, football season is starting again and we are very excited. Life is sure busy with 4 kids. But Cline and I have learned over the years to find time for ourselves and each other. Even if it is 20 minutes a day of just sitting next to one another. I tag everyone on my list. So please share.