Decade in Review

I have seen several other bloggers do this, so I thought I would follow suit. Some people started with the year of their births, but I really don't have 30 years worth of info that is interesting, so I'm just going to do the last decade. And I'm only going to do personal events and not worldly ones, because, well, we all know what happened in the world. This blog is all about me, right? Right.

2000- Began the second semester of my freshman year. Somehow I didn't fail out of school after the first one. Went to Italy for 3 weeks as part of  Interim in January. Broke up with the guy who I was casually dating and started dating someone else. Spent the summer as a counselor at Camp DeSoto and had a blast working the ropes course. Made my debut as a member of the Debutante Club of Mississippi in the Fall (the only reason I even remembered that one was because I just got the notice in the mail that my annual dues are due. And I debated even sending it in. I mean, it's only $30 but what is the benefit of being in the Debutante Club of Miss except to get invited to the ball every year. And I never go. So, anyway).

2001- Learned to sail an old schooner in the Caribbean for 3 weeks as part of Interim. It was a wonderful trip and I did not want to come home. I was the most tan I have ever been in my life that Spring. I'm sure my mom (who hates the sun) was proud. After 5 years of sharing a car, my sister and I finally got our own (matching) cars. I met and became friends with John Quinn when he came to Birmingham-Southern.

2002- Started the year off with a trip to New Zealand for two weeks for Interim. I went sky diving and bungy jumping from the third highest bungy in the world. Have never felt that much adrenaline in my life. Would never do it again. Stayed in Birmingham over the summer and took a class at Samford and hung out with my friend Katharyn every day. Life was fun. Broke up with college boyfriend right after my senior year started in the fall. Was single for the first time in a long time.  But only for a few months. Sparks started flying with my friend, John. We started dating that November. I knew this relationship was different from any others I had had, and my friends could see it, too.

2003- Went to Australia and back to New Zealand for Interim. Graduated from college. Started nursing school at Vanderbilt in the fall. Nervous about having a long distance relationship with John. He had golf practice or tournaments every weekend (he was a junior in college), so I drove back and forth to Birmingham. A lot.

2004- Still in nursing school. John still in college. Still driving back and forth to Bham a lot. (I could't think of anything interesting that happened this year, so I was asking John for help. He said, "I turned 21." And I said, "Geez." As in geez, that made me feel old. We are only 2 years and 3 months--if you're counting-- apart, but in college that seemed like a lot. It still does sometimes.)

2005- Not a great year. My best friend's mom, who was like a second mom to me, died suddenly (she was also my mom's best friend). It was the first time someone that close to me died (that I was old enough to remember), but the worst was watching my best friend go through so much pain. I will always remember every minute of that terrible day. John graduated from college and I graduated from nursing school. I moved back to Birmingham and started working as a nurse on the hematology/oncology floor at UAB. Little Elle Belle (the dog) became my first child. My roommate who did/does not like animals probably wanted to kill me, but we're still best friends, thank goodness! Then in the fall my grandfather (my dad's dad) passed away. A pretty eventful year.

2006- Another year not off to a great start. My other grandfather passed away in March. John traveled a LOT for work. Wondering when we were going to get engaged. Had to keep reminding myself that he was still young.

2007- February 23rd John proposed! Finally! I quit working on the hem/onc floor in June and started working as a Nurse Practitioner at the Kirklin Clinic. Did a lot of wedding planning and commuting back and forth to Jackson. Got married on August 11th! Got another dog, Cooper, in November so Ellie could have a buddy. On December 7th John was in Columbus, GA for work and had to undergo an emergency appendectomy. I left in the middle of the night and got there right after he came out of surgery. Due to dumbass doctors, John had to go back in  for emergency surgery the next day to correct a huge retroperitoneal bleed and ended up in the hospital for 10 days for what was supposed to be a one night stay. It was a BAD and very scary situation but thankfully he came through ok. Enough excitement for these newlyweds.

2008- Sold our house in June with no where to go. Moved into an apartment for 6 weeks until we bought our new house at the beginning of August. My sister, Christopher, and her boyfriend Craig got engaged the night before Thanksgiving. Exactly one week later, on December 3rd, we were shocked to find out we were expecting a baby due on August 1, 2009!!

2009- Found out we were having a little girl on March 10th!! I was a little surprised because of the Quinn gene pool (all males), even though that's what my intuition was telling me all along. My sister got married on June 27th and I was a whopping 35 week-pregnant Matron of Honor. On July 30th we welcomed our most precious gift ever and our lives were completely changed!

2010- Curran takes her first plane ride (this upcoming weekend) and hopefully this mama will survive!

I can't wait to see what the new year brings! I feel so grateful for all we have been blessed with!