2000-2009
On my long ride home from New Years in Phoenix I decided to reflect the past decade. I stole the idea from an old friend and modified it a bit. I've not accomplished nearly as much as she had but it was still interesting reflecting where the last 10 years have taken me and where I am today.
In the year 2000:
I am 23 years old, single, living in my own place and working for FlashNet, an ISP in Fort Worth.
I have never left the country and only been to half a dozen states.
I go to Mardi Gras for the second year in a row.
I move back home with my parents in Irving so I can go back to school and pay off debt.
I continue to work at FlashNet and take classes at community college.
Michael, a guy who also works at FlashNet that I'd been interested in off and on for some time, finally asks me out on a real date.
Our first date is the night before Thanksgiving. He takes me to Rainforest Cafe and to see Meet the Parents. He is a gentleman.
I finally pass College Algebra.
Michael meets my parents on Christmas Eve. He tells me he thinks he's in love with me.
My company FlashNet is acquired by Prodigy and then Prodigy by SBC.
Michael and I are together but it's complicated. He relocates to Austin to work for Prodigy/SBC.
I am laid off from my job at Flashnet thanks to the Prodigy/SBC acquisition.
Michael accidentally asks me to marry him on May 21, 2001.
We stand before our parents, grandmothers and a Justice of the Peace on July 3, 2001.
I move to Austin with my new husband.
I turn 25 two weeks after we are married.
I spend a semester in Italy (two months after my wedding and just two weeks after 9/11)
My husband joins me for a week in Rome; it is our belated honeymoon.
My husband is laid off from his job.
I enroll at St. Edward's University.
I drop out after one semester.
We spend the remainder of our first year of marriage unemployed and living off severance.
We adopt our dog Angel from Mixed Breed Rescue.
We sell all our stuff and spend the second year of our marriage living and traveling in a VW camper with our dog Angel.
The three of us travel all over Texas, the Southwest, California and parts of the Midwest.
Nine months on the road and several VW breakdowns later, we settle back in down in Fort Worth.
I skip my 10 year high school reunion.
We acquire an abandoned Dachshund named Oscar at my family reunion in Sabinal. He is heartworm positive, infested with fleas, destroys anything and everything and has a bad back. We love him and nurse him back to good health and somewhat better behavior. He is now spoiled rotten.
My husband and I both start working at HEB Central Market.
I leave Central Market for a doggie day care job in Fort Worth; my husband takes an IT job in Grapevine.
I finally go back to school and complete my Associates Degree, but due to some problem with an old credit on my transcript they deny me a diploma.
I turn 30 on July 19, 2006.
I pierce my nose on my 30th birthday and take it out a week later.
We briefly move back to Irving and stay with my parents.
I am hired as manager of the doggie day care when the business is sold to a new owner.
My husband gets a job offer and we relocate back to Austin.
I discover the lead singer from a band I liked in the 90’s has another band (RCPM). We see this band live at Antone’s in Austin; I am hooked and much of my personal life now begins to revolve around this band.
I start working as a Personal Assistant for a self-employed couple in Austin.
My husband and I start going to any and all RCPM shows around Texas.
We meet some wonderful friends who love the band as much as we do and travel to see the band all over the country and in Mexico.
My husband becomes dissatisfied with his company in Austin and returns to his old job in Dallas/Fort Worth.
We move to Euless.
I make my first trip to the East Coast with girlfriends for 4 RCPM shows. (Roger crowd surfs)
I am unemployed for 6 months after the move to Euless.
I find a job I hate and quit 2 months later and get a job at a new doggie day care the next day.
One of my oldest and dearest friends gets married; I am a bridesmaid.
I see 21 RCPM shows in 8 different states (and 2 in Mexico) traveling over 15,000 miles in one year.
In the year 2009:
I am 33 years old, happily married to my husband of 8 years, working at a doggie day care in Fort Worth and have traveled to Mexico, Italy and visited 23 more states.
