change
At the turn of the year I was seeing a lot of reflections not just on 2019, but the past decade. Which, of course, led me down memory lane and thinking about where I was at the start of the decade. I was in the early years of my career and had just started a job that I would stay at for the next 6 years, I was just starting to play ultimate and closing off my softball days, I had just started traveling sans family, and I was loving singlehood and young adulthood. Heck, I hadn't even met the guy that would become my husband. It's kind of crazy when I think about the past 10 years and all that's happened. Here are some highlights that come to mind...
2010 :
There's probably a bazillion things in between that I've missed and a lot more non-destination weddings in that mix, but some resounding themes are how incredibly blessed I've been to be able to travel so much in the past decade, how many of my friends had destination weddings, and all the old friends, new for-a-season friends, new lifelong friends I've had walk beside me in this time. To all of you, I just want to say thank you for your presence in my life these past 10 years.
The other prominent thing in this list are all the huge life changes and subsequent shifts in identity and who I understand myself to be. I went from single young adult, to "the girl that I'm seeing", to girlfriend, to fiancée, to wife and daughter-in-law, and now mom. I've gone from living with my parents, to living on my own, to living with my parents again, to living with my husband, and now living with a baby.
I should stop and make a note here that I really suck with change. I'm a creature of habit and pretty much hate change. It takes me awhile and a lot of internal reflection to be okay with new transitions. The bigger the change, the longer it takes for me to get used to it. And this latest one has been a doozy, especially cuz the only thing consistent about life with a baby is constant change. Not just changes in his growth, development, and day-to-day life, but changes in my own growth and identity as I learn what it means to be a mom physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. It's crazy how different life looks now. Back in 2010 I was trying to get all my social engagements, church activities and sports in order every week and now my days are filled with making and pureeing baby food, tracking wake windows and nap times, and folding laundry... oh so much laundry.
The funny thing about restarting this blog is I have the ability to look back 10 years ago at some of the things I had written and what my life and thoughts were like at that time. So naturally, when it came time to reflect, I went back to read. And while I know that I'm not the same person I was back in 2010, there are still some things that are still very true about me now (read more here). This post from 2010 goes hand in hand with why I suck with change. Change requires delving into the unknown, moving from what you are comfortable and familiar with into new uncharted territory. If you read that old post, I hate not knowing, not understanding what's happening, or what to do next, or the end result. And well, that's basically parenthood: 90% guesswork, 5% Google, 5% luck and God's grace. I'm well aware that this new life with baby is just the beginning of many, many, MANY more years of change... so somehow I'm gonna have to get better in dealing with change and figure out a way to be excited for it rather than apprehensive about it. I honestly have no clue how this is going to happen. This next decade is definitely going to be an interesting one.
2010 :
- went to Europe for the first time with friends (Paris, Zurich and Berlin... still one of my most favourite trips to date)
- started playing ultimate more competitively, meeting a whole bunch of new friends along the way
- bought my first car
- had lots of summertime adventures with friends including chasing meteor showers, girls' nights, gelato dates, and strolling around some of my favourite places
- bought my second car (totalled my first after 6 months... single tear)
- destination wedding cruise (first cruise!)
- maid-of-honour for the first time for my sister-from-another-mother's wedding on aforementioned cruise
- went to Fort Lauderdale (and the Everglades) for the first time
- went to Montreal for the first time
- started touring with Lily (women's ultimate team) and road tripping to Montreal, Ottawa, Waterloo, and Rochester for tournaments
- lived on my own for a time
- destination wedding in Canmore
- became an aunt again
- started touring with Lotus
- went to Vancouver for the first time
- destination wedding in Cancun and the beginning of a whirlwind romance only found in movies
- officially started dating my now husband, the months before we were just "seeing each other"
- saw A BUNCH of musicals with now-official-boyfriend (Les Miserables, Lion King, Rent, Wicked)
- went to Chicago and San Diego for work, but got some time to tour around the cities
- second time MOH for my best friend
- third car
- started touring with Terra and won my very first medal
- destination wedding in Punta Cana
- went to Vienna for work, got to tour around the city as well
- went to NYC for the first time
- went to Mexico to play in the Pan American Ultimate Championships
- started my new (current) job
- went to Europe and got engaged (Paris, Lyon, Florence, Venice, Rome)
- went to Colorado to play in the USAU Masters Ultimate Championships
- got married, became a wife
- moved downtown
- toured with Nox
- went to Tampa/St. Pete's for the first time
- honeymoon'd in Croatia (Split, Hvar, Dubrovnik) and Amalfi Coast (Naples, Sorrento, Positano)
- destination wedding in Hawaii (Oahu, Big Island)
- gained a friend-turned-sister-in-law
- went to Boston for work
- found out we were pregnant
- bought a house
- fourth car... mom car
- became a mom O_O
- went to Europe again, this time with a baby (Nice, Monaco, Eze)
There's probably a bazillion things in between that I've missed and a lot more non-destination weddings in that mix, but some resounding themes are how incredibly blessed I've been to be able to travel so much in the past decade, how many of my friends had destination weddings, and all the old friends, new for-a-season friends, new lifelong friends I've had walk beside me in this time. To all of you, I just want to say thank you for your presence in my life these past 10 years.
The other prominent thing in this list are all the huge life changes and subsequent shifts in identity and who I understand myself to be. I went from single young adult, to "the girl that I'm seeing", to girlfriend, to fiancée, to wife and daughter-in-law, and now mom. I've gone from living with my parents, to living on my own, to living with my parents again, to living with my husband, and now living with a baby.
I should stop and make a note here that I really suck with change. I'm a creature of habit and pretty much hate change. It takes me awhile and a lot of internal reflection to be okay with new transitions. The bigger the change, the longer it takes for me to get used to it. And this latest one has been a doozy, especially cuz the only thing consistent about life with a baby is constant change. Not just changes in his growth, development, and day-to-day life, but changes in my own growth and identity as I learn what it means to be a mom physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. It's crazy how different life looks now. Back in 2010 I was trying to get all my social engagements, church activities and sports in order every week and now my days are filled with making and pureeing baby food, tracking wake windows and nap times, and folding laundry... oh so much laundry.
The funny thing about restarting this blog is I have the ability to look back 10 years ago at some of the things I had written and what my life and thoughts were like at that time. So naturally, when it came time to reflect, I went back to read. And while I know that I'm not the same person I was back in 2010, there are still some things that are still very true about me now (read more here). This post from 2010 goes hand in hand with why I suck with change. Change requires delving into the unknown, moving from what you are comfortable and familiar with into new uncharted territory. If you read that old post, I hate not knowing, not understanding what's happening, or what to do next, or the end result. And well, that's basically parenthood: 90% guesswork, 5% Google, 5% luck and God's grace. I'm well aware that this new life with baby is just the beginning of many, many, MANY more years of change... so somehow I'm gonna have to get better in dealing with change and figure out a way to be excited for it rather than apprehensive about it. I honestly have no clue how this is going to happen. This next decade is definitely going to be an interesting one.
change
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Reviewed by hazel
on
8:26 PM
Rating: 5