Since I am totally not above stealing ideas from my friends blogs....

I have a friend.

Well I have a few friends, but this one friend that I rarely speak to anymore...but I read her blog. Jen (this friend I'm talking about) is an amazing writer (She should be, she's been a journalist and a blogger and all sorts of fun writer-y things!), and I love reading about her daughters, her husband, and all the fun adventures they have.

So when she did a recap of the past decade, declaring it the best decade ever, it got me thinking. Was the 00-09 decade the best ever?

I was born in 1981. So really, from 81-86 are all pretty blurry. We moved up to McDowell Creek at some point in there, which I do remember LOVING living there. Actually while I lived up there is when I met Jen, because she went to the same grade school I went to. Fun huh? In, I think, '88 we moved to Holley and I was a pretty outgoing kid that thought that everyone just naturally liked me, but I wasn't as well received at that grade school as I thought I should have been, so that's where I actually developed a little shyness. All-in-all the 80s were good. Lots of changes took place, but it was a generally fun time.

The 90s were also pretty good, but much more of a roller coaster ride. My brother graduated and moved away. That wasn't so great, but it was a LOT of fun going to visit him! We changed churches, where I met Leah, who I don't keep in contact with as much as I should, but I still consider her a close friend. I met Hollie in that decade, and hilarity ensued. I got my first boyfriend, and my first broken heart. I met Mandi (who would later become my best and dearest friend), and her little sister Jeni (who I love just as much) and their parents, who definitely helped shape me into the woman I am today. I started counseling summer camps in there somewhere. Graduation came before I knew it, and starting college! So beyond a few heartbreaks and the normal emotional turmoil that happens in teens, the 90s were very enjoyable!

So on to the 00s. They began with my frosh year of college. New beginnings, new friends. I managed my way through college (moving a whopping 9 times from 98-2003), and spent a little time working at McDonalds, Walden Books (now Borders Express) and then ending up working for Dallas School District. While working at the school a friend of mine introduced me to Ian. I had no idea that we would end up liking each other a whole lot more than she had intended us to....and just around 2 years later we were married! We lived in a dinky little apartment (around 400 sq ft) in Salem for the first year, then I got a job at our church, and my boss asked us if we would like to rent his basement out as an apartment. So we moved into a basement that is approx. 3x as big as our apartment was (I just checked and that Salem apartment is currently for rent....in case you were wondering). We got a cat. I started blogging. We took my first trip to the East Coast. Life is good!

So which decade was the best?

I have to agree with Jen. This was the best decade ever!