We plan, God laughs.

You know how there's a theory that everyone has a twin in the world? Well, I've yet to find another person who looks like me, but I have found my twin of sorts.

I’m talking about my darling friend Jess.

The two of us, we were separated at birth. We have no doubt about this. Our morals, our passions, our wants in life, our humor, our everything. Seriously, we have so much in common. It's slightly freaky. And I hope nothing changes on that fateful day where the two of us are able to morph into real life friends and not just blog friends.

The other day, she tagged an award to me:



The rules for the award are simple: say where I think I will be 10 years from now.

Copying Jess, I’ll start with where I was 10 years ago.

July 2000, I was 13 and getting ready to start my 8th grade year. I was excited to finish being at the same school with the same people for the past 8 years and was ready to move on to high school. I was babysitting up a storm and enjoying summer—swimming in the backyard and catching lightning bugs at night. In my young, naïve mind, I would proudly claim, “I want to get married right after I graduate college and have 6 kids that I can be a stay-at-home-mom to.”

Fast forward to July 2010 and I’m a 23-year-old college grad living back at home with no boyfriend, no kids, and no desire to ever be a stay-at-home-mom (I have no doubt my kids would hate me if I were). The only things that haven’t changed are I still babysit and swim in the backyard. Wow. How pathetic!

Obviously my life hasn’t gone as I had planned when I was a youngin’. Shocking? Hardly. But I’m glad I’m not married or a parent. I’m still so young and so inexperienced. There’s a whole world I want to see before I venture those two roads.

I wish I could say I’ve learned not to plan out my life at all, but I’d be lying. However, my plans have become a lot more open-ended.

Ten years from now, I will be 33 (Um, gross.). Maybe I’ll be married, maybe not. It’s not a secret that I’m not totally sold on the idea of marriage. Deep down, I know it’s what I want (hello, I have my entire wedding planned), but having never been in a serious relationship, it’s an incomprehensible idea at this time. But by golly, I better have had at least a boyfriend within the next damn decade!

Maybe I’ll be a mom in 10 years, maybe not. I’ve said for years that if I am not in a serious relationship by the time I am 30, I will move forward with plans to become a single mother. Whether I use a sperm donor, go the adoption route, or become a foster parent, I don’t know. But I hope by the time I’m 33, my desire/want/longing/need to be a mother has been fulfilled.

Maybe I’ll be living in Indiana, maybe not. I know I want to move away for a few years, but I wouldn’t mind raising a family here. Life in the Midwest is something I think everyone should experience. I can’t explain it, but it’s just different. Of course, I’d prefer the weather of the south or west, but Indiana isn’t so bad.

The only certainty I can give about where I’ll be 10 years from now is that I will have RN behind my name! But again, what area? What state? What hospital? Will I still be at my first place of employment?

Oh, the questions.

No matter where I am 10 years from now, I just hope I can honestly say that I am happy. As long as I have a career I love and family and friends by my side, I don’t see how I could be anything but.

*I’m supposed to tag this to people, but I’d really like to hear where all of you think/hope/want to be 10 years from now. You don’t have to accept the award, as I know many of you don’t, but just accept the challenge—to let us get a peek into your dreams.*



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Comments

Big Fat Gini said…
It's true. Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans. Because, ten years ago if you'd asked me where I'd be...there's NO way I would have said, "living my life as a stay-at-home mom to four boys, three of them born within a year of each other."

Ten years from now though...
I'll have a 20 year old, a 14 year old and twin 13 year olds. I hope that we'll still be in this tiny little town, still enjoying our time with some of our favorite friends and enjoying each others company. I hope that I've written a side-splittingly funny book (or two) and that my heart will be full of happy and funny memories.
Denise said…
I hope that in 10 years I will have financial stability and a family. If I can not achieve that when I am 41...well, I don't even want to know the other side!

I never would have dreamed that 10 years ago, I would be where I am now. Life sometimes twists things around.

Good Luck!
Merri Ann said…
In my 20's, if you would have told me I wouldn't have kids until my 40's I would not have believed you. I was the only one of 5 kids who always wanted a big family. My sisters never wanted to have kids. At 28 I made a deal with myself ... If I'm not married by the time I'm 30 I'm going to have kids on my own.

But in my perfectionist way I had to make sure I had everything just right ... and somewhere along the way I met my husband. Never did I imagine we would not be able to conceive for 10 years. But such is life ... I have 3 amazing kiddos and an equally amazing husband ... so the wait was totally worth it.

(and now that I'm back in California I can totally use the words "totally" and "dude" again)

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