Best of the 00s - Life changes

I toyed around with doing ten posts of each year this decade and then I started to outline the years and what happened and well, some was sorta on the depressing side so I scraped that idea and decided to focus on the most awesome moments of the 2000s in order to keep the post in a positive light. So, here goes with the life changes in this decade.

Bought my first house

In 2001, I bought my first house for a $83,000. To some, $83K for a house is a lot of money and well, people here in Oregon think that is pretty cheap. My Aksarben Dollhouse was 900 square feet, 2 bedrooms with three season porch. It was the perfect home for a single gal, was close to the road biking trails (one summer I biked 800 miles on those trails and I had a rocking body to boot) and centrally located. I had many good and bad times in that house. Once a raccoon woke me up in the middle of the night. Good thing my boyfriend at the time was over and ejected it from my house. I spent months trying to find the perfect house and it was perfect, until I tried to sell it in 2005 (it took six months to sell after an offer fell through).

Changed careers

In 2002, after 9/11 -- the tech bubbled happened. I unfortunately worked for an online city magazine and in April 2002 they informed up that by January we would all be out of jobs. I had worked at Cox Interactive since 1998 (Cox Enterprises since 1997) and loved my co-workers. So, I started looking for a job in public relations which was a shift from being a content developer. I landed a job in July 2002 at the Nebraska Food Bank and I loved it.





















[caption id="" align="alignright" width="448" caption="Drake Park in the spring"][/caption]



Moved to Bend

I never intended to move to Bend, OR -- it just happened. I often hear folks say that it just happened and I can relate because it did just happened for me. I had visited my friend in 2000 and really dug the town. In 2003, I decided that after some experience under my belt in public relations/fundraising/marketing I would look into moving. Nothing was keeping me in Nebraska and I felt that it was time to spread my wings. My cousin lived in New York City but that was too big for me but I also liked Chicago as well. Minneapolis was also a contender but when I decided to visit Bend in 2003, I knew Oregon and I were destine to be good ole pals. My decision to move did shock my family and friends but in the end, I loaded up my Saturn and cat Zach in February 2004 and headed West on a two day drive to Bend, Oregon.



















[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="240" caption="Arizona trip 2005"][/caption]



Met my husband and got married

If you were to tell me that I would move to Oregon and end up married 18 months later, I would laugh at you. I wasn't planning on getting married. After many failed relationships, I just gave up on it. I had heard about this "Slider" character from my friend Greg as they once were roommates and I'm pretty sure I talked to him on the phone when I called to chat it up with Greg. Then on July 4, 2003 this joker rides up on a tricycle.  That joker was my future husband, Brian.  We got to talking and he said he could help me find some job leads and gave me his email address to keep in touch. As the months went by emails turned into phone calls and with Brian moving to Omaha for a bit. In the end, it all worked out and we got married.

















[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Sharing my Youtube addiction with Ben. "][/caption]



I had a baby -- didn't you know?

In October 2007, I woke up feeling awful. The room was spinning and I was horribly motion sick when we'd drive anywhere. I went out and bought a pregnancy test and sure enough, I was going to have a baby. At eight weeks, I had an ultrasound and got to hear "Lilbergers" heartbeat.  (ok, side note -- read that post -- the best things to happen to me in 2007 was a Wilco show at Edgefield and being knocked up. What low standards I have? I'm sure that year was full of amazing things. I did, however, yell to Jeff Tweedy when I was drunk "BREEDLOVE" and "IF I GET KNOCKED UP TONIGHT I'M EITHER NAMING MY KID JEFF OR GLENN"). Anyway, on January 17 we found out we were having a boy and on May 23, Lil B came three weeks early.  Life has definitely changed for the better as he's the cutest lil guy in the whole world.

OK, so there you have it for life changing events. Next up, my favorite concerts of the past decade.  But for now, enjoy this photo of Lil B and mommy.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="180" caption="two days old"][/caption]