Ten Decisions

Ten decisions will shape your life. You will be aware of about five of them.
                    - Julian Casablancas

I read this quote the other day and my wheels immediately started turning. What are my ten life-changing decisions? Have I even made them yet? How many were mistakes? Do they count as mistakes if they took me down the path to where I am? There were so many possibilites, so many things that seemed like such a big deal when they were happening - break ups, failures, ending friendships, but maybe they were the little things that led to the big things.

Here's what I think a few of my ten life-shaping decisons were:

Which college I went to - I had a debate scholarship to one school and at the last minute I changed my mind about going to school there. As you might suspect, my parents were THRILLED! Haha! Okay, maybe they weren't, but they WERE supportive. And luckily I had applied to and been accepted to other schools, and I ended up at Southwestern (but only because this one had the lowest tuition rate - since it was June when I decided to attend, there was no financial aid left). Probably the best decision of my life! I made amazing friends, had ridiculously amazing experiences with those friends and as Student Body President, was able to make changes that are still positively affecting students today.

Marrying Erik/into the Military - I was never a person who needed to leave Oklahoma. Many people I've known have said they needed to "get out" (though surprisingly, few have...), but I just never did. Especially during college. I had a plan, man! I wanted to be a political consultant (I still do) and I most definitely had my foot in that door. But, life had other plans... And thank goodness! I can't imagine life if I hadn't ventured outside my "Southern Comfort Zone" (as Brad Paisley so eloquently puts it). That doesn't mean I don't miss it. It's the most incredible place to be from! But I admit, I'm glad I don't live there anymore. There is more to the world than I could have ever imagined, and I never even *wanted* to discover it! Thank you, Erik, for showing me the world! (And asking me to marry you!)

Procreating - I didn't always want to have kids. I used to really dislike kids and I'm not/I wasn't very maternal. Seriously, I never even babysat. I just thought kids were loud, dirty, germy, sassy, and some aren't even cute! But then I met my friend Carmen and got to know her sweet, well mannered kids and I realized that maybe everyone was right, maybe it really was all in the "training". And sure enough....

This is definitely an ongoing conversation in my head. Stay tuned for more posts about this!