Jen, a wonderful mother in the midst of submitting their dossier to adopt from Ukraine tagged me. Not a huge fan of the typical meme, I was excited to take this walk down memory lane.
15 years ago I was just eighteen years old. During this exact time, I was making some very important decisions about my life. I had just met John, and was trying to break off my relationship to my then boyfriend of five years. My dilemma.... did I want to stay in an emotionally,verbally and sometimes physically abusive relationship or did I want to date a nice, honest, hardworking, family loving, what I then defined to be a total dork of a guy? In a whirlwind romance, I ended up eloping in Tahoe just two and a half months after dating my husband, we became pregnant just eight months later.
10 years ago I was twenty-three years old with three children. Finally a Christian, I was beginning to spread my wings and get involved in our church. I took on the coordinator position of our church's mother's group....... and we broke away from Mops. It was wonderful to be a part of an amazing ministry that is still doing well today.
5 years ago I was twenty-eight years old and very pregnant. Just days away from giving birth in our own home, I am sure I was nesting like crazy.
3 years ago I was thirty years old and the new mother of two Russian daughters, Anna and Sveta. I was experiencing post-adoption depression, my home was in the midst of a major renovation and I felt totally overwhelmed. I remember standing in one of my kids' bedroom where there had been a fair amount of water damage from a rain storm just balling with three of my sisters in Christ hovered around me. Praise God, my depression only lasted a week or two but it will forever be a reminder how easy it is to succumb and slip into a pit of self-pity when things get tough. I now remember to not only go to my Lord when things are bad, but to praise him and express thanks when things are going well.
1 year ago, I was thirty-two years old and the mother of ten wonderful children. It is right around then that we decided to begin the adoption of a little boy from Ukraine. During this time, I also realized that my passion was to help people struggling with adoption issues and began working more and more with families needing help with bonding, discipline, adopting, and or disrupting.
Today, I spent a leisurely Saturday at home with five of my children while my husband took the other six to a water park. For dinner, I took them to McDonald's and we ate off the dollar menu. Later, I enjoyed listening to my kids share what an awesome time they had riding the water slides.
Tomorrow we will take 15 kids to church at 9:30 am----- four of them just friends. I will come home and make lunch and hopefully sneak in a short nap on the couch when Dennis goes down for his. At night, I will sinfully indulge myself and watch the season premiere of Desperate Housewives while hopefully eating a bowl of ice-cream.
I tag everyone who reads Smiles and Trials. Enjoy your own walk down memory lane.
18 comments:
i'm not blogging so i won't really do this the "right way," but i've got a condensed version...
*15 years ago i was 7 and loving every minute of living with my mom & grandpa - he spoiled us rotten and he wasn't exactly poor so we got to do things most of my friends didn't.
*10 years ago i was 12 and in the middle of middle school - making straight A's and loving gymnastics more than ever. the gym was my life, gymnastics was my world, and i was so happy in it.
*5 years ago I was 17 and starting treatments for CDH, as well as choosing a college (Cedarville University, a Christian college in a cornfield).
*3 years ago the treatments nearly killed me. God saved me through a miracle even the hospital staff couldn't deny.
*1 year ago I was doing exactly what I'm doing now, only the treatments are much more intense. Last year I didn't know what I was about to face though, as I'm now facing the strong possibility of 2 brain surgeries in the VERY near future.
even looking back on what can be hard times, i remember the good that has come from them as well. thanks. :-)
- michelle
I think choosing the "total dork" was a very smart thing you did 15 years ago!
Fun! Thanks for sharing. I'm glad to know I'm not the only mom who feels overwhelmed, and I don't even have my new children home yet! Thanks for your honesty and for sharing that you got through the depression!
Totally off topic but I would love to hear what your family have been/is/plan to do to off set the rising cost of EVERYTHING. I am curious in case there is something you are doing that I could start doing. I saw where someone posted this on a ttc site. A few ideas have been helpful. You seem to really have it together.
What a cool meme! I may have to give this one a try later on this week.
I am also trying to remember to praise the Lord through the good times and not seek him out only when things are rough!
Thanks for sharing a snapshot of your prior life. Pretty fun to learn a bit more about some of the blogging friends I follow faithfully.
I love stopping by your blog every day or two. Just the photos alone are a joy!
I have to agree wtih Priscilla. Always go for the dork. I am very happy with mine;) (Although they don't seem so dorky later on, do they??)
I too, will be indulging in ice cream and home made peach pie (peaches from our yard, Yummy) and watching desperate housewives.... Can't wait!!!!!!! As an adoptive mom I so love reading your blog and have absolutely fallen in love with Dennis. Thanks for being such a dedicated blogger and mother.
Ok Christine, now you have to go read my walk down memory lane.
Wow the super Big Family once. God is site
Hi Sis, good meme.. a little bittersweet, but I enjoyed reading yours, and posting mine. :-)
How did it go getting 15 kids to church??
I did it too...fun.
McCain/Palin 08' ROCKSS
Wow. Thanks for the window into your life!
*15 years ago, we were enduring a homestudy and preparing for a domestic adoption,probably open through our adoption agency. I was teaching third grade and busy parenting our then 15 year old.
*10 years ago, we were enduring a homestudy for a Russian adoption that turned into a Ukrainian adoption. Wildly chasing a three year old around and parenting her big sister,away at college.
*5 years ago, 2003 we'd recently come back from Ukraine after a visit to meet some of our son's birthfamily and taking our eight year old and six year old to England. A vacation that was four days too long! I would probably not have had too much time to blog because of all the grading papers and making up unique,exciting lesson plans.
*3 years ago, we were beginning to plan our daughter's wedding. I would still be grading papers and making up lesson plans. Plus, dealing with whatever behavior our son had going on in second grade.
*1 year ago, we were remodeling the house we're in now. I was cursing all the rocks in the "hill country" and volunteering in my children's schools as a gainfully unemployed stay at home mom.
*today, I spent the afternoon arranging to become a teacher again for a classroom of one, my son.
*tomorrow, I will be working on unique, exciting lesson plans. The extreme chocolate ice cream in the freezer is at grave risk!
I'm not ruffruffitsmealex, that's my son but I'm too lazy and tired to log out and retype all of the above. It's me Jeri from http://withlovefromsumy.blogspot.com/
beemommy58@gmail.com (a new email addy ...christine, you already have my regular one)
Thanks so much for sharing your walk down memory lane. I have to agree with the others that choosing the "dork" was a smart choice. And you did it at 18!! Sadly, I am a bit hard headed, and it took me until I was 35 to do the same, and then two more years until we married!! It was also nice to know you went through some post adoption depression. I did as well last fall and really didn't have anyone else to turn to that I thought would understand.
How fun to read! Although I have to admit, I did not know what meme was. I guess I still do not know exactly what it is:) Anyway,I miss you guys lots and always look forward to catching up on your blog! xoxoxo for all.
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