13 years ago...

Sorry Ween..... You're a part of this story too.

I have a number of pictures from this day 13 years ago, but I selected this one because the person I'm with is the one who I started the day with (at approximately 12:01am dancing in a club in LA) and who I felt would be the most ok with this picture.  I've got a throwback instagram image coming for some of you ladies and hopefully you won't kill me :).

13 years ago today I was living in Santa Monica, working as a waitress and trying to be a famous singer.  I was successful in waiting tables, having fun, and creating great memories.  You may realize by now that you haven't seen my album on iTunes.   The famous singer thing was not meant to be, but I did get a chance to try for it, so I look at the whole experience as an educational and humbling "win"'.  13 years ago one of my best friends took her LSAT.  She scored very well, and successfully completed that difficult hurdle, and so, a group of us decided to go out and celebrate her success.  We happened upon a popular restaurant (that is mostly a bar if I'm honest) to celebrate and enjoy a wonderful, sunny Saturday in Newport Beach. 

There are a million other story lines that are a part of this day. The lives of everyone else that was there, how they've changed, wonderful milestones that have happened (among the crowd we were with there have been 5 marriages that have occurred, one engagement/soon-to-be marriage, multiple homes purchased, job promotions, business openings and 6 kids).  It has been a fruitful and exciting 13 years, with no end of fun in sight.  Of course there have been heartbreaks, job losses, struggles, uncertainties, and more drama than many of us would prefer, but the time that has elapsed has been FULL!  I look back now, at the faces from the pictures that we took with our hand held cameras (not our phones) and remember the hope, the uncertainty and the precipice of something else that was in the air that day.  Because that day, I met the guy in the yellow hat that ended up changing my life, my husband. 

I changed his life too, and together we've been comic relief, a cautionary tale, and overall entertainment for ourselves and our friends and family.  The girl in the picture is absolutely totally me and also just a mere seed of who I am now.  I still love to sing, being a mother to two kids allows me to continuously hone my waitressing skills and I still love being with friends and having a good adventure.  Reflecting back, on this day, THAT long ago, I just laugh.  And wonder.  At how much a life can change, how much a person can grow, and how I truly had no idea what was in store for me that day.  What has followed has varied from totally and completely unpredictable to somewhat expected and there are parts I would skip, but overall, I'd totally do it all over again.  Because the surprise of the ride has been pretty awesome.