22 Years Later...
Hello LiveJournal World!
I'm not going to lie, I forgot that LiveJournal existed. If it wasn't for that email I received yesterday saying "Happy 22nd Anniversary" I wouldn't have even thought about it. Kind of like I haven't thought about it since my last post in 2008. Since that email I fell into a LiveJournal rabbit hole and have been reading all of my posts since the very beginning. It's most interesting to see all of the references to objects and internet things that don't even exist anymore. Anyone still use a boombox? Or IM people on AOL? It's been a fun 24 hours of remembering some of the fun times I had in HS and College, along with the friends that I had (most I don't talk to or even know what happened to) back then. Mostly I've been intrigued by how much I went through in my teenage years and how much things have changed since then.
How about a little 22 years later update?!
Since my last post in 2008 talked about my living situation and love life let's start there. Currently I'm living in the Florida Panhandle. I moved away from Michigan in 2016. I moved to New Jersey where we (I'll get to the 'we' in a moment) lived until 2020 when we moved to Florida. If you knew me when I started this you will know how much I loved Florida and how happy I am to be living here now. The craziest part of it all is that my whole family now lives here. My parents and my sisters (and their families) all live here as of a couple years ago. We don't live close to each other right now but I'm hopeful that when my husband (still going to get to that) retires from the Air Force we will be able to move closer to them.
Now onto my love life! As I mentioned I'm married but not to the person that I was with in my last journal. I'm married to the absolute love of my life, Jason. We've known each other since I was 15 (the age I started this thing) and have always been in and out of contact. When my life took a crazy turn and things were looking grim, he was going through a dark time too. We started back up again talking and never stopped. We got each other through some of the worst things and came out on the other side together and in love. We got married in December of 2016 and have been together since. He is my forever. So for anyone reading this that thinks that things are as bad as they can be and there is nothing that can fix it...don't give up. The bad things are always followed by the best things.
Next up...I'm a mom! In all of my old quizzes when it asked if "You want kids in the future" I always answered "I don't know". At the time I was a kid and I really didn't know. Turns out that I did. I fully believe that being a mom is what I was meant to do. I had Morgan not long after I stopped journaling in 2008. She's now 15 (the same age that I was when I started this) which is crazy to me. It doesn't feel like she should be that old already. I mean how am I that old already? She was reading through some of my journals from when I was her age and decided to start her own. She wants to single handedly make LJ popular again! Wish her luck and follow her (MosieB). She is a lot like me when I was that age but less annoying. I also have a son, Cainan, that just turned 12. He's my awesome little buddy. He's super into soccer, a straight A student in honors classes, and probably the goofiest most loving kid. They're absolutely amazing and I'm so grateful to have them in my life. I've been lucky enough to be able to be a stay-at-home mom which is what I'm doing now.
I think that my past self would be a little shocked with how things have turned out for us. This isn't the life that we had thought we would lead, but being the one that's living it, I couldn't be happier with how things have turned out. Life has been a crazy journey of ups and downs, and more ups and more downs. But Past Jackie we've made it through all of that and are thriving and living the best life that we possibly could be. We are stronger than we thought and love harder than we ever have. We have found the right people to surround ourself with and have learned and grown from our mistakes. I don't think that we could have asked for more.
That being said, this is a really long post but that's not surprising when it's been 22 years. I don't know what the future holds for me and LiveJournal. Maybe I will continue to use this, or maybe this will be it? I am curious if any of my old "friends" will end up reading this. I wonder what they've all been up to? Has life turned out well for them? If you are reading this let me know! I truly hope that everyone is doing well and that life has been treating you kind.
Be Kind. Be Happy. Love Hard.
<3, Jackie