Holy smokes! I can't believe that I turned 30 this year!!!! I just got done writing my 2018 year in review blog, and it got me thinking that I ended an ERA this year! I've been thinking ever since my birthday that I wanted to write a "20's in Review" type of blog and show case what I did in my 20's. I am incredibly happy with my twenties and I really feel like I made the best out of it. I am not sure how another decade could possibly top this one.
My 20's started out at BGSU with this girl right here! We had an amazing two years together as roommates and I treasure that time that we had with each other. Looking back, I feel like BG was one of the best decisions that I ever made, and I honestly... I went there without a whole lot of research or knowledge... Hannah said she was going there, so I pretty much went too. Initially I was thinking about majoring in criminal justice?!?! No clue why I was headed in that direction...but on my first day on campus I toured the business college and they had a t-shirt they were passing out with stats about how easy it was to get a job in supply chain management, and I immediately applied and got accepted into the business school. How lucky I was that program was so good at BG and that I happened to stumble upon it!
These pictures were our every Friday and Saturday night regular pics all through the years that I went to BG. Love these girls. We had so many good times!
I was so busy in college. I was working like no other to build up my resume. I joined all kinds of student organizations and got leadership roles in them. There were days, where I was so busy in college that I literally had to schedule time to fit going to the bathroom into my day! But of all the organizations that I was in, I have to say that the American Marketing Association probably had the biggest impact on me. For one, they encouraged me to go to the job fair as a freshmen and get an interview anywhere that I could (which resulted in me getting my internship at Sea World), and I got to go Nashville, New York City, and New Orleans for the first and only times so far with this group.
Speaking of getting that internship at Sea World... that was probably one of the best things that's ever happened to me. I absolutely fell in love with Orlando, and I had the best summer of my life that year. I had a season pass to Disney World and I got into Universal Studios and a bunch of attractions in Florida for free. I loved living down there.
This Orlando trip was also our first ever family vacation. It was also the only time the 3 of us have ever traveled somewhere together.
I ended up going back to Orlando over New Years with my cousin Hannah and Uncle Mike. I have to say that New Year's Eve at the Magic Kingdom was unlike anything that I've ever seen. It truly felt magical to be there. It was super crowded that day, but we got there early and had fastpasses for stuff, so I don't remember it being too bad.
The next summer in 2009, I decided to work at Cedar Point... which was probably one of my worst summers. I worked from open to close almost every night (like around 80+ hours a week). I think that experience taught me that I never want to work hours like those again, and that's kind of stuck with me as I've looked into future job opportunities.
In the summer of 2009, dad and I went on our first trip together to Maine. We had a really good bonding time that trip and had a lot of fun together.
In August 2009, I wrote out my bucket list... or really a list of things that I wanted to accomplish in my life. You can not believe how powerful that list was. My philosophy is that if you never think about what you want, you're never going to get there. Life doesn't happen by chance. You need to know what you want and then work to make it happen. Every year I find a way to cross off a new item on my list, and knowing what I want to do helped drive my actions and allowed me to find opportunities for myself. If I had never sat down and thought about what I wanted, I don't think I would have done half the things that I have. I would highly encourage everyone to make their own list.
My spring semester in 2010 was probably one of the most significant of my life. I made a major decision to study abroad. BG was trying out a new location in Aberdeen, Scotland and this spring semester was the first group to try it out to see if they would stick with this new location or not. It was just one other girl (Jessie) and I going there. We had no info on what it'd be like or anything... just took a big leap of faith and went. I won't lie... Jessie and I talked the next day after we arrived... and we both cried in our rooms that first night, but after that we had the best semester of our lives! Also, I might add that this trip is when I started writing my blog!
The drinking age in Scotland was 18, so for the first time I was legal to drink. I had my first ever Malibu and coke there and fell in love with the drink. It's still my favorite drink to this day.
Jessie and I, ended up becoming friends and we met a couple other people as well. My group did end up traveling on weekend trips with each other and we went around Scotland and England together. However, our school had a month long spring break and I didn't have anyone that really wanted to do the same traveling that I wanted to do, so I ended up joining a Cosmo tour group that had a 28 day tour of Europe. On that tour group, I ended up making friends with some great people from Australia, who I still even talk with on Facebook sometimes... Here is a list of all the places that I went to while I studied abroad.... these are just the major places, there are a lot of small places that I couldn't list out.
I went to London...
Amsterdam
Switerland
Venice
Verona and Pisa
Rome
The Vatican! (St. Peter's is the most unbelievable/majestic site that I have ever seen)
The French Rivera
Monte Carlo
Barcelona and Madrid
Paris
Stone Hedge
Edinburgh
I kissed the Blarney stone in Ireland
I saw the Cliffs of Moher
I went to Loch Ness
Studying abroad was the scariest and best thing that I ever did. I felt like I learned so much about the world and myself during this trip. I felt like my views on the world were extremely expanded, and I'm forever a traveler after this experience. I am a huge advocate of people experiencing this at least once.
After I got back from Scotland, it wasn't long until I was back in Orlando. I just so happened to be going to Orlando during the grand opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter... which was an absolutely dream come true! I was so in my nerd element there. I think that my obsession with Harry Potter is being left out a bit in this blog, because that was really a huge part of my TEENS not my Twenties... but STILL! I loved Harry Potter and this was incredible.
The APICS club at school had a conference in Vegas, and people that signed up got to go for the weekend for free! So I was like heck ya... sign me up! I got to go to Vegas for the first time for free and I stayed at the Wynn. I was really good in college at finding free/really cheap trips to take. I liked to say that I was good at finding opportunities for myself. This is the only time that I had been to Vegas without Cody, but I feel like I saw so little on this trip that it ALMOST didn't count...almost!
I caught the Orlando bug! That New Years I convinced my mom to come to Orlando with me! This was our first trip alone together. We were at the Magic Kingdom again on New Years Eve.
In 2011, I was working at Bendix in Elyria, Ohio for a 9 month internship. I went on an online dating site, plentyoffish.com and met my future husband! I actually found Cody's profile the first night that I went on the site and I messaged him. The rest they say... is history. Here is our first picture together.
That summer was my first trip to Hancock. Look how little Kelsie was back then!
That fall, Cody and I went on our FIRST trip to Vegas!
Cody turned me into a North Carolina fan. Here we are at the only in person game that we've been to so far.
In 2012, I had to finish up my last year at BG. I had my first ever own little one bedroom apartment and Cody and I switched off between visiting each other every weekend.
After working for 9 months and living at home during my internship, I saved up enough money to buy a new car! First car I ever bought was my 2011 Ford Fiesta. I had that car for the next 6 and half years.
Cody and I went on our first cruise together during my spring break! We went on the Carnival Legend and our minds were blown with how much we liked cruising! We were totally broke kids back then and only had the basics... but we had a lot of fun together.
In May 2012, after 5 years, (because of double majoring, studying abroad, and having a 9 month internship) I finally graduated BGSU with a Bachelors in Business Administration specializing in Supply Chain Management and Finance. I had already secured my first job choice which was a rotation program at Swagelok that I was going to start in June.
Right after I graduated, Cody and I moved into a 3 bedroom bungalow in North Olmsted. We ended up renting this place for a year before moving into our home. This place was a nice place for us to start out together, but we both knew that we didn't want to stay there for very long.
In early May, I went on a 10 day trip with my dad to China! I had a dream of seeing China and climbing the Great Wall. So after some convincing, I talked dad into coming with me. It was definitely the best trip that we ever went on together and we loved China. It was so interesting and different. I mean it was soooo completely different than anything that I had seen in Europe. And I am very proud to say that I did climb to the top of the great wall.
Cody surprised me with a trip to Niagara Falls for my graduation present over Memorial Day weekend in 2012.
We went back to Vegas with each other, and we realized that we lived and traveled with each other really well.
Towards the end of 2012, we started casually looking at houses. We were paying $850 a month out in rent, and interest rates were at a historic low... so the market was really good to buy a house. But at first we were only theoretically looking. Well... we ended up getting a deal with Ryan Homes that was too good to pass up on, and we built our house! The process was long, but we were remarkably in sync on almost all the decisions surrounding the house. We both wanted the same things, so it made it pretty easy to do it together.
We signed the paper work our house at the end of March, and then officially moved in on April 7th, 2013. I have to say that building our house was probably one of our biggest accomplishments of my twenties. I really love our house and I'm so thankful that we were able to pull it off when we did. We had a great year of family visiting us, passing out Halloween candy for the first time, and hosting family events that first year. The one event that we didn't host was Christmas time... because we did squeak a trip in...
Cody proposed to me in Vegas on 12/23/13 in front of the Bellagio fountains (which is our spot). He took me to a fancy steakhouse and completely surprised me with the proposal. I was so excited and happy!!
After staying in Vegas for a few days, we drove to LA. We really didn't love California. There was a lot of traffic, and something about it... we weren't really all that excited to head back to LA anytime soon. But we DID love our tour of Warner Brothers.
In January of 2014 we became parents! We adopted our two boys from Stay a While Cat Shelter down the road from us. We love our Dex and Cosmo so much. They are just the best boys ever, and they were the best choice that we made. They give us so much love and joy.
Well... maybe I have to take my comment about our cats being the best decision we ever made back... because in February of 2014 we decided to buy our vacation club and that has truly been amazing for us! We have been to so many places using this program and I feel like we will for a long time in the future as well. We are so lucky that this was the first time share pitch that we had been to, because it just made so much sense for us.
We spent soooo much time in 2014 planning our wedding! I truly feel like that was our main hobby that year! We interviewed so many vendors and looked at so many locations. It was truly a process.
And then we went to Fort Lauderdale with Hannah and Kyle over New Years. Looking back... I realize that we traveled a lot over New Years in the beginning of our relationship haha.
2015 was the year of our wedding!! We spent so much time planning and getting ready for our wedding, and I have to say... that it's currently the best day of my life to date. We had such a perfect day and we were so happy with everything.
We went on the Norwegian Escape for our honeymoon and splurged for a aft balcony room, and it was INCREDIBLE! We had such a great time! This cruise solidified us as cruise people.
The one sad part about 2015, was that we lost my grammy. I was always very close with my grandma and I was really sad that she didn't get to make it to my wedding.
Back to Vegas in the fall of 2015... our favorite time of the year in Vegas. You can tell that Vegas is our repeating pattern. I keep saying every year that we aren't going back, but then Cody knows just the phrase to say to make me want to go. I'm sticking firm though... Vegas is not a place for children so I guess we can live it up now while we can...
In 2016, I got Cody to come with me to his first trip to Orlando. Cody doesn't love Orlando as much as I do, but he does love Florida and there is enough to do in Orlando that I think he was entertained and enjoyed our trip.
In 2016, I decided to leave my job at Swagelok for a new job at 3M. I was so ready for a change and I really love my new job. So, I really have no regrets switching. I hope that I have my job at 3M for a really long time.
Cody won the trip of life trip through Draft Kings! He won an all expense paid vacation for both of us to stay in Dallas and attend a Dallas Cowboys game in a suite! It was an incredible experience and it's not something that will probably ever happen to us again!
In 2016, I started getting into photography, and I finally got a DSLR camera. Sam was my first model.
2016 was the first time that we traveled to Vegas with my mom. It was actually the first time that we'd been in Vegas with someone else.
2017 was a year of traveling for us! We first went on the Carnival Vista...
Then a few months later we went on the Norwegian Escape... (we were supposed to go on this cruise at the end of 2016, but because I changed jobs we had to delay it until 2017).
Then we went to Maui for almost two weeks (we did do a lay over in Vegas on the way there and back). I mean... we couldn't have had a better travel year than 2017. It was an incredible travel year. Cody and I were really living life to the fullest that year!
This was the year that I really started getting into Photography. I took a class with the Cleveland Photographic Society and I learned how to use my camera. I really enjoy photography more and more. Believe it or not, I used to be really bad at taking pictures... in my early twenties... during college, I took almost NO pictures. When I graduated I realized that this was a travesty and I started getting dedicated and making sure that I was taking pictures. Now I'm kind of laughed at as "that person" that always takes the pictures, but now I can't help it... I just feel the urge to do it. And I must say that I am pleased by the quantity and quality of pictures that I have now.
I even started taking pictures for some friends and family... I was able to take Christmas pictures for Shawn and Katelynn.
I took Becky and Bobby's engagement pictures...
I was able to capture this sweet moment during Hannah and Kyle's gender reveal...
And I was able to take pictures for my neighbors. This picture of them was taken about a year before she died. :(
2017 was the year of my 10 year high school reunion!
2018... the last year of my 20's... We went on our annual Vegas trip, but this time we brought both of our mothers. It was nice to be able to take them and not have to charge them for the room that we were staying in.
We went on the Allure of the Seas Royal Caribbean cruise. I'm not going to lie... a big motivation of me wanting to go on this ship was so that I could write my blog comparing the best ships of Carnival, Norwegian, and Royal Caribbean... We did love this cruise though, I might even like Royal Caribbean more than Norwegian.
I got my "big girl" car in 2018. It is a full size car and is soooo much more spacious than my previous car. My Ford Fiesta started having some issues, and we wanted to upgrade anyway... so we got rid of it and got the Hyundai Sonata.
Our trip to Myrtle Beach was full of friends and nice weather. You can't really complain about that.
(classic pic of me with my eyes closed, because in 80% of pics that are taken of me, my eyes are closed...) I really have to thank my parents for all the help and guidance that they have given me over the years, because I am really happy with how my 20's turned out. I would say that my 20's were exactly what I wanted them to be. It was FULL of traveling and seeing the world. Cody and I have been together for about 7 and 1/2 years during my 20's, so obviously he was a huge part of my 20's. I'm really proud that I was able to graduate college and get a good job straight out of school. I'm proud that I've never had any issues with the law or anything such as that. I'm happy that we were able to build our house, and that we are pretty well established and secure. Cody and I have a good relationship, and I like how we manage our money and I really appreciate that we both want the same things in life, and I'm appreciative that our wedding was the best day of both of our lives. Honestly, I feel like I'm basically right where I want to be at the end of my 20's... minus not having a baby. I kind of thought that I'd have a baby by 30, and I'm a little bummed that we don't. But I do have to say that I wouldn't be heartbroken if I could say that my 20's were more about me and that my 30's were more about my kids. I can only hope that my 30's are as good as my 20's. I don't know how I could ever hope to top my 20's... I have a feeling that I'm going to look back and see that as the best decade of my life. But I sure am going to try to prove myself wrong.
