Upon graduating high school, if you would have told me that at the age of 24, I would be married, a mother of two, and an unemployed college graduate I would have laughed in your face. No, I had plans for my life. I was going to attend Grand Valley State University, major in accounting and graduate in four years. I was then going to get married, get a job, start my masters, and then start to think about having children. Funny how life never seems to go as planned.
I graduated from Eaton Rapids High School June of 2006 ready to conquer the world. That summer I raised enough money to go to Costa Rica for a month on a mission’s trip. It was the first time in my life that I had ever been away from my family. It was the hardest month of my life but I am so happy that I did it because it changed me forever. I met some fantastic people, experienced a whole new culture, grew closer to God, but most of all, I began to establish my independence. I knew that I could start college with a bang.
August 2006, move into college, go to orientation, make one new friend, and decide that I hate my roommate. My first semester of college went nothing like I had planned (maybe a sign of the future). My roommate and I butted heads from the very beginning; clearly there was a flaw in how they matched individuals for rooming. Needless to say, thank God my best friend from high school lived in the dorm complex right behind me because I quickly became friends with her roommate and I hung out with them much of first semester. I will always remember our crazy adventures and Friday night pizza and hockey games. Towards the end of the semester I had met another girl that lived a few rooms down from me that was having the same issue with her roommate so we all talked and I moved out and her roommate moved in and all was happy. Second semester was a little more enjoyable. I started making more friends and I was finally getting that whole college thing down. That semester went fast and next thing I knew it was over and we were saying our goodbyes and planning our living arrangements for next year. I was to live in a townhouse with three other girls. My first place, but first I had to get through the summer.
Summer 2007 I would say is the defining moment of my life. I was working two jobs, 80 hour weeks, 7 days a week. The first half of the summer I literally worked two months in a row. After that long and exhausting two months I went to Las Vegas with my family to celebrate my Grandma and Grandpa Robertson’s 50th wedding anniversary, had a blast, and surprised my family (little miss perfect got a tattoo, eek).
A week later I was asked out by my future husband who worked in the same building as I did at one of my jobs. I didn’t even know that he was asking me out. It was for the fourth of July and I just thought he was having a party and was inviting people from work. I went to my second job and they confirmed it was a date. I went into the date thinking that if anything flourished it would just be a summer fling. He went into it thinking it was going to be a one night’s stand. Boy was both of us wrong. I did not sleep with him on our first date or our second and so on. That just wasn’t who I was but I can say that I quickly fell in love with him and he quickly fell in love with me (or so he says). The day I left for college was so hard for me; I didn’t think I would be leaving the man that I loved so dearly. I had not planned on falling in love the summer of 2007.
In September I got a job working as a night auditor for a hotel in Grand Rapids and that allowed me to go home and visit every other weekend. Then in November, a mere four and half months after our first date, Dan Glaspie asked me to marry him. I obviously said yes. We continued with our long distance relationship until Dan lost his job and we moved in together March 2008. I was always one to believe that a couple should not live together before marriage but boy I am glad we did. It was a rocky first year but somehow we made it through. I continued to go to school and work and Dan found a job that he truly enjoyed. Now, I was also one to believe that a couple should save themselves for marriage but in May 2009, right after I finished my junior year of college I found out I was pregnant. Talk about a shock. My life plans had definitely started to change. I took a year off of school to work, get married, and raise my daughter. On November 13th, 2009, Dan and I had a quick ceremony at the courthouse and then on January 4, 2010, two weeks past her due date, I had my beautiful little girl Ashley. For six months everything seemed to be going well. I had gotten promoted at work and had decided to finish up my last year of school and Dan transferred to another area at work where he was making more money. And then life took yet another turn. Dan ended up losing his job.
So now I am trying to figure out how to cover all of our bills on just my salary and it just wasn’t possible so we moved back to our hometown where Dan worked with his former neighbors on their farm and I went back to my high school job. I, however, decided I had to finish school and chose to drive an hour and half to school at Grand Valley to finish. I finished my first semester back of my senior year and decided to change my major to Finance. Yup, that added another semester. Then May of 2011, I found out I was pregnant with my second child. Was I shocked, yes, surprised, no. November 10th, 2011, I gave birth to my beautiful second daughter, Elizabeth. Did I mention that this was during my last semester of college? Took a quick two weeks off and finished up school and I am proud to say that I graduated with my Bachelors of Business Administration in finance. So where does that leave me now. Well I quit my job a week before Elizabeth was due so I didn’t have a job. I graduated school so I didn’t have school. I guess I am now a stay at home mom … for now. But who knew that at the age of 24 I would be an unemployed college graduate, married, with two kids (Oh, and two step-sons who are almost teenagers!!!).
So how did I come up with the title “How to clean puke out of a pillow pet and other adventures of motherhood”. Simple, my life is what it is because of my children and the stories they provide can make you cry, laugh, smile, think, you name it. So, would I change my life? Absolutely not! For without my children I wouldn’t have these awesome life experiences. Being a mom is just one of my many titles. But boy does that title bring about many stories, the first, cleaning up puke for the 80 billionth time. Enjoy!
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