1. Came into this world with copper red hair and moved to the town where I grew up.
2. Discovered a love of music and an irrational fear of showers and car washes. (As I got older, the love grew and the fear thankfully disappeared.)
3. A series of very good things: parents divorced, moved back into the house where I would grow up, and learned to speak English at day care.
4. I had enough pennies because I saved them, thank you very much.
5. Had the best day care teacher ever, who taught and challenged me to read 100 books.
6. Helped my friends learn to read.
7. Started school and loved it.
8. Making and keeping friends was more complicated than I had thought.
9. Visited my grandmother in Germany for the first time and traveled to Majorca.
10. Got straight A's and was then challenged to maintain those marks.
11. Mom opened her own real estate office and introduced me to the world of business.
12. Got really good at shooting hoops.
13. Inspired by Gordon Korman, I wrote my first book! (My book is still in my filing cabinet, though.)
14. Started high school and was a little less bored.
15. 3-1/2 week tour of Europe with my mom.
16. If you like technology and you're good at math and science, you could get a full scholarship - hell, yeah, I'll become an Engineer!
17. Growing up in a small, rural town made getting my driver's license and first car a major step forward for my independence.
18. It was all about graduating high school and moving on.
19. Moved across the country and started University.
20. Decided that no matter how hard I studied, I wasn't going to have the same marks I had in high school, so I would try having a life instead.
21. Fell in love, or at least I thought so at the time.
22. Got work (school)/life balance right and succeeded at both... at least until graduation.
23. Moved to Toronto and started my first job, which is still influencing me today.
24. Discovered physical chemistry with a young man who treated me like his queen.
25. 154 hours of overtime in the snowiest January Toronto had ever seen - time to go find my fame and fortune elsewhere.
26. Moved to California, where I started my second job, and rediscovered work/life balance for awhile.
27. Went back to school and truly appreciated it.
28. Fatefully fell in love with the man who became my husband.
29. Learned to ignore the "shoulds" while planning the wedding.
30. Got married, changed jobs, moved back to Canada and was part of something that can be found in the Guinness Book of World records.
31. Traveled the world while trying to focus on buying and settling in our first home.
32. Joined the video game industry and rebuilt my professional confidence.
33. Really learned what being a manager is all about... the hard way.
34. Separation knocked me on my butt, but I still moved to Montreal for me.
35. Properly dated my husband for the entire year and learned to understand him a lot better.
36. A few months of being Mrs. Awesome, both professionally and personally.
37. Patiently trying to make the best out of difficult situations.
38. Making progress... and it's Batman!
39. Year #25 redux, but stuck around.
40. Proved what I've been preaching, then spent a month in Australia to celebrate!
Not bad for only one sentence per year. I'll come back about once a year and update this.
