2000: Lets see, in 2000 I was 20 and unemployed, and for most of the year still living on the naval base with my ex-husband. In November my father had a stroke that paralyzed half of his body. Not only that but he fell off a roof and hit his head on a metal beam when it happened. It was cut open clear down to the skull.
I was in my apartment on base when I got the call. I cried in the shower, getting dressed, and the whole 4 hour drive home to Maryland to the hospital. Thankfully he fully recovered. It was then that I decided I needed to move back home. He lived alone and I couldn’t bare for something to happen to him while I lived in another state. My ex-husband I were drifting apart quite severely at this time.
This is also the year my mom eloped a deranged man without telling anyone, and that’s when things started blowing up with my sister’s custody trial, which would continue for the next several years.
2001: In April I moved back home, and my cat of 18 years passed away two weeks before I got there. I officially started blogging on a domain called “acoustic-life.com”. And I got rehired for part-time minimum wage (About $5.25/hour) at a Rock and Gem shop that I had worked at before I moved onto the naval base. I don’t think I was there very long, but I think I got a QUARTER raise. A WHOLE QUARTER.
My grandmother also collapsed and later died. We buried her on her birthday. She somewhat resented me I think due to my involvement in my sister’s custody case, which I don’t know if I’ll ever fully get over.
2002: In August 2002 dad was told by his doctor that he had to quit working or he would lose his leg due to the ulcers that were starting to get worse. He quit working that day, and I was unemployed at the time. He applied for Social Security Disability, but it would take 6 months to process before we got the first payment. Later that month I fortunately got hired on at an emergency veterinary hospital at $8/hour, which is what we lived on for the next 6 months.
I also started attending events at the Grove for the first time.
2003: In May of 2003 I got fired from my vet job for falsely being accused of stealing money. They eventually found the real culprit after money continued to be stolen after I was gone. I got a job at another vet but was fired a month later when someone from the previous vet told them why I had been fired. Because I was only there a month, I was also denied unemployment.
This is the year I joined ADF after attending the Grove for a year first and became the Grove’s official webmaster. I also got contacted by a record company about sending in some music, which I never did.
2004: In March I was rehired at the first vet, with an apology, but I quit in June due to my co-workers finding my online journal and it causing a major hassle for me. That same week I got hired at Terminix, however, and it was a huge blessing of independence for me despite how devastated I was about losing my friends at the vet.
I was in 3 bad relationships during the next year or so.
2005: In 2005 I was getting frustrated with my bronco because of all the work it needed, so I decided to try and buy a car. Unfortunately my credit was 525 at the time and I couldn’t find anyone that would give me a loan for one at a non-ridiculous rate. This was my eye-opener about my financial situation.
I opened up my first two credit cards at the beginning of the year to start working on my credit, and they have been my only cards since.
I was used and abused by a guy I met from CoM, but not much later found my sweetheart who I’ve been with ever since and loving it 
2006: In January, Capital One gave me a loan of about $14k which I used to buy my pre-owned 2004 mustang. It still had a warranty on it and was a black manual, which is what I wanted. I was really upset the day I bought it, thinking there was no way I could afford to buy a car. Turns out that I did just fine.
A few things started happening at my job at Terminix that made me start looking elsewhere. That’s when by chance the first job I applied for was the perfect job for my skillset, and got me $10k more a year in salary. And that’s where I’ve been ever since, what a life-saver this job was for me. You really have no clue.
My divorce was also finalized in June. I did it all online, by myself. Internet Divorces for the win.
2007: This year was full of a lot of financial changes. I really stepped things into high gear to get myself into a better financial situation. I also dyed my hair with henna for the first time, which helped kick-start my improvements on less chemicals in my life by using natural products instead.
I started compiling genealogy information on all sides of my family. Our landlord had died recently and things were starting to look a bit gloomy on our home.
2008: Another year of financial progress (credit score then 690), but also a year of heartache turned blessing. After trying to bargain with the estate of our farm (of almost 30 years) since our landlord died without a Will, we were finally given 30 days to get out. We sold off all our animals, put everything in a storage trailer, dug up all the crops and lived with family for 2 months because we had nowhere to go. I call it being homeless, even though we did have a roof over our heads. I eventually bought my first house in September and fell in love with it.
2009: 2009 I paid off my car 2 years early and got used to being a homeowner. Despite having a tree fall on the house in May, it did little damage, but what little damage it -did- do bought us a new big back deck out of the insurance money. I also got a large raise at work and paid off my dads loan that he’s had for many years within 8 months.
I suspect to be debt-free besides the house in 2010, and to really focus on my health more. I plan to keep going up, either way
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