The Ultimate Glo’Up: Decade in Review
I feel a lot older when I think about the fact that I’ve lived through two and a half decades. I blessed this Earth in September of ‘96, and while I can’t say that I remember those first three years of my life, the 90’s still take the cake as my favorite decade (considering fashion & music). At least half of the 2000’s are a blur, but for whatever reason the things that I do remember are highly insignificant. For example, my third grade crush asked a group of us a question about himself that I, without a doubt, knew the answer to. Short story shorter, I was super shy and scared to talk to him so I ended up not saying anything. It’s obviously not a life changing event, so the fact that it’s taking up space in my internal memory card is quite annoying. Anyway, the 2010’s are clear as day, and that’s what I’m here to talk about. I’ve picked my brain of the most significant events that have happened in each year of the past decade, and in attempt to keep this post relatively short, I tried not to elaborate on every little thing to the extent that I normally do. If you’re genuinely curious about knowing a little more detail about something, just leave me a comment or shoot me an email and I’ll give you all the tea (or unless it’s a little too scalding).
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2010
Let’s see …………..… 2010. Nothing really stands out to me that I would consider significant during this year. I was in 8th grade, cheering for the JV football team at my soon to be high school. My first boyfriend and I had broken up for good, so I experienced my first little heartbreak. I swore up and down I was going to be forever alone after that. It seriously took me about two years to get over that boy - eye roll. Other than that, I really just think I was over middle school and was ready to skedaddle on out of there.
2011
2011 is the year I entered high school. It was a pretty fun year from what I remember. I had my group of friends, I was cheerleading, life was pretty good as a 15-year old. Not an eventful year, but as y’all can see I developed this signature pose that I did in just about every picture 🤦🏾♀️. I feel like it’s a normal thing for a person to just stick with what they know looks good, so I just tell myself that when I’m on the verge of cringing at my throwback pictures.
2012
I think this was probably one of the most significant years of the decade. I met Deion! We didn’t begin dating until the following year, but just having that friend-level relationship with him really changed my life. Without getting all sappy, I’d truly never met a guy like him before. So just thinking about us coincidentally having gym class together and it leading to a long term relationship is pretty crazy. Literally all it would have took is me having a slight change in my schedule, and it very well could have never been an “us” 🤔.
The last two things that were pretty important in 2012 is that I got my baby girl Cheerio, my first car (and a little more freedom), and my license.
2013
As I mentioned, this is the year that Deion and I started dating. It was the first time I was ever able to go out with a boy alone, I was able to go to his prom, he graduated and joined the army, and I made the varsity cheer team.
2014
The biggest thing that happened in 2014 was me being accepted into college. I only applied to one school in which I just barely met the minimum qualifications, but it ended up being one of the best decisions I ever made. It was far enough from home, but still not a terrible drive. The campus and dorms were some of the best I’d ever seen (I had my own room and bathroom). And most importantly, I met some of my best friends. 2014 was also the year that I turned 18 and got my curfew extended to 11 pm for the first time, so I really thought I was doing big things.
2015
I finally got the hell out of high school. Deion and I went to my prom, I cut my hair and went completely natural, and I got drunk for the first time which was an actual shit show. Fast forward to August, I started my freshman year of college and somehow I had an alcohol tolerance of steel. With that being said, I drank A LOT. I don’t know how my liver was even functioning after that year. I feel like I started glowing up this year as well. Even though my eyebrows were the width of a pencil line by the end of the year, your girl was getting cute.
2016
The first half of 2016 was pretty much like the second half of 2015. Seems like all we did was go out and drink, but it was always a great time. I loved getting dressed up and going out, so if there was a move I was trying to be there. This was also the year I did my first twist out. Hair was absolutely flourishing and I got my first tattoo. Deion and I went on our first little baecation as well. I honestly just loved being able to do as I pleased without having to ask for permission.
2017
2017 was one of the most significant years of the decade as well. I launched my blog on January 1st, I turned 21, and I had finally gotten braces! My teeth were literally the only thing that I wanted to change about myself, so I made a way to afford them. I started seeing my teeth shift pretty quickly, so my confidence started going up. Not to mention, I was a little more consistent with blogging, so I was getting dressed up and taking photos a lot more. That summer when I came home from school, Deion and I had decided to live together. It would’ve been the first time we had been able to be around each other everyday, so it was definitely an adjustment. People would always say our relationship would change negatively once we lived together, but we really had no issues. It was all gravy until he ended up getting deployed two months into the summer. He was only gone for a few months, so while it was a difficult situation, it went by pretty quick.
2018
2017 ended terribly, so it was only right for 2018 to be an overall shitty year. It’s not something I’ll probably ever discuss on here, just know I was really going through it. On top of what I had going on personally, we had to put our dog of 17 years down, so it was really like I lost a sibling (the day before my damn birthday). On a brighter note, I did get my braces off, took a few trips with my best friends, and I leveled up my blog and really started taking some quality photos. I also got offered an internship with this company in Miami which I was SUUUUUUPER excited about.
2019
The final year of the decade. I’ll call it the best and worst of my life. I lived in Fort Lauderdale / Miami for four months, I got engaged, and I graduated Cum Laude from Georgia Southern University. On the flip side, I was still dealing with stuff from 2018, it took me forever to find a job, and when I finally did it really wasn’t what I wanted to do. I spent a lot of days wallowing in my own self pity and just feeling like an overall failure. I was angry, depressed, and just put entirely too much energy into the wrong things. By the end of the year, I came to realize a lot of important things that allowed me to change my mindset. I let go of a lot of negativity and decided to make myself and my mental health a priority. No job is worth disturbing my peace, no relationship is worth disturbing my peace, and I’m so proud of myself for reaching that point. I’m confident that marked the end of my bad-year streak because there is no way 2020 is going in a bad direction with all the positivity I’m feeling.
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Lastly, I want to wish you all a Happy New Year! Just a little reminder that the only thing holding you back from what you want this year is you! Put in the work, commit to your goals, and make some shit shake.
