Five Things I Was Doing 10 Years Ago

Yet again, I'm borrowing post ideas from others. I was inspired by Erica's post of five things she was doing 10 years ago, and how things have changed. Because the last 10 years covers my mid-20's through early-30's, they've inevitably been full of a lot of change.

1. I was living in Chicago. I moved to Chicago in June of 2004, so I had been here for about a year in 2005 (yay, math!). I fell in love with Chicago instantly, and still consider it the greatest city in the world. Of course, what's different now is that I've moved out of the city and am planning to move away from Illinois in the near future. That's definitely not something I would have guessed 10 years ago, but I really had no idea where life would take me!

Me and my black hair (why, past Anne, WHY???) in 2004

2. I was living by myself for the first time. I was originally living with my high school BFF, Jessie, when I moved here. But within a year she moved back to Ohio for a boy to go back to school, leaving me on my own for the first time in my life. It was hard at first, especially since I didn't have any furniture, money, or real clue about how to live on my own, but I think this was such a valuable experience. I ended up living on my own for 3 years, and although it was tough and a little lonely at times, I wouldn't trade that time for anything. I learned so much in those years! I became really good at being independent and self-sufficient, which has definitely served me well (and also made it hard for me to let anyone in for a long time, but that's probably another post). I think living alone is something everyone should do at some point in their lives, just to know that they can.

My first apartment building: Ridge Avenue in Edgewater, Chicago

3. I was working for a big, suburban corporation. In 2005 I had already been in the job that I thought would be temporary for about a year. I always wanted to find a job downtown because my commute was so horrible, and because working downtown just seemed like it'd be so cool. That obviously never happened since I'm coming up on my 11 year anniversary with my company. So.... yeah. Part of me still wishes I could have had the downtown experience while living in the city, but there's some perks to working for the same company for a while. I get more vacation time than I would if I were starting somewhere new, I make my own hours, work from home when I want (and am going to be 100% virtual in a few months), and mostly don't give a f*ck. I have seniority over a lot of people I work with, which can be helpful at times (even if it does make me feel a little old or like a "lifer").

In the office in 2005 and 2015 (note the old-school computer monitor on the left)

4. I didn't know anyone in Chicago. One thing that's dramatically different is that 10 years ago, I didn't really know anyone in Chicago. I had made a couple friends through work (which I still do, you know, since I recently married my work BFF) but spent most of my time on my own, exploring the city. I think that's one reason I love the city of Chicago so much - for a while there, it was all I had (and it is my longest relationship to date!). But I'm also lucky to have eventually made a lot of really awesome friends here. Of course, knowing so many wonderful people makes it all that much harder to move away, but I'll have plenty of friends to visit whenever I'm back in the Midwest!

5. I wasn't taking care of my health and well-being. At all. 24 year-old Anne didn't have a clue. I was doing Weight Watchers on and off (but restricting myself way too much), drinking pretty regularly, working constantly, sleeping very little, and never exercised. My only "health" goal was to keep my weight in check, which I did, but not in a healthy way. There's a lot more to this, but I just didn't care to make myself and my health the priority that it should always be. This eventually caught up with me as I gained and lost significant amounts of weight several times, and had borderline high cholesterol and was at risk for diabetes before I even turned 30.

At the end of 2011 my gym was offering a personal training special so I signed up, met my trainer, Katy, and changed my entire mindset (and life, really). Thanks to Katy, I finally learned what I should be doing to be healthy in a sustainable way: eat right and exercise. It sounds so simple, but this eluded me for much of the past decade, as I'm sure it does many others. I've scaled back a bit on my exercising and gained a little weight back over the past year, but I've been finding my way back on track, slowly but surely. I can still hear the trainers from my old gym in Chicago encouraging me (or yelling at me to keep going, ha!) when I do some old workout routines, so the lessons I learned have definitely stuck with me! I think this is the biggest and most important change for me from 2005 to now, and taking care of myself and eventually making myself and my own happiness a priority has driven a lot of decisions that have ultimately made my life a lot better.

Despite all the weight issues, I was definitely not lacking confidence in 2005

What were you up to 10 years ago?