30 Years in 30 Weeks - edition 20

The picture above is me and my stepmom, Sandy. She and Dad took me to the George Strait Team Roping Classic in the summer of 1997. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, I didn't get to meet George, but it was probably the closest I'll ever be to him.

My first year of college was definitely an interesting one. Like I mentioned in my last 30 in 30 post, I learned a lot that year. Yes, knowledge was definitely gained in the 17 and 15 hour semesters that I took, but most of what I learned was outside of the classroom. Roommates are interesting...even if you are related to them. That's all I'm saying about that. DALLAS was a pretty good show (we watched a lot of reruns of it)! Studying = good grades, procrastination is bad. Shortly after going home for the summer, I got my very first job. But, the biggest lesson I learned was about relationships...friends, family and the boyfriend kind. Early in the Fall semester, I met James. He was a little older than me and in the Army. I might also mention that he was from Baltimore, Maryland. (That should have been the first red flag...how were a boy from Maryland and a Texas girl ever gonna get along?) Things were pretty good at first. He said all the right things and we talked all the time. We usually ended up meeting in Austin once a week. It was pretty cool to have a boyfriend that actually paid attention to me. Well, at some point, things turned a different direction...he became really jealous, I was always doing something wrong, blah blah blah. But, I was convinced that I was "in love" and stuck around. Everyone else saw it but me...of course. Amy got tired of it and pretty much gave me an ultimatum...her or James. My parents and I had several fights over him...especially when I came home for the summer. You guessed it - James and I were still together. I drove home at the end of the semester minus one best friend. Several weeks, a few phone calls and fights later, we finally broke up. I'd like to tell you that I finally "saw the light" and broke up with James myself, but then I'd be lying. It took him going home to Maryland for a week and meeting someone else to do it. It took me a long time to finally get back to the "old me"...a lot longer than I'm willing to admit to the blog-world. Mom even tried to get me to "stay home" the next year and transfer to Sam Houston. Obviously, I didn't. Looking back at the big picture, that was a very good thing (how would I have met Chris if I never went back?). At the time - a stupid decision...I'm sure you can guess why I thought I NEEDED to go back to San Marcos. Dumb me. Anyway. In the end, it all worked out okay. I definitely learned what NOT to look for in a relationship. Even though Amy and I never fully made-up, we are friends still. And I'll be the FIRST tell you that my parents were definitely right and I was VERY WRONG. I just wish I could see James one more time...to tell him that I *did* find better...MUCH better as a matter of fact. :)

**end of Kristi's Soap Opera Life**