As I turn 29... I have been reflecting on my last 9 years and trying to make the most of my last year of my 20s. Thirty always felt so far away and it is hard to believe that it will be here in now less than a year. I kicked off my twenties in 2002 during my first year as a LPN working at MWH on 4N and starting my first semester of the RN program. I spent a lot of time with my best friend, Britney, because we were making the same journey together. When we weren't working or studying, we were SHOPPING! It was really awesome to have a career and be so young! The next year at 21, I met my now husband... Mark Brown!! We were set up on a blind date by my co-worker who is now my Aunt Sandra. We started our romance in April of 2003. I then graduated from the RN program that December. Needless to say that was an amazing year!!! That following January of 2004 I moved out on my own into first apartment in Fredericksburg! That was quite the adventure!! Once I signed my lease I packed a bag and a cushion from my favorite chair and spend my first night on the floor. That night a group of people got rowdy in the parking lot and tried to run someone over. I woke up to screams and looked out the window to see a man with a gun, so I called 911. What a way to kick off my independence!!! It turned out that man was a police officer that lived in the neighborhood and the rowdy group was evicted. I look back on my years in that apartment with so much joy!! I did a lot of living and growing during those 2 years. I have so many cherished memories with friends!
Mark and I loved and broke up a few times but always seemed to reunite. I had a couple friends move in when their marriages were on the rocks. My awesome neices would come over and have Girls Night with me. We usually rented movies, ordered pizza, and ate raw cookie dough. I alo had my first pets that were all mine... my kitties, Coco and Oliver.
Mark and I had our ups and downs during our dating years but we also had some really fun times. We went on several beach vacations and used to love going to B&Bs in the fall. We saw a TON of movies (which is one of my favorite things to do). I will always have wonderful memories of our dating years!
Mark and I had our ups and downs during our dating years but we also had some really fun times. We went on several beach vacations and used to love going to B&Bs in the fall. We saw a TON of movies (which is one of my favorite things to do). I will always have wonderful memories of our dating years!
I moved out of my apartment in February of 2006. I moved back home with Mom and Dad that summer while my first HOUSE was being built. I also left 4N that summer and started working at Hospice. The house was done early that fall and Mark & I moved in.
We dated for another year and then he FINALLY popped the question! We went to Williamsburg for the weekend and as were checking in he got "a call" from a buddy that was stranded in VA beach with a broken down truck. So I reluctantly tagged along while he was helping. I remember how incredibly sweet he was being on the drive down. He offered to stop where I wanted and treated me with my favorite foods. We were walking around the beach trying to find his buddy and stumbled along a photographer just hanging out. He then got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. The coolest part of the story is that he had chosen a spot where the sunset appears to be setting into the water and is supposed to be gorgeous. That day was so rainy and cloudy that we didn't get to see the sunset but he was so romantic!! (I am still hoping to see that sunset...)
Six short weeks later I became Mrs. Mark Allen Brown!!! I had my heart set on a Fall wedding and got it with the help of our amazing families!! That day was one of the most special and and wonderful days of my life!! We then went on our Honeymoon to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
We started working on our family that night! It took 4 months and we found out that I was pregnant with our first son that March of 2008 and Bradley Nathan Brown was born that November!! I felt right away that becoming a mother was my calling in life.
That summer we also suffered heartbreak when we found out that Mark's brother, Luke, had died. :-( We were on vacation with my family in Myrtle Beach when we got the news. We raced home to spend the week with the Brown family to mourn his loss.
That summer we also suffered heartbreak when we found out that Mark's brother, Luke, had died. :-( We were on vacation with my family in Myrtle Beach when we got the news. We raced home to spend the week with the Brown family to mourn his loss.
In his honor, we named our newest addition after him... Luke Allen Brown was born on September 29, 2010. 
So here I am now... a daughter, wife, and mother! I wouldn't change a thing that led to where I am now. I couldn't be more content and fulfilled. So as I enjoy the last year of my twenties, I look forward to what the future holds for me and my wonderful little family!
Just when I thought that my heart was too full... it got fuller!! May I introduce the newest bundle of joy... Luke Allen Brown!! He was born on September 30, 2010. Weighing in at 8lbs 8oz and 21 inches long. He was born via c-section which was not the best experience but holding him in the recovery room made every second of it worth it.
