Happy Friday, Friends!
First, a Friday Five from Paper Hangover, a fantastic group blog offering writing tips, book reviews, weekly blog topics, and teen interviews. Here’s today’s prompt:
What are the FIVE best ages of your life and why?
1. Zero to Twelve – This might be a bit of a cop-out, but yeah… I had a lovely childhood full of wonderful people and experiences. There’s not one particular age I can pinpoint as the BEST of my childhood, but I can say that somewhere just after twelve, preteen anxiety and awkwardness set in. It was all down hill from there.
2. Nineteen – High school was, all in all, a pretty tragic experience. Though I had some great friends (a few I’m still friends with!) and was athletic, I was painfully shy and always obsessing about what people thought of me. I didn’t date or go to dances because I was majorly lacking in confidence. But by the time I turned nineteen and started college (Go Cougs!), I came into my own. At nineteen, I nailed down a career path (teaching, which turned out to be fairly temporary), joined a sorority (you can’t help but be social in the Greek system), and met my future husband (who has always been the life of the party and, whether he realizes it or not, played a big part in bringing me out of my shell).
3. Twenty-Two – A huge, wonderful year! I graduated from college, got married, and moved from Washington to Arizona. Twenty-two was the age at which I became a real grown-up. My husband and I bought cars, rented an apartment, learned to manage money, and figured out how to cook for ourselves. I got my first full-time job (management at Bath and Body Works… thank you, teaching degree), and we also acquired our first “baby,” a mutt named Lucy Pup-perman, who’s still driving me crazy.
4. Twenty-Five – By this point, we were living in Tennessee (loved that duty-station!), I was actually using my degree to teach fifth graders, and we had upgraded from an apartment to a house. My husband was deployed for the first chunk of this year which sucked up and down, but other than that, life was really great. I had the most amazing class, coworkers I adored, and friends who were loads of fun. I went on a fabulous cruise with my parents and brothers, and got to welcome my husband home from a year in Iraq. Twenty-five was also the age at which I ended up with a bun in the oven. 🙂
5. Twenty-Six to Thirty – I know, I know… another cop-out, but I really can’t distinguish any one year since my daughter’s birth as greater than another. She’s just my absolute favorite person in the world, and she makes even the challenging times (three more deployments, sick family members, stressful moves) more bearable. Plus, it was during the last few years that I started writing with the goal of publication which, despite its extreme highs and lows, has been one of the most fulfilling experiences I’ve had.
Oy. I bet you didn’t think you were going to get my whole life story out of that simple prompt.
Do tell: What were the five best ages of your life?
And, in an effort to stick with the Friday Five theme (for once!), I present you with FIVE writerly funnies…
(Courtesy of Sara McClung!)
Hope your weekend is full of awesome!
katyupperman.com 
Ahahaha, I’ll have to disagree with that Oxford comma image. If it was actually going to be orange on toast, then there would need to be an “and” in between eggs and toast-and-orange-juice, because toast-and-orange-juice becomes an entity. 😛 Grammar Nazis represent! 😀
Oh, and I adore that Peter Pan one!
Oh, you and your fine-printed details! I’ll forgive you, since you shared the awesome Sirius Black link earlier today. 🙂
Wow, Katy, you are a strong woman! My husband once brought up the notion of joining the Canadian military and I nearly croaked. I am in awe of the wives whose husbands are deployed. Nice to learn a little more of your ‘life story’ 🙂
Thanks, Jaime. You just do what you’ve gotta do sometimes. I think our marriage is stronger thanks to the challenges of deployments, and we definitely appreciate the time together!
It was fun to share some of my “back story,” and so fun to read about yours as well!
Likewise, I couldn’t pin down THE five best ages of my life. I picked five, but there are more than five, and hopefully will be more to come (like when I get The Call, when a publisher buys, etc.). I enjoyed reading more about you, Katy. Give your hubby a handshake and tell him thanks for his service from me. As Jaime said, he’s a brave man, and you’re a brave lady to let him go off and protect us. And orange on toast is fine, as long as it’s marmalade. 🙂
Colin, I think that if (when!) I sell a book, the awesomeness of that day will place right up there with my wedding day and the day my daughter was born. I can’t even imagine the thrill!
And thanks for the sweet words about my hubby. He is fantastically brave, and he’ll definitely appreciate the thanks. 🙂
Awww to #5 and your daughter 🙂
Thank you! ❤
First, I love that note from Peter Pan. Second, college was a turning point for me too. Third, number 5 made me smile.
Thanks, lady! And thank God for college. I think I’d STILL be stuck in my self-conscious, anti-social little world if I hadn’t gone.
Thanks for sharing your life story, Katy! I think we had similar 13-18 experiences–I was basically Lee from PREP in terms of shyness/obsessing about what people thought of me (minus the whole Cross thing, as I never dated).
And I’d like to echo the thanks to you and your husband.
Thanks so much. Rebecca. As I said early, I’m glad to have found a soul-sister in my Lee-ness. And damn it–where was Cross when we needed him?!
I love the note from Peter Pan. How true!
Funny, right? 🙂
I don’t think you copped out on favorite ages. It was hard to pick five favorites. It sounds like your 20’s were good though. I was happy to see my 20’s go which is why only one of them made it to my favorite ages.
My twenties just went last year. While I’m still mourning them, I am hoping for even bigger and better things from my thirties! Thanks, Carrie!
Sounds like we went to the same high school. 🙂 Also, love the Oxford comma references. Those things are simultaneously the bane and boon of my existence. Journalism! Gah…
I’m a fan of the Oxford comma… It’s so traditional. I like traditional. 🙂
Great list–I did mine before reading yours but there are definitely some similarities! Chiming in also with gratitude and respect for you and your husband for what you’re giving to the country.
Thanks so much! I noticed a lot of similarities in the posts I read today too. There are some defining moments (years) we all go through, I guess. 🙂
I would’ve cheated and listed 0-11 as my best years, too. 🙂
Both your husband and you are amazingly brave — and I’m eternally grateful for others like you who’re supporting our country.
Thanks so much, Emy. 🙂
And yeah… hard to nail down a particularly exceptional year from my childhood. They were all pretty great!
What a great list!
I’ve loved my entire life, really, so this would be difficult for me. But I’m with the people who are so thankful for your husband and his service! Tell him thank you for all of us!
And I love how much you love your little girl! I’m pretty terrified to have kids for about a zillion different reasons, but you make it look like a lot of fun. 🙂
Thanks, Jess! Mommy-hood is lots of fun. And please… I was terrified before she came along! If it had been left up to me, I’d still be childless. Hubby got his way though, and I’m glad he did. 🙂
Great post, Katy! I think all my favorite ages would be just about the same as yours, except I’m a little older (40…mumble, mumble… something). And I’ve never been more sure about my direction in life so right now is a pretty good place to be, too! Happy Friday!
It’s interesting that your ‘cop-out’ answers are your childhood and then having a child. I guess kids just have more fun? Love the creative process pie-chart, stealing!
You’re definitely making me regret that i didn’t take part this week. :0(
This was a fun one, and I love reading everyone’s “ages”.
Entertaining post Katy.
I can relate to your description of 19. I was the same way in high school–athletic, shy, little confidence–and then found myself in college after joining a frat. The Greek system certain has its positives and negatives, but for me as the president, to learn to be responsible for so many young fun-loving crazy guys sure made other management experiences a little easier.