Becoming ... Jennifer Aniston

Though she bid a tearful adieu to Friends, Jennifer Aniston has plenty to smile about. The actress says she's looking forward to her next project: starting a family. See the defining moments in the life of PEOPLE's Most Beautiful cover girl. By Serena Kappes

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YOUNG LOVE

After meeting through mutual friends in 1995, Aniston and actor Tate Donovan (in 1997) dated for two-and-a-half years – and even exchanged Irish commitment rings. But the relationship ended in 1998. "Jennifer and Tate are both nice people," Donovan's father J. Timothy Donovan told PEOPLE that year. "Nice people just don't always get married and live happily ever after."