Throwback Thursday #44: A Decade

"The days are long, but the years are short." ~Gretchen Ruben

Sometimes I'm oblivious to obvious things. Okay, a lot of the time. :) But until I returned from our family ski trip on January 2 (blog on that coming soon!) and read another person's blog, I didnt' realize that January 1, 2011 marked not only the beginning of a new year, but also the beginning of a new decade.

As I thought back on the 10 years that were 2000 - 2010, I realized that this time frame will likely be the time where the greatest number of changes occurred in my life. Don't get me wrong here---I think that I still have some pretty great days ahead of me (so keep reading the blog). But the sheer volume of changes that occurs between the time a person is 17 and 27 is unbelieveable. With that, I'd like to take a little Throwback to some of the important things that occurred in the last decade!

2000: My team won the State FFA Dairy Judging contest and were Reserve National Champions, I won my first Grand Champion Lamb banner at the county fair, learned that sometimes "friends"will stab you right in the back.
2001: Thought Mr. F was crazy for making us judge poultry, won my second Grand Champion Lamb banner (and watched Gran almost get into a fight with another grandmother in the process), won State Star Farmer, enjoyed my senior year of high school. 2002: Played in the state basketball tournament, went on a great senior trip to Dallas, graduated high school, started college at Dodge City Community College, met two amazing, important friends (The Crazy Canadian and Flintstone), placed in the top 10 at my first 5 college judging contests, learned that sometimes life doesn't work out like you had it planned. (Sidenote: I tried to find a picture of graduation, but digital cameras didn't exist yet, so this is the only picutre of my last semester of high school I could find....I'm sure The Bride loves getting included!)
2003: Left junior college and headed to OSU, moved in with College Roomie having no idea I was making a best friend in the process, began what would be 3 of the best years of my entire life, loved my student tickets to OSU football, met SoulMate Friend in a very round about way.
2004: Lost my Gran in June and three close family friends on back-to-back days in October/November, changed majors to Agriculture Business, joined the Pre-Law Club at Oklahoma State, watched OSU make it to the Final Four.

2005: Took the LSAT, applied to and was accepted to law schools, managed to survive calculus with my GPA still in tact, went on my first real vacation and fell in love with San Francisco!

2006: Enjoyed my last semester of college at OSU to the fullest, took a Spring Break trip to the east coast with College Roomie and Cousin Whitney, had a Calf Fry Weekend that could only be described as epic (HOW have I not blogged abou this??), graduated from OSU, got mono and thyriod disease over the summer, took an amazing trip to New York City to see Teacher Friend, started law school.
2007: Went on a fantastic cruise, worked my first summer of law school at my current law firm, survived a broken heart, applied on a long shot and somehow got a job offer with a great law firm in San Francisco for the folowing summer.
2008: Welcomed College Roomie home from a year in China, had the time of my life working as a summer law clerk in San Francisco, had an amazing girl's weekend with the Cashmere Mafia, made the stressful decision of which job (and life) I would take out of law school. 2009: Bought my first house, graduated from law school, studied for the bar, took the bar, escaped to Europe for a much-needed post-bar relaxation with Cousin Swiss Mister and Cousin Whitney, started my first job, was a pall bearer for one of my favorite people in the world.
2010: Continued to travel around to visit friends all over the country (lots of weddings and babies), ran 7.5 miles at Bay to Breakers, celebrated 100 years of owning my family's homestead ranch, survived my 1 year review at work, took in a football game at Notre Dame while getting to reconnect with and see great friends before and at the game!Clearly I've seen a lot of changes in the last decade---some good, some bad. These last 10 years have made me into the person that I am (and hopefully into the person that I'm meant to be). I'm excited to embark on a new decade and see where life takes me next!