in ten years

i saw a recap of the past ten years on someone else's blog and realized how this closing decade marks ten years of running for me! (on and off, but still). i'm also thinking it's probably the more exciting decade of my life because it included the college years and what will really happen when i hit the 30's and 40's. investing in a roth ira is so exciting...

2000 - ahhhh y2k ahhh! i was in 10th/11th grade, had just finished my first season of cross country ('99) and ran my second season later in the fall. my older sister graduated from high school and when we dropped her off at college everyone cried but me (and i think my dad).

2001 - apparently i've done a good job of blocking out dorky high school memories because i can't think of many. in the spring semester of 11th grade i got iss (in school suspension) for lying to my teacher. my friend and i convinced our us history teacher that he (my friend) was the soccer team trainer and had to leave early for away games. we got caught because someone in the class freakin' told on us. what the heck; lame! as an honors/ap student the iss 'teacher'/supervisor didn't think i should be in there and let me run errands for her instead. (and yes, said friend was rather cute of course). also in '01 i started taking some college classes at a local college because somehow i didn't need anymore high school credits - i had "late arrival" and "early dismissal" as some of my "classes". i had a 7:30am (or so) english class and remember hearing about the first WTC plane in the car after class, and assumed it was a small plane that had malfunctioned somehow. when i got to (high) school later that morning, i broke the news to my spanish teacher who didn't believe me until we turned on the tv near the end of class.

2002 - senior year; not as glamorous as it is on mtv. i quit soccer and cross-country; went to prom. i was the last class to graduate my old high school before they tore it down and turned it into a walmart, so some of the teachers let us spend the end of the year graffiti-ing the walls. i cut out a piece of the track as a souvenir (one of the "4's" from lane 4). i started college in the fall, joined the rowing team, learned that just because i never had to study in high school does not mean college will be as breezy...

2003 - survived freshman year; had a great group of girlfriends from the rowing team. had a much better 2nd semester grade-wise, though mandatory study hall didn't help - too many distracting male athletes. moved into first apartment where we had the best neighbors and funnest block parties. i attempted to make pancakes one night and almost set the complex on fire. the blackened, crisp pancake was hung on our front door as a warning to others. i began running again but didn't keep any stats.

2004 - more college antics. moved into new apartment. still casually running, but not yet ocd enough to log stats.

2005 - worked two internships on top of my part-time job at the crack house (aka cracker barrel). also helped out with the local special olympics group - those 'kids' always brightened my day. went to nyc for christmas, saw my best friend graduate from college, began tracking my mileage/time on runs.

2006 - set my car on fire! (yes, on accident) got a new one. ran my first marathon! began interviewing for jobs. major fail at first interview - actually told the guy i wasn't planning on having kids so that wouldn't interfere with my career (yes, seriously). needless to say they did not call me back. got a job somewhere else. college graduation! sad but exciting. began my first big-girl job, made friends with the other college-grad hires and still acted like we were in college. bought a house (offer was accepted on my 22nd b-day). made running friends in my new town. ran another marathon.

2007 - most of the new running friends quit running except one (kt), began running "hardcore" 40 mile weeks with her. participated in a medical study at md anderson in houston, tx. ran two more marathons. took a random, spontaneous trip to san diego for memorial day. took a random trip to nashville in august. older sister got married. met josh, tried to flirt, he was oblivious.

2008 - finally "really" trained for a marathon, bq'd. went to visit a friend living in st. kitts, still jealous of her! started helping out with old high school cross country team. started this blog. helped josh flip a house. experimented with buying individual stock and doubled up (go ford!).

2009 - did the goofy challenge and ran another marathon. spent 9+ months living in hotels/working in kentucky and am now a celebrity at the hampton inn. got engaged. had my wisdom teeth pulled. hit a deer. beefed up my savings.

i still have yet to review my '09 in running and make plans for 2010, but i'm pretty awesome at procrastinating and not-getting things done, what's a few more days. so, until next year! happy new year all!