Y2010

Remember all that Y2K stuff?

I found all my old pictures from that. Had to laugh--my Cleveland buddies all came down to visit me in Cincinnati and we went out to this bar in Mount Adams. I remember drinking green fruity drinks and seeing fireworks over the Ohio River and being 22. It was my first year teaching...I still had my OSU law school application stuff in my apartment because I really didn't think I'd make it through that first year of teaching. I was dating some random guy from Kentucky--should have known it would never work as he was a UK fan. (Ew.)

Remember all that "new century" hype? And how everyone thought the world might end at midnight because computer glitches might make our ATMs freeze up? Oh, the horror.

It turns out the real day the world changed forever would be a sunny Tuesday morning in September, a little over a year and a half away.

I forgot, almost completely, that this would be a new decade tomorrow. And let's be honest--2000-2009 hasn't been the greatest decade for my country. 9/11, two wars, the worst recession since the crash of 1929, Katrina. It's pretty depressing, actually. And even more so when you factor in the world. Darfur. The tsunami. Iran.

I'm gonna stop now, before I get sick to my stomach.

But despite that, I have to say that this has been a wonderful decade for me.

I finally let go of some things that had to be let go of, and should have years prior.

I spent two weeks in Germany as an Armonk Scholar and got to see things no punk kid who is 23 should ever be lucky enough to see.

I re-met my husband. I say "re-met," because we had known each other ever since he took me to Homecoming my sophomore year. But we met again, and this time at just the right time.

I became a James Madison Fellow, and it allowed me to earn another degree that I put lots of blood, sweat, and tears into. I earned those two letters, "M.A.," for sure.

I married my best friend.

I fell in love with my career, despite all the challenges it continually throws at me. And because of those challenges.

I became an Ironman.

I fell in love again with my little man in October of 2007, and more and more every day since.

This year will bring challenges, no doubt. A long and hard battle with cancer in our family is one that is ongoing.

But I am just about 6 weeks away from falling in love all over again. Two of my close friends are getting married this year, and I'm going to be a part of both of their big days. Several of my close friends are expecting. I get to race again. I still have a fantastic job that I enjoy going to.

I still can't help feeling like I'm 22 a bit--staring at the stars over the Ohio River, surrounded by my friends and wondering what the future will hold.

I still feel like I'm the luckiest girl on the face of the earth.