Decade in Review

I saw a decade in review post elsewhere, and I started thinking about the past decade for me. It was a doozy, possibly the decade in my life with the most changes that I'll ever have. For that, it gets a post.

2000: Returned home from first semester in college to ring in the New Year with old high school friends. Finished first year in college with enough credits to be a junior, didn't fail anything, changed my major a bunch. Realized my long hair looked like crap, had suite-mate cut it off.

2001: Went to Italy for the summer to study art and architecture. Papa died. Uncle Manuel died. Began my depression.

2002: Got mono, was sick for 6 months. Granny died. Went into counseling and began to dig myself out of the depression. Met Preston, eventually began dating. Worked my first library job.

2003: Graduated college. Went on 2 archaeological digs: one in New Mexico (where I spent 2 months living in a tent and crapping in a crevasse), one in southern Italy. Tried to move to Houston to be with Preston (where I slept on Aunt Dollie's couch for 3 months), but couldn't get a job. Applied to grad school.

2004: Lived in Denton, getting my master's degree and missing Preston. Dad was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia and had major surgery. Got Grimmy and Cal, my precious kitties.

2005: Moved to Houston (finally!), got my master's degree, got a ("real") job.

2006: Got engaged to Preston, bought a house, got a promotion.

2007: Started running again. Got married. Sugar, my kitty since I was 9 years old, died.

2008: Started triathloning, got a promotion.

2009: Ran my first marathon, traveled to London, got another promotion.

It is arbitrary to say that this past decade had the most changes that I'll ever see. I know that my life will continue to evolve. But, honestly, I went from being a teenager to an adult in the past 10 years, and I believe that that is one of the largest (and certainly most enduring) changes that I'll ever undergo. I survived a depression, went from drunken itinerant college student to married marathoner homeowner. That's pretty huge.