A Look Back - Part 1

2010....2010....A whole new decade.

I've seen this on several blogs and I thought I'd give it a whirl. A summary of each of the last 10 years. Time seems to have gone so fast, but looking back, so much has happened in the last 10 years. Here's a recap of the first 5 years.

2000
I start out the new year, decade, and century in SLC at First Night with my fiance, Rich. We all can't help but wonder when the clock strikes 12 if the lights would go out, a meteor would hit the Earth, or our computers would explode. Y2K anyone? In June Rich and I tie the knot (best decision ever) and we head off on our honeymoon to France. Oooh la la! We get back and move into his grandparents basement. We both go back to school in the fall, me at WSU and him at the U of U. Rich works at the International Armoring selling armored cars to Russia, and I work at Down East outfitters.

2001
We start out the year with Rich being essentially unemployed and me working for 5.50 an hour at WSU. How did we survive? Seriously?! We are both full time students, and to make a little bit of money Rich cleans his mom's house once a week. Ha ha ha! In March I take a trip to D.C. to visit my friend Libby who is there as a nanny. My first trip to our nations capital and my first time away from my new hubby. We celebrate our first anniversary in Park City. We teach an awesome group of kids in a 15-16 year old Sunday School class (most of those kids are married now, yikes) and love our ward. We are invited to our parents house every week for Sunday dinner. I get a new job (are you seeing a pattern here?) at the Radiology Department in the Spring. I apply for the Teacher Education program and start that fall. September 11, 2001 I come to school and hear the news that rocked our world. I stare at the TV for several weeks after in complete and total shock, and wonder what this means for our future. I get a new job (seriously?) working as a preschool teacher for Head Start in a portable classroom at Bates Elementary. Scariest job ever.

2002
I am still teaching at Bates and Rich volunteers for the SLC Winter Olympics. He spends his days with Sergei Bubka, a Russian IOC member and world record holder in the pole vault, going to all the Olympic venues and parties, while I wipe up drool and deal with a Preschool Assistant that, bless her heart, is about as bright as a burnt out 20 watt light bulb. Rich works the whole school year at the University of Utah mail room. That summer we drive cross country to Washington D.C. were we live for 4 months while Rich works at The Supreme Court and I nanny for/live with the same family that my friend was a nanny for. We have the BEST time in D.C., canoeing on the Potomac, visiting the sites, eating out at the yummiest places, bike rides along George Washington Parkway, and free concerts and festivals downtown. We get back from D.C., Rich takes the LSAT and we start applying for law schools. I get a new job working in the Respiratory Therapy department at WSU and we get accepted into our first law school, Iowa!

2003
We start getting responses from law schools and we have a hard time deciding where to go. I student teach first grade at Grandview Elementary. We have a fun weekly schedule: Exercising at the WSU gym several nights a week and our weekly laundry at his parents/dinner/Fear Factor night. Rich, for fun, applies to the CIA, interviews, flies back to Washington and gets offered a job. We have to decide which path to take, CIA or law school. After Rich takes a trip with his dad back to Iowa City, we decide to go forward with attending law school at the University of Iowa. We have an amazing summer: Pioneer Trek with our wonderful ward, a couple trips to St. George, a backpacking trip with good friends, and a trip to Puerto Vallerta with those same friends. That August we pack up, say goodbye to friends and family, and head to Iowa. We get in a major rollover accident with our triple axle trailer and squish all our earthly possessions, car included. We finally get to Iowa and find out that we have signed up to rent a townhouse in the ghetto of Iowa City. I get a job at a state sponsored preschool in the ghetto and we find a newer, nicer apartment on the other side of town. I fly home for my friend Libby's wedding, and then we fly back to Utah for Christmas.

2004
Rich spends all his time with school or studying. I came home every day exhausted from teaching preschool and fall asleep on the couch. We work as Ordinance Workers at the Nauvoo Temple. I find out I'm pregnant and we are both thrilled! We buy a brand new apartment, I quit my preschool job, and leave for a study abroad in France for a month. We live in a beautiful home on the beach, Rich takes classes, we travel to Spain and Corsica, and I spend my days working for his professor and relaxing. My parents meet us in France at the end of our stay and we go visit family and tour around France. We come back to Utah for the rest of the summer and Rich does an internship at Flying J legal department. We travel back to Iowa for school and welcome our first baby girl Lilia shortly after. We are parents - Our lives are changed forever. I stay home with Lili and Rich starts applying for internships for this second summer of law school. He spends a lot of time traveling for interviews while I stay home in Iowa with our new baby girl. Rich gets a job with VanCott (hooray!) and we fly to Utah for Christmas.

2005
The pressure is off, Rich has a job for the summer, but he still works hard in school. I stay home with the baby, have play dates with friends, and serve as a Cub Scout Den Leader. We meet up with Rich's parents for Spring Break in Chicago. We drive to Utah for Rich to start his job at VanCott and we have a wonderful summer with family. At the end of the summer Rich is offered a job after law school with VanCott in their Ogden office. We head back to Iowa for our last year of school. We try and enjoy our last fall in Iowa and fly to Utah for Christmas.