The Aughts

One of my favorite bloggers (whose blog is password protected, so I cannot post a link) blogged the milestones she considered significant for the past decade. Her post prompted me to think of my own milestones over the past ten years. Here they are. . . .

From 2000- 2009, in no particular order, I:

• Came to live in Arizona (in January 2000) and have been here--either in Tucson or in Phoenix--ever since.
• Left the field of nursing after 7 years of practice.
  
• Applied to (and was accepted by) five law schools, attended law school at the University of Arizona (2001 to 2004), and graduated from law school (May 2004, top 33% of my class).
  
• Passed the bar exam (on the first try!).
• Worked as a prosecutor (just like Law & Order!) and tried 29 jury trials in two-and-a-half years on the job.
• Paid off my undergraduate student loan, finally!
• Made many more friends than in the 90s, with most of whom I am still in regular contact.
  
• Got engaged twice.
  
• Called off a wedding 13 days out.
• Got married (on Maui!).
• Attended the wedding of my first serious, long-term boyfriend to someone else.
  
• Bought my first house.
• Was a bridesmaid in my sister's wedding.
• Became an aunt for the first time.
  
• Visited Ireland, my father's homeland, for the first (and second) time as an adult.
  
• Adopted my first (and second) golden retriever.
  
• Became a CASA volunteer, fulfilling a long-held goal of doing volunteer work to benefit children. Have served on cases for two different children, the latest case for over 6 years.
• Was able to maintain a weight loss of 30 lbs for nearly a year.
• Lost at least 20 lbs three different times. . . . only to re-gain all the lost weight (sometimes plus more).

OK, so 2009 wasn't a particularly great year for me, but the aughts were certainly a good decade!

I note in passing that when I was 20 years old, I authored a list entitled "Things to Do Before I Die" . . . . a Bucket List, if you will. During the 00s, I accomplished a few of the items on my list: owning a purebred golden retriever; visiting Ireland; paying off my undergrad student loan; learned to play the piano; and last, but by no means least, marrying "a man who truly loves and respects me."

(I should post my Bucket List here sometime. . . . it'd be good for a chuckle.)