10 Random Things - 2010 Edition, pt. 1

I'm going to have to write this in two installments. Please note, the following is not chronological, edited heavily for content and *might not be 100% true. I had to let my fact checker go. Times are lean.

#1 Getting Older: 2010 was my 10 year High School Reunion. Did I go? No. Thanks Facebook for showing me everyone and everything I didn't need to know about people I barely knew for less than 4 years...10 years ago. I look forward to not regretting that decision. Let it also be noted that 2010 was the year of my Golden Birthday. I turned 29 on the 29th. From now on every birthday will be my 29th until people stop believing me. Considering I'm still mistaken for a teenager I'm hoping I can be 29 for a long time.

#2 Work: 2010 was my 10th anniversary year at a beloved company - Waggener Edstrom. In celebration - I quit. In my final e-mail to my many cherished friends and co-workers I expressed that I was never going to appreciate all the tools and skills that I had learned from each of them if I didn't challenge myself to apply them somewhere else. I took what I knew to Nike World Headquarters, swiftly found out I didn't actually know anything and started completely over. Has it been worth the shoes? Don't ask me, ask all my friends and family. I'm looking at you, Jason!

#3 Travel: In a fit of anxiety, sleep deprivation, stress and poor middle-of-the-night judgement - I got onto priceline and bid a ridiculously low figure on 10 nights in Maui - and WON. Just like that. I couldn't have thought about anything less, but needed anything more. Josh and I spent a very economical and MAGICAL 10 days on the Maui Island in Wailea in May. We got up early every morning and ran along the oceanview path, snorkeled, sunbathed, took long drives, ate the local fare, Josh went deep sea fishing and I spent two full days reading Gone With the Wind by the pool. I have traveled many beautiful places with varied companions, but Maui with Josh was unbeatable. Thanksgiving in Louisiana deserves an honorable mention. It was so fun to be "home" for the holidays and spend the traditional hours and hours of slaving in the kitchen with Mom. Josh discovered the best homemade stuffing on the planet, and guess what?! It wasn't made by his mom or his grandma!

#4 Old Scars, New Surgeries: Let me start with an open and sincere apology to all Nike employees for single-handedly increasing the premium for next year's benefit open enrollment. We're sorry. Last August Josh was scouting for elk in preparation for the upcoming bow-hunt and I'm not sure what made this one particular step of greater detriment than the others but one step was all it took - POP goes the meniscus. He hobbled (*and might have even hunted still?) through October until he couldn't take it any longer then checked in for his third, maybe fourth knee repair. *In a jealous rage and as payback for all the nursing, I convinced my cardiologist to recommend a second mitral valve repair. In December they went back through my old scar and put a sleeve and a ring over the valve to plug the leaks and significantly reduce the size of my lower two ventricle chambers. The surgery was successful, it was quite appropriate and timely to have the size of my heart reduced over Christmas. Call me Grinch, I'll answer.

#5 Behave, Beehives!: In January of 2010 I was called to serve as the Beehive advisor in my ward. I won't lie, as the current Activity Day leader I did the happy dance more than once when some of my girls graduated to Young Womens. I wasn't exactly thrilled to have them back as Beehives. If I thought it was hard to get them to pay attention and participate when it was a fun activity that I had planned on a Tuesday, HOW was I going to get them to behave and participate during a spiritual lesson on a Sunday?? Fast foward to January of 2011 and I can't say enough about how much I love and admire my girls. They teach me so much and have been some of the kindest and most thoughtful young ladies in our YW program. I am so impressed with how much they have matured and hope I'm able to continue to learn and grow with them in 2011. That said, I do have a smaller heart now - tread lightly Beehives!

This concludes pt. 1 of 10 Random Things - 2010 Edition. *Maybe 2011 won't need to be summed up in this way.