It's a New Year, And All That Jazz

I've seen a few posts around the blogosphere in my daily wanderings talking about the whole "it's a new decade!" thing, bugging out about that whole big deal, and reviewing the decade that was, year-by-year. While I appreciate this, I was thinking could I even list significant details from each of the past ten years? Some of them were so long ago! Some of them were not so significant.

But never to let a good list pass me by, here goes:

2000: Finished my first whole year not transferring colleges, and my first whole year of Bible college. Spent the summer in the Yukon waitressing. Hitch-hiked for the first and last times.
2001: Finished another year of Bible college, and applied for internships for the summer to fulfill my program requirements. Ended up spending the summer in southern Illinois as a youth ministry intern. Went to Mexico on a missions trip as part of my job. Went back in the fall for my last year living in dorm. Went to Montana for Thanksgiving.
2002: Graduated college for the first time, still had one class left to finish my B.A., and it was offered the week after graduated, so graduated with a lesser A.A. degree to walk the plank. Spent my first summer in Ontario in camp ministry. Returned to school in the fall, started my Masters degree, lived at 208 Third Avenue in a house on campus.
2003: Finished a great first year of seminary, said goodbye to the wonderful memories of the brown house, oddly found myself back in Ontario in the same place for another summer. Returned to seminary and lived in a duplex.
2004: Finished my MRRP (thesis), graduated with my M.A., said goodbye to my wonderful Briercrest years, got my drivers license (finally!) and went back to Ontario for a third summer, and headed out into the big wide real world of post post secondary life. Got a "real" job and moved to Muskoka to work at a camp full-time. Bought my first car, Hot Rod, a red 1992 Mazda 323. Moved into an apartment with two new friends. Spent my first Christmas away from home.
2005: Worked. Took a summer week off to volunteer at my old camp. Started selling purses on Etsy. Went to my Gramma's to visit in the summer. Went home at Christmas.
2006: Made the decision to move on and started interviewing for other jobs. Had a big birthday party with friends from different stages of life. Went to Sudbury for a quick vacation in the summer. Went on a road trip to Saskatchewan with friends for a wedding. Quit my job. Started working year-round for the camp I had previously spent three full summers at. Moved into my own apartment. Spent Christmas in Sudbury.
2007: Started working part-time for a computer company in February, quit in June to work at camp full-time for the summer. Moved in June to a house with housemates. Started full-time in computers in September, while working part-time at camp. Checked out teacher's college. Went home briefly at Christmas.
2008: Applied to teacher's college. Kept working 11 hour days until the beginning of July. Went to Florida for my first real vacation during March break. Was accepted into teacher's college in April, started in July. Had a great first teaching placement. Worked, went to school, worked, went to school. Part-time camp, part-time computers. Went to Sudbury for Christmas.
2009: Did my second teaching placement, went to Myrtle Beach for March Break, did my third teaching placement, flew to Manitoba for my Gramma's funeral, worked at camp full-time for the summer and part-time computers, went back to working full-time computers, part-time camp, and got a part-time teaching position. Graduated from teacher's college. Went back to Alberta for Christmas.

Of course, many many other things happened over the course of the past ten years. Can we really reduce a decade to a short list? Life was lived, and continues to be so. Here's to the next ten, may they be abundantly more than all we expect or imagine.