Lauren is my friend!

Well, it’s my birthday. I am officially 30 years old today! I can be honest with you and tell you that I don’t feel a bit of difference. Well except maybe relief, this blog a day thing has worn me out!

I don’t have a lot to report on so far in 2010… It’s only about 6 weeks in. Other than getting a love letter from a maximum security prisoner in Florida, not much has happened. But I can tell you that this year will be a year to remember. I have a feeling that 2010 will bring great things for my life. I have a lot of exciting projects ahead of me. In my mind I thought of 30 as this golden age that would confirm my adulthood. So now, I guess it’s time to make those grown up decisions. This is my life, this is my time. I am excited about the future. I’m excited about 2010. I’m excited to see what the next 30 years will bring. I’ll make a commitment to blog about the next 30 years in “30 Years in 30 Days: Vol. 2″ when I turn 60. So be ready!

Thank you all for taking this journey with me. It has been a lot of fun to remember all the things that have happened in my life to make me who I am today. Happy Birthday to me!

Tonight I will be celebrating with my wonderful family. We are having a delicious gumbo dinner that I cannot wait to eat. A few days ago Evie called me and told me Sam had a question… He asked if we could have my birthday party be a costume party. He loved dressing up in his super hero or pirate costumes, so I of course said yes. So tonight I will celebrate with my family in a pirate’s outfit. I can’t wait! I’ll be sure to post some pictures later on.

Thank you again for tagging along on this journey!

2009 was a year. A good year? No. A bad year? No… Just a year. The good canceled out the bad so all in all it was a decent year. Definitely a year of change! For example, my car’s warranty ran out. So that was a change, not driving a car with a warranty. Also about two weeks before my big 3-day fundraiser at work I kicked out my roommate, gave away my dog, broke up with my boyfriend, and tore out the tile in my kitchen & carpet in my living room and hallway.

I had decided in order to save money I would to the demo myself and then have someone come in and lay the new wood flooring down. Well I go and rent a tile hammer and told the nice fellow that I will have it back tomorrow. I thought it would be a one night event. Boy was I wrong! After one night I had one quadrant of my breakfast room done… This was going to take forever! My boyfriend was flying in from Houston in two days for a visit, so I had to get it done in time. I didn’t want him to have to worry about helping. Well I get the house cleared… He flies in for the weekend. I acted like a child and I ended the relationship, Monday came around and the floors were being laid. I gave a lady at my vet’s office my Labradoodle Layla… She was the driving factor of removing the carpets. She didn’t like to go to the bathroom outside when she could go in the house. And I asked Micah to find a new home. I was CLEANING HOUSE! I can say that all but one of those decisions was a wise decision. Regardless, I had a light load. A house with new floors… new carpets… a new bedroom suit… A dog that loved me and loved to go to the bathroom outside… And best of all my house, ALL to myself!

So the fundraiser came and went without issue… Now I finally got to enjoy my new clean life. It was charming.

This summer I got to really enjoy myself in Alaska with my family. It was a wonderful week that brought such peace and much needed serenity. I think I read about 5 different books, I hung out on the balcony most of the time, watching the gorgeous scenery go by as I read fabulous books. It was wonderful, it might have been the most I’ve ever enjoyed Alaska. Great time!

So 2009 was an eventful year. At least I had an eventful 2 weeks of the year.

Busting up Tile

After realizing this wasn't a "quick" job!

New Floors!

Living Room!

Mi Familia

2008 was a fun year because I got a new job. Turns out it’s hard to find a job as an anthropologist if you only have a bachelor’s degree. Since Harrison Ford has the market cornered I went for the next best thing… I became the Marketing Coordinator at the YWCA. I was so excited to get this job. It is a wonderful organization that I am still very proud to be a part of.

But most importantly our family “officially” grew on 06-07-08. Jeffery Paul Hutsell married Beverly Amelia Houston… My sweet baby sister became a wife! It was probably one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever been to. It helped me out too… My mom and Amelia got to plan this massive event so I was off the hook… My mom got her fill on a big wedding, so I can now have my teeny tiny wedding without a fuss. We had family and friends come in from all over to celebrate this beautiful day. There might have been a tiny bit of drama before the ceremony… Millie and I were late with getting our hair done so we had to rush to get dressed. Everyone else was at the church and already ready, so they were all helping Millie get in to her absolutely stunning wedding gown and I went to get in my bridesmaid dress. The big problem happened with my zipper. It got stuck and wouldn’t go over this satin sashing… I felt bad because I’m pretty sure I might have said a few expletives inside a church, but finally after a ton of struggle my Aunt Elaine got the kink worked out… Phew. Seriously we were down to the wire. And so we walked in to the church and as I walking up the steps to my spot as the maid of honor, I tripped on my dress and fell up the stairs. I got my balance and then stepped on my dress AGAIN! and tripped up the next step. I still am telling myself that no one saw because they had all turned back around to watch for Amelia… So she walked in and all embarrassment faded, she was stunning and Jeff was smitten. All went well… I loved that day.

I also met the handsome Turk in 2008… But we all know how that ended, so I’ll not write much more about that. But I’ll leave a picture for old time sake.

the big day

The Bridesmaids

The first night we met.

I moved in to my new house in January of 2007. Made that grown up decision to be a homeowner. The day after I moved in the ice storm hit. It was convienient because I had nothing to do but unpack my house. It was quite nice. It was so fun because all of my stuff had been in storage so it was like opening presents instead of boxes. I didn’t remember half the stuff I had. I highly recommend that way of moving over the traditional way. Because it typically is such a mundane job, but the excitement level really made it un-mundane.

So this year I got to experience an awesome trip. A friend of the family through my parent’s church was taking a trip to Nicaragua to set up medical tents in a small village to work for a week. I had the wonderful opportunity to join Dr. Anderson and his wonderful wife Linda on this trip. We had doctors, dentists, nurses and pharmacists all going. Linda and I set up the kids tents and worked with kids that week. It was so wonderful! I slept in a tent out in this soccer field and every night after being exhausted from the kids, the heat and dehydration I would curl up in my sleeping bag and read for about an hour and fall asleep to wake up with this pig snorting loudly trying to get in to my space. Luckily he didn’t make it, however some other creature did make his way in to my tent and me. A few days after returning home I became so sick and I went to the urgent care clinic where they sent me directly to the ER. It was my first and hopefully last time in an ambulance. That was a bit dramatic but the doctor said they’ll process me much faster if I go that way. So after they admitted me and did tests we found out I brought home a nice little parasite for a souviener. Oh joy. So I stayed a few nights in there until it had passed. The pain was awful and I found out the first night I had a morphine allergy. My blood pressure dropped so low because of it. At least they found that out when I was being monitored. Anyhow, it was another battle scar I could add to the collection. And no matter the pain and inconvienence I would have done it all over again to have that awesome week with the anderson’s in Nicaragua.

April 9th this year someone so special was born. Sweet Lily Grace graced us with her presence at 8:01pm. She entered this would without the drama that Sam entered it, thank goodness. She was 6lbs 11oz. and 19in long. I’ll be honest with you I didn’t think I would be able to love another kid as much as I loved Sam, but the minute I held that little girl I was proved wrong. I immediately loved her with all my heart! She is so precious. And let me tell you this girl has more personality in her little pinky that most kids have all together. I love this girl!

We took a family vacation that summer to San Diego. It was such a special trip because it had been planned around an event we will all remember. Jeff had worked out the details and we all had to work with him to help him surprise Amelia, who is impossible to surprise, with an amazingly romantic proposal. She was surprised! The hotel had set up a wonderful dinner on a private patio and he asked and she said yes and we all celebrated! It was a wondeful evening!

That fall my parents were in New York on business and I was on the phone with my dad and he was telling me about their meeting they were leaving for that day in Calgary. As always I expressed my wishes to be with him on one of his fun trips and he said, “Let me call you right back.” Well about 15 minutes later he and my mom call back and say be at the airport at 3pm, we just emailed your itinerary. I was shocked because I’m pretty sure as soon as I could say it I was asking my dad if I could go with him on trips, so probably 25 years of asking finally paid off. I left tulsa and met my parents on out connecting flights and we were in Canada. My dad had meeting all the next day so my mom and spent the day shopping and next day we drove to Edmonton and did some more shopping while my dad was in meetings. Then once he was done meeting we headed off to Banff National Park. Oh my… I was in heaven. This was God’s country. Seriously I’ve never seen anything so spectacular. (I know I’ve said this before…) We stayed at the Chateau Lake Louise and Fairmont in Banff… It’s like they built these castles in the middle of Canada. The hotels themselves were stunning and history of them was equally as interesting because of the Canadian railroad connection. It was truly a week to remember. When you are not an only child times like these are so special… Maybe that’s because I have middle child syndrome, but I’d bet Bevan and Amelia would say the same thing.

2007 was a fun year of three wonderful trips a new house and best of all a brand new niece!

Sweet Maria and me in Nicaragua

With my parents in Banff

Sweet Lily

President: George W. Bush
Vice President: Richard Cheney
Population: 300 million

Federal spending: $14,074 billion
Federal debt: $9,229 billion
Unemployment: 4.6%

No. 1 Song the week of February 12, 2007: Irreplaceable by Beyonce

Nobel Prize for Literature: Doris Lessing (U.K.)

Random Facts:

• Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, experiences its first snowfall in 89 years.
• Romania and Bulgaria join the European Union, bringing the number of member nations to 27.
• Jerry Falwell dies. (I didn’t know this until right now.)

In 2006 I was a dirty old car salesman. I was back in Tulsa and decided that I wanted to find a job that was different than any other job I had. So selling cars it was. I loved that job. It was so much fun because everyday was a challenge. The hours ended up being too much. I really do miss the money though… <Sigh>

Miranda and I decided this to give internet dating a try. This was round 1, round 2 came this year. You can reference some old blog posts of mine to hear how the second round worked out for me. The first round wasn’t very successful either. One date in particular a guy drove up from Norman. He brought his friend with him and I brought Miranda. Miranda and I met them at a sushi restaurant I’m pretty sure even before the food got there both guys were drunk! The guy there for me was gawking at Miranda the whole time. We decided we go to the Elm Street Pub after dinner. And things got much worse. These fellows became so obnoxious that people kept looking at our table… Now, I’m not one that gets obnoxious in public, I don’t like loud people so being at a table with the loud people was horrible… We ended up dropping them off at their hotel and then they got really offended that we didn’t want to hang out longer. Ugh. So, the next day I get a call from this guy when I am getting ready for work asking for me to come pick them up and drop them off at their car. So I did, I mean, what would Jesus do, right? Neither guy said one word from the hotel to the car except for, “Wow, you go to church? I’m so sorry.” I dropped them off and never answered an email or phone call from him again.

That summer my parents took the entire family on another Alaskan cruise. This was Sam’s first cruise! My mom’s two sisters and their husbands and her brother and his wife and my cousin and Bevan, Evie & Sam and Millie & Jeff. It was such a great trip. This was my first trip to Taku Glacier Lodge. I cannot explain how much I love this place. As soon as I stepped on the plane in Juneau and flew over the Juneau Ice Fields I knew I was in love. Then when we landed on a lake in front of a gorgeous glacier and stepped off on towards this charming lodge, I knew that one this would be the place where I would get married. It hasn’t lost its charm either… This summer I went back and I am still as in love with now as I was when I first saw it. Please go and have a fabulous salmon bake there if you are in Juneau. You won’t regret it.

The Crew leaving Seattle

Sam in Alaska... I LOVE this picture!

Miranda, Michelle & me at Miranda's new house

President: George W. Bush
Vice President: Richard Cheney
Population: 300 million

No Economic Info

No. 1 Song the week of February 12, 2006: Check On It by Beyonce featuring Slim Thug

Nobel Prize for Literature: Orhan Pamuk (Turkey) (One of my favorite authors)

Random Facts:

• New Horizons spacecraft is launched. It will travel three billion miles over nine years to study Pluto’s atmosphere and surface.
• The International Astronomical Union votes to redefine the solar system, and Pluto loses its status as a planet. It is reclassified as a dwarf planet. (This broke my heart…)
• Saddam Hussein dies.

2005 was another year of big changes. Bevan and Evie had bought a beautiful house in Moore, OK but had decided to move back Tulsa so Michelle & I decided to move to their house in Moore. We both were working at DHS in Oklahoma City. We were sad to leave McCullough Street, but happy to be in house with a jacuzzi bathtub and walk in closets. After about a month my friend Miranda moved in to the third bedroom. She was in her last year of dental school at OU at the time. The three of us had so much fun! The funny part of it was that we all had boyfriends named Matt while we lived together. So that could be confusing at times. Miranda loved themes, so we always had “Sunday Funday”, “Taco Tuesday”, “Wednesday Friendsday”… every week… It was great.

But most importantly this year the love of my life was born. Sweet Samuel Douglas Houston made a surprise appearance August 10th. He and Evie gave us quite a scare though. I’ll never forget that phone call the morning Evie went in to the hospital. We were all excited because this was the first grandbaby… my first time to be an aunt. We were all so thrilled. Evie had HELLPS Syndrome and her blood pressure was through the roof. HELLPS is a combination of three things, blood pressure, kidneys and liver problems. There are risks of seizure and stroke and kidney and liver failure. So they did an emergency C-section 6 weeks before her due date. After Sam was born Evie’s health started improving and thankfully she had no lasting problems from it like many can have. Now since Sam was born so early he didn’t have time to finish developing his lungs. He was in the NICU because of his lung problems and low birth weight of 3lbs 7oz and he was 16in long. After a week in the NICU they discovered he had a valve in his heart that never closed. So at one week old he had his sweet little heart operated on. But praise the Lord he everything worked out great. He was in the NICU for 5 weeks and then they were finally able to bring him home. He had more prescriptions and monitors than I could imagine, but he was a healthy baby!  Poor Evie though became a recluse because he couldn’t go in public for 8 months until RSV season was over. I think she probably hugely relieved when April came around and she could rejoin the land of the living. 2005 was a hallmark year, Sam Houston was born and he quite possibly might be the coolest kid in the entire world.

I moved back to Tulsa late that fall. Decided to move on from OKC and work towards something new.

Matt & I in Santa Fe for a friends wedding

The first time to meet my LOVE Sam!!

Mommy & Daddy with Sam 20 days old.

President: George W. Bush
Vice President: Richard Cheney
Population: 296 million

No Economic Information

No. 1 Song the week of February 12, 2005: Let Me Love You by Mario

Nobel Prize for Literature: Harold Pinter (United Kingdom)

Random Facts:

• Hurricane Katrina wreaks catastrophic damage on the Gulf coast; more than 1,000 die and millions are left homeless. Americans are shaken not simply by the magnitude of the disaster but by how ill-prepared all levels of government are in its aftermath.
• The Terry Schiavo case becomes the focus of an emotionally charged battle in Congress.
• Millions of Iraqi voters ratify a new constitution.

I moved in to small house on McCullough St. in Norman, Oklahoma in 2004 with my friend Mindy. We were so excited about our new beautiful house. I remember telling my parents about how amazing this house was and how cute it was. They came to help me move on move in day and my mom was less than thrilled with the new dwelling space. She pulled my dad aside and told him that I could not move in there… It was a shock to me because I thought it was an adorable house. Looking back today I can see where the worry came from. The doors and windows wouldn’t lock and when you walked in the bathroom you felt like you just might fall through the floor and the best part was the train was literally one house away from us, so the entire house shook for about 5 minutes every hour. But I loved it anyways. Mindy and I moved in and made it adorable.

It wasn’t too long after living there that I met Michelle & Julie. They were our neighbors and still today Michelle is one of my best friends. I’ve been so lucky to find such amazing friends in my life. Michelle is a special gal and from day 1 I knew we’d be friends forever. Now I get to see her in the role of a wife and a mommy, which is completely different than the Michelle I met. We spent our time stalking boys, drinking wine, and playing with the dog beasts that live with her. One time we devised the most brilliant plan in order to meet this boy who was a graduate student in Ecology in one of my classes at OU… It was fabulous and I am not going to go in to details because 2004 was a really busy year! But I will commit to devoting an entire blog post to the boy from Brazil!

So through working at Journey I had the opportunity to go on two fabulous trips that year. I spent a week in Cancun, Mexico… But not the Cancun of girls gone wild, the actual city. I worked at a mission there that supplied help to the community. It was an amazing trip, the kids were wonderful and the folks that I went with were great too. I couldn’t imagine a better trip, that was until I went to Mozambique that summer. That trip to Mozambique was absolutely amazing. I stayed onsite at an orphanage the time we were there, except for a few nights that we spent in tents in the bush. The children at the orphanage were unlike any children I’d been around before. They had seen and been affected by things that no child should ever experience but they had so much joy. I assure you that a day has not gone by since my time in Africa when I haven’t thought about those kids. It was a fabulous summer. I went with a small group of people and our lives will always be tied together because of that trip. I still love to keep in contact and hear how they are all doing today. A special friendship formed from that trip with my friend Abbie. And I have a feeling that one day we might go back there together. (What do you think Abbie? Or should I ask Colin?) On our way to the bush my group was taken off a bus and thrown in jail… It might be one of the more exciting stories I have. It was horribly scary but they let us go in the end. So all was good, and I came home with a fabulous story from it!

I ended the year with a trip to Austria to go and visit Kelly. I met them the day after Christmas at a ski lodge that her boyfriend’s family had rented for the past 30 years. It was amazing, except for the fact that I got the flu and I can’t ski. Little kids were flying past Kelly and me and laughing at us. I fell more than I stood up and finally we called it quits. That when I found out we were supposed to sled home. Now being from Texas and Oklahoma sledding to me was something you did on a hill. I had no idea that you can control a sled and have it lead you somewhere. But we did, we also sled down a huge hill that had a fence at the bottom of it and had no other way out but to climb back up the hill which was really steep and covered in at least 2 feet of snow. It took what seemed like hours, the sun was going down and I was pretty sure we were going to die, but we made it. We rang in the new year German style, lots of singing, lots of toasting and for me, lots of Kleenex.

2004 was a fabulous year that just might be one of my favorites of this decade.

With the kiddos in Mexico

The girls at the orphanage braided my hair. This is me with baby Sam.

I love this picture so much. This was the night after we were arrested and had made it to the bush. These ladies were amazing!

Super cold in Austria.

President: George Bush
Vice President: Richard Cheney
Population: 294 million

No budget information for this year… Sorry

No. 1 Song the week of February 12, 2004: The Way You Move by OutKast

Nobel Prize for Literature: Elfriede Jelinek (Austria)

Random Facts:

• Scientists created two new chemical elements, named Ununtrium (Element 113) and Ununpentium (Element 115)
• Cosmologist Stephen Hawking reverses himself on his Black Hole theory and concludes that information can in fact be retrieved from black holes. DUH!
• Martha Stewart, diva of domesticity, was sentenced to five months in prison in July after being found guilty on four counts of obstruction of justice and lying to federal investigators.
• Janet Jacksons nipple was revealed to all during the Super Bowl.

We rang in 2003 right… Watching OU take the win at the Rose Bowl. It was a beautiful day in Pasadena, the parade was amazing to see too. Right after we returned home I made the big move 120 miles southwest to Norman, OK. Bevan and Evie were living there and finishing up school. They lived in a charming little apartment complex that luckily had an apartment open right when I was looking. So I looked no further and moved directly upstairs from them. It was a small complex and the neighbors I met were all friends. My friend Cailey lived there and I grew to love my time spent with she and her now husband Marshall. It was always great fun. But best of all I became best friends with one of my brother’s best friends and past roommate Jason. We ended up hanging out pretty much whenever we weren’t in class or work. I worked at Journey Church in Norman at this time too. Bevan got me a job there and from that I met some more of my favorite people ever. But back to Jason… We started taking guitar lessons and we would play and listen to old records and make really unhealthy food. If it wasn’t for Jason, I totally would never have survived living in Norman that first year. Through the church I met my best friend Mindy. She worked at Journey too. We never talked. I thought she was a weird A/V type and she thought I was just weird. When I first started there I answered phones in the room with the copy machine, so anytime anyone would come and make copies I would do the Rob Schnieder “Making Copies” routine… I was bored. But one day an attorney who shared a parking lot with us was yelling at Mindy because her car was parked illegally and my brother had to get in his face to get him off of Mindy. So she came in and told me how nice my brother was and from there we became friends. Plus I had a washer and dryer and she didn’t at the time… I think that was the real driving force of the friendship. After she came over to my house one night to watch a movie and do laundry we became instant best friends.

While I’m off in Norman having a grand ole time little did I know that there was some 19 year old boy was preying on my sweet baby sister. She in my opinion was no where near the age of dating… She should still be thinking boys are gross on the playground, right? Well anyways, it’s a good thing I wasn’t able to chase him off because today he is my precious brother in law… Okay, so she was 18 years old… But I always thought of her as a baby sister, not a grown up younger sister. Jeffery Paul Hutsell you sweet son of gun, I love you man!

That pretty much sums up 2003.

Hope you enjoy!

Jason in my messy apartment.

Jeff & Millie in 2003

President: George W. Bush
Vice President: Richard Cheney
Population: 291 million

Federal spending: $2,158 billion
Federal debt: $6,783 billion
Unemployment: 6.0 %

No. 1 Song the week of February 12, 2003: All I Have by Jennifer Lopez featuring LL Cool J

Nobel Prize for Literature: J. M. Coetzee (South Africa)

Random Facts:

• Scientists uncover the fossil of a new species of flying dinosaur in northeastern China thought to have existed 120 million years ago. It is the first dinosaur ever found with four wings
• Johnny & June Carter Cash die this year.
• Three fossilized skulls discovered near the Ethiopian village of Herto in 1997 have now been identified as the oldest known remains of modern humans. Assigned to a new human subspecies called Homo sapiens idaltu (idaltu means elder in the Afar language of Ethiopia), the skulls are estimated to be about 160,000 years old—a good 50,000 years older than any previously discovered Homo sapiens
• Space shuttle Columbia explodes, killing all 7 astronauts (Feb. 1).

I lived with my friend Susi Doring during 2002. Living with Susi was an absolute blast. I met her my senior year of high school through our German class. Susi is one of those special people who is just so full of life. I always envied her because of that. No matter what life threw at her, she danced her way through it. She literally danced all the time, while making hummus or guacomole, ironing her shirt, walking to the bathroom, and especially while getting ready to go out. Madonna would be blaring and Susi would be dancing. I loved the year we lived together.

Kelly fell in love this year to tall drink of German water. We were friends with every international student at TU and met him at party one night. They fell in love and when he went back home and she decided, why not… I am going to go give it a whirl in Germany. I decided that year to leave TU and move to Norman the following Spring semester to finish school at OU. So in honor of Kelly and me moving on to more fun and exotic places we decided we would commemorate our friendship by getting Glamour Shots. Not 2001 style Glamour Shots either, we wanted the late 80’s early 90’s style Glamour Shots. We walked in there and asked them to do the big hair, big makeup and big shoulder pads. They all acted offended that weren’t taking their jobs seriously, and we assured them that the pictures that they do are stellar pieces of art, but we wanted something bigger. Oh the fun we had. Oddly enough they still had the wardrobe of that era. So we putting on sequins and denim jackets with American flags on then, posing back to back while popping our collars. It was quite amazing, especially the one where we looked naked and had red satin and angel wings. Sadly those pictures are MIA… They will be found soon and I will dedicate and entire blog post to their glory.

But most importantly in 2002 my brother and Evie got married. It was a beautiful wedding. It seemed so crazy to stand as bridesmaid watching my big brother become a husband. Their ceremony was the most beautiful ceremony ever. They used a ceremony from a Robert Fuldgem book. It was such a powerful union and one day I hope to use the same words to marry my husband, just as my sister used to marry her husband. Like always, Millie and want to do the same thing as their big brother. That day I gained another sister. And I will always thank God for that.

We ended the year in style. The family rented an RV and headed out on Christmas day towards California to go to see OU in the Rose Bowl on New Years Day. I won’t talk about that since that was 2003 but the last day of 2002 we went to the Jay Leno Show. Snoop Dogg was the musical guest and he was totally entertaining. Jay Mohr was there and several other folks that I can’t remember. It was a wonderful way to wrap up a year.

Millie & Me with the Bride

Me & Julio Down by the Schoolyard

President: George W. Bush
Vice President: Richard Cheney
Population: 290 million

Federal spending: $2,011 billion
Federal debt: $6,228 billion
Unemployment: 5.8 %

No. 1 Song the week of February 12, 2002: U Got it Bad by Usher

Nobel Prize for Literature: Imre Kertész (Hungary)

Random Facts:

• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets opens
• Pennsylvania miners rescued after spending 77 hours in a dark, flooded mine shaft (July 28).
• Kenneth L. Lay, chairman of bankrupt energy trader Enron, resigns; company under federal investigation for hiding debt and misrepresenting earnings.

In 2001 I turned 21 years old… I was legal to do anything I wanted to do, go anywhere I wanted to go. Oh yeah, total freedom.

2001 also brought me my love for Alaska. My parent’s took the family on a cruise through the Inside Passage. It was such a phenomenal, even spiritual journey. It was just as they had described but even more beautiful. I will never forget seeing the glaciers calve, walking through the streets of Ketchikan, watching the salmon swim upstream. That beautiful state made every other place I had seen in the world seem dirty and regular. It was nothing in comparison to Alaska. My heart was won over. Someone else’s heart was won over on this trip too… My brother asked Evie to be his wife, and she said yes. It was a wonderful trip.

I’m pretty sure this is the year that we burned Pier 1 in Utica Square down too… Not sure. I’m really bad with dates, so there could be information under one year that belongs in another year. We still were going to see Admiral Twin regularly and you could always find us on Sunday nights at Arnie’s playing shuffle board with a Harp in hand.

Kelly & I seeing Admiral Twin one night... It looks like I was a flipper baby. "It was only a couple of flipper babies!!"

President: George W. Bush
Vice President: Richard Cheney
Population: 281.4 million

Federal spending: $1,864 billion
Federal debt: $5,807 billion
Unemployment: 4.8 %

No. 1 Song the week of February 12, 2001: Ms. Jackson by OutKast

Nobel Prize for Literature: Sir V. S. Naipaul (UK)

Random Facts:

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone opened.
• Terrorists attack United States. Hijackers ram jetliners into twin towers of New York City’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A fourth hijacked plane crashes 80 mi outside of Pittsburgh (Sept. 11). Toll of dead and injured in thousands. Within days, Islamic militant Osama bin Laden and the al-Qaeda terrorist network are identified as the parties behind the attacks.
• Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh executed.