A look back...2001

2001 was a really fun year. I was a junior in college at the Univ. of Arkansas, still studying hard but enjoying college life. This is the year that I turned 21 and I celebrated by going out to a local restaurant/bar with some friends. I was not a big drinker at all, so it didn't take many "Hey, let me buy you a birthday shot" before I was way past tipsy. At one point I remember laughing hysterically in the bathroom by myself, and when I came out they asked me what I was laughing at. My response was "The Me in the mirror is really funny." Add that up there with top life lessons and words of wisdom: sometimes you just have to laugh at the Me in the mirror.
I have no idea who this kid is but I thought it was an adorable pic:)

I had just about decided that I didn't want to go to med school, and was searching for what I wanted to be when I grew up. I loved the idea of being a doctor, but realistically didn't want to put in the amount of work and time that a career as a physician would entail. I grew up in a family where work was a means to an end; you worked to earn money so you could play. Careers were never the focus or most important thing in my parents' lives. I'm not sure it's necessarily the best way to look at things, but my view was and still is that I want to have a family, friends and a good home-life first, and work is just a necessary evil. Not the best attitude for a doctor in my opinion, so that was out. Sounds like the perfect attitude for a dentist though right? No fridays, no weekends, no holidays, no on-call, loads of dinero...sign me up! I visited a couple dental schools and took the admissions test and did very well. Then I signed on to work for/shadow a dentist the summer after my junior year of school. HATED IT! I'm not a work-with-my-hands type person, I'm not good at spacial visualization, and I hate the sounds of drills on teeth...what was I thinking?? I ended 2001 with no concrete idea of what I wanted to do with my life.

I was still running a couple miles here and there at the gym, lifting weights and doing the elliptical several days a week. I was in decent shape, but of course was never happy with my body. I thought I needed to lose weight and would alternate between being on extreme diets and pigging out all the time. Not exactly a recipe for health and fitness success. I was definitely still figuring out who I was and what my place in the world was in every area of my life, weight/body/exercise included.