Favorite Years

Over the course of my life there have been certain years that have stood out as being really good years. For some reason the stars aligned and most things seemed to break my way. I am going to rank my favorite calendar years as ones that I wouldn't mind going back in time and repeating. One note is that there are no years from my childhood. This doesn't mean I didn't have a good childhood, since from all accounts I was very happy during this time. All this means is that I have no idea how to separate out the years. Was 1986 better than 1989? I have no idea. Anyway, below is my list of what years I could easily remember and separate out

Best Years of My Life:

1. 2010 - Yes, I just finished the best year of my life. In June M and I tied the knot.
   
   I have written about this before, but it was great having so many friends and family in the same spot at the same time. In addition to that 2010 was a pretty good year for trips including; Kansas City, Spain and Las Vegas. Finally, in sports Duke was able to win the 2010 National Title in dramatic fashion and in almost as good of news watch UNC's season go down in flames as they didn't even make the NCAA tournament. Oh yeah Duke beat UNC 82-50 at Cameron, which was even better because I finally was able to use the Henry wearing a Duke jersey picture that I had been saving for the right moment. Finally, I don't want to forget was the Jazz decision to trade for Al Jefferson. Jefferson has been one of my favorite players since I saw him play for Prentiss High School in the Coliseum in Jackson, MS.


2. 2003 - I loved my sophomore year in college. While my freshmen year was more about survival, my sophomore year was about enjoying college. I had a steady group of friends and a new girlfriend. Life was good.
   
   Also, in 2003 was the first semester of junior year, which also just happened to be an unbelievable season for the Miami Redhawks football team. After losing their first game at Iowa the team won thirteen straight (the most in the nation) including a MAC title victory and a Bowl victory. I was able to attend most of the games including the last two I mentioned and loved every moment.


3. 1999 - It seems like really great years can follow pretty tough years. In 1998 I was a dorky high school sophomore. I had glasses, no girlfriend and received no meaningful playing time on the basketball team. In the summer of 1999 I made the switch to contacts, became a starter on the basketball team and in the process happened to pick up a girlfriend. The switch from one year to the next was incredible for a 16 year old kid. This really was the beginning of having a great high school experience as both my junior and senior years were so much better than my freshmen and sophomore years.


4. 2006 - I have started to notice a pattern on what makes a great year. It seems like the great years involve some type of relationship change combined with sports success. 2006 was no different. In 2006 I met M and started dating in May of that year. I knew from our first date that I wanted to date M for a long time. My friend Brooke and I talked on the phone of our first date and she remarked that I sounded so happy that she might be telling this story at our wedding. Anyway, on a relationship side of things I was extremely happy to have met and dated M.
   
   On a sports side of things 2006 was the year of the Minnesota Twins. The little team that could had one of those incredible years where they seemingly won every game. I had started the year off as a minor Twins and baseball fan and ended the year as a huge Twins fan. That passion and support of the Twins has continued to this day. Same could be written about M.


5. 2005 - This is the one year that doesn't fit the pattern of the above. Any relationship changes that I would write about would be negative. Same goes with any sports changes considering 2005 was the year UNC won the title AND Tyler Hansbrough started his reign of terror. If anything both of those starts would seem to suggest that 2005 was one of the worst years. However, three things trumped all of that negativity. I graduated from college after a great senior Year. Not that graduating from college was ever unexpected, but still I took it as a big accomplishment. The second thing is that I was able to get a job with Target Corporation in Minneapolis.
   This was a considerable weight off my shoulders since no part of me wanted to have to move back to Jackson and live with my parents. The final thing was that because my job didn't start till September I was able to take the entire summer off. That was a great summer. I watched movies, read the paper, played ping pong and hung out with my friends. It was the perfect transition from college to the working world.