The 80's provided me with many things that shaped me into who I am today. New brothers and sisters arrived, I started participating in youth sports while going to school and developed a farmer's work ethic. The 90's brought me rap music, driver's license, Super Bowl XXXI and an understanding of training. The 2000's, however, brought me lifelong treasures such as my wife, my son, my business and a large appreciation for education.
In part one of My Best Decade Ever, I will outline my greatest moments of the past ten years. Enjoy.
Liz said, "YES!"
On July 5, 2003, Elizabeth Susan Reusser became my wife. Not only was she the most beautiful bride that I had ever seen, together we started to forge a life that has been full of excitement. Our vows were very clear that we desired to amen and echo what God was already doing in our individual lives, and together we could do more for the advancement of God's Kingdom than we could on our own. Plus, she's hot!
Announcing Isaiah James Black
September 19th, 2008 was the second greatest day of my life. Isaiah James Black was born after 27 hours of labor. It took a c-section to finally bring the bundle of joy into this world at 7 pounds, 9 ounces. In my bias opinion, he's the best baby that a family could have. Liz and I are very, very lucky in many ways, but I'll do my best not to rub in the fact that he's slept through the night all but three times in his 15 months!
Victory School of Wrestling opens the Victory Training Center
It was a seven month project renovating the location that is now home to Victory School of Wrestling. There were many, many tireless hours of destruction, re-building, painting and cleaning. Finally, we opened the doors on March 1, 2007. It's been an amazing facility for an amazing group of athletes.
I finally met Mickey Mouse
I had to wait until I was 27 years old, but it made my Disney experience amazing. It was truly a magical moment. Liz and I took our pictures with the famous Mickey and Minnie Mouse ears, but we never bought them...we took the pictures in the souvenir shop. Smart, huh? We enjoyed the tree house from Swiss Family Robinson, Pirates of the Caribbean, It's a Small World and the tea cups, of course. I can't wait to go back in May.
Walking the Great Wall of China
Wrestling brought me to Beijing in 2006 and I took the opportunity to walk on the Great Wall of China. The whole China experience was wonderful and I'm so happy I had the chance to see one of the modern wonders of the world. The Ming Tombs, silk factory and Forbidden City were also very valuable experiences, not to mention the food.
No luggage...again!
Azerbaijan, Poland and Russia were amazing countries to visit (thanks to wrestling, again). I'm sure I would've enjoyed my experience in each country even more if my luggage would've arrived in those countries with me. The hotel workers in Baku, Azerbaijan found it laughable that I wore the same Oregon State wrestling t-shirt six days in a row at the World Championships in 2007. We all know orange doesn't flatter anyone.
Rodgers, welcome to the United States
It was very rewarding for Liz and me (and our families) when our dear friend Rodgers finally arrived on American soil to begin a life. I met Rodgers at the World Championships in New York in 2003 and we corresponded via e-mail up to the time he arrived in Madison on a Greyhound bus. From Uganda, it took him 29 hours to land in New York and over 30 hours on the bus to Madison. He was hungry, jet-lagged and completely worn out. So, naturally, we took him the Badgers' wrestling golf outing to gorge ourselves on brats and Mountain Dew. The next day we drove 6 hours to River Falls (usually took only 4) and he joined us at the Black Family Reunion. On the menu: brats and Mountain Dew.
There are definitely other memorable moments that I left out and someday I would love to share with you more about them and how they impacted me. Namely, the following:
- Modern technology - cell phones, computers, social networking, DVR, iPod
- Graduation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Owning our cars debt-free
- All-American honors
- Emily accepting Christ
- Stephanie and Amy's weddings (plus Sophia Marie)
- Liz's graduation from Pharmacy school
- Purchasing our first home (minus the post-purchase drama)
- Sailing in Tampa
- One Day '01 and One Day '03
- Pseudo-date with Liz
- My first mountain bike race
- Deanna and Alaina making the World Team (the same day Isaiah was born)
- Pike's Peak
I'm certain that I left some very significant moments out by accident. It's difficult to recall 10 full years in a short amount of time. In the next few days, I'm going to do my best to list a few more memories from my best decade ever. Thanks for your interest.
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Wow, this has been a pretty great decade. It really makes you thankful when it's listed out like that!
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