'Twas 7 years ago today that it all started

It was exactly seven years ago today, on September 26, 2000, that a young, naive, and untested 22-year-old recent college grad named Fritz moved from Pennsylvania to the great big metropolis of metro Washington, DC. I can still remember that day well—waking up to a somewhat cool, cloudy sky, packing the last few bits of lightweight stuff into my car (a few days before my folks came down with the moving van), and driving down 81 towards my new apartment in Manassas, VA (yes, I did live pretty far out in the boonies my first year here).

I remember the feeling of wonder and satisfaction upon entering my new apartment, thinking that this apartment, this new home, was all mine! A lot of the glee came from living at home during the summer months in college, having to live with roommates while in college, and just the general yearning for independence, to have a place I could call my own.

That first day was largely spent unloading boxes from my car into my apartment, waiting for the Comcast guy to arrive, eating dinner from Taco Bell's drive-thru, and spending some of the evening browsing the Borders and Barnes & Noble along Sudley Road in Manassas.

It's so hard to believe that I've been living and working here for seven years now, how far I've come and how much I've grown as a person since then. When I think of all that I've accomplished, all the roads I've travelled, all the people who have come and gone from my life in that time, it truly blows my mind how much mileage I've accumulated here in Beltwayland. But I have to say, it's been well worth it, and I hope to have many more years here.