Annalissa Smith Nelson

Like most I went to college after high school. Whether it was Albuquerque, classes at UNM, or a combination of both I realized that I wasn't going to make it another two years half-assing it in 'burque. Occasionally I regretted leaving school two years in but in hindsight the path I followed since then led me to some cool places. I have been fortunate enough to see parts of the country by living and working in Arizona, Alaska, Oregon, New Mexico, and Colorado since then. I think I am set here in CO for awhile but sometimes I dream of living in the Pac Northwest again.
The day after our graduation I went on my first date with my now husband, Mike. It's amazing to me that all I have become and the experiences I've had over the past ten years (time flies!) i've been able to share with Mike. Though he's a little older and had what seems like a whole life before me we have done a lot of growing up and growing together that it still seems new. We would like to have kids soon but it seems like we haven't been ready for that chapter in our lives yet. We still like to party lots :) For now our animals (a dog and two cats) are good surrogates.
Eventually I found my way back to school and was able to attain an AA in Eduction and BA in Humanities in Santa Fe and actually really enjoyed it this time around. Career-wise I feel like I have been a jack of many trades (retail, finance, hospitality, admin, education) but a master of none! It's starting to drive me crazy and I am ready to start working on a Graphic Design degree so I can earn a paycheck in a field that aligns with my personal interests, that's part of the reason we moved to Denver. Though for now I can't complain... I am working for E & J Gallo Winery currently and feel like there is room to carve myself a pretty satisfying niche there in the future. Other than that I spend a lot of time working with paper, photography, and design. I posted my links to the stuff that I like to make.
At this point I don't think I will make it to the reunion, it's a super-busy summer and well I have told my life story in the words above so I wouldn't know what else to say. ;)

As with most of my memories over the past ten years they have formed into short flashes of time, here are some of those flashes that comprised my highschool experience:

-Listening to the Beastie Boys & driving the cow car up to Pajarito to ski every weekend.
-Making spaghetti with Noah B. for our birthdays
-Finding a love for tennis while playing on the LAHS team even though we were screwing around in practice more than playing
-Making Top 10 lists with Cari M. that included mashed potatoes and the Beastie Boys
-Driving around with Andrea S., talking lots of schmack and comisserating about boys
-Driving around with Araceli O. and getting in trouble because of Juan
-Sharing nearly every class with Justin Sanchez and always laughing at how crazy he was
-Getting in my only shouting match with a teacher (authority figure of any kind!) in Junior year history
-Going to Ms. Stewart for comfort after that
-Going to some podunk town in NM for the Student -Council convention and dancing a crazy chicken dance
-Ms. Stewart & Mr. Lathrop's Humanities class (a life-changer)
-Going down to the Oasis almost every Saturday until we ticked off the staff
-Partying at my Mom's house when they were out of town
-Playing pool at Jesse B.'s house
-Getting my Driver's license, a serious fear of accidents, and my first love in the McGinnis School for Driving class.
-Driving to UNM with Kira C. on the weekends to see our boys
-Causing trouble in the drum closet with Jeremy M., Ryan I., & Isaac M our freshman year during band
-Driving off the road with Janna & Lindsey on our way to the hot springs
-Hanging with the best girl friends I've ever had;
-Janna, Rachel, Lindsey, Molly, & Andrea usually indulging in ice cream or something similar