10 Years

As of today I've reached a milestone in my working life. Many people that I graduated with went on to college, others found jobs and I have no idea what they are doing. I would like to think that few have done what I have done. Today marks my 10 year anniversary working at Coldwater Creek. I started working here as a temporary employee down at the store in Sandpoint as a summer job before I went back to school. Well, things happened and I never went, but I stayed here and 10 years later I'm still here. Things have changed greatly for both me personally and here at work. I've gotten married to the love of my life, had 2 wonderful (if not sometimes a handful) children, bought a house, and lived a great life. Coldwater Creek has changed too. When I started we only had one store, now we have over 200. I'm not working down at the store any longer, but out at the corporate headquarters where I've been for the last 6 1/2 years. Life is good here. Coldwater has taken very good care of me over this time and I don't see that changing any time soon. I've worked in many different departments and had the luxury of experiencing new areas of the company. I've been promoted and given new responsibilities. All is good. Life in a big corporation isn't always the best and many people complain about how the company takes care of them. My feeling is that they don't look at working here as part of a bigger benefit that living in an area like North Idaho gives you. The company is casual, friendly, and fairly flexible. Those tied into the style of life many of us here have come to enjoy makes me appreciate what I have and not try to make the quick buck and move on to another company. I don't know how many people can say that they've worked for a company for 10 years and feel like they've been taken care of. I can and I'm thankful for that.
So, today I start on what I hope to be the next 10 years. I have no reason to think that it won't be possible. We'll see what happens, but I can say that working here has been a pleasure and I can't wait to see what tomorrow may bring for both me and Coldwater Creek.