Skip to main content

And then I turned 21

Although the hangover is still problematic a few days after the big 2-1, and the memories are spotted... I did have the best day of my entire life.

I was able to bring in this monumental day with just about every single person I care about, and that is something I will never be able to thank everyone enough for. Honestly, it truly was the best.

This is just the beginning of a new chapter- one where I don't have to be fearful of those darn Iowa City  police, and I can finally have a beer after a rough week, and treat my mom to a little glass of wine on a Friday night.

Without my friends and family, where would I be today? I wouldn't be who I am, I wouldn't have the drive and ambition in my life that I do today, and I definitely would not have made it through my 21st birthday without them.

This is an annoyingly sappy post, but here's something a little less sappy and a little more sloppy: I may or may not have slipped off my own party bus, been hoisted atop of some landlord's shoulders, cried at a restaurant because they didn't sing me happy birthday, and I may have worn a flannel shirt. These things may have happened, but really, who's to say? 21st birthday's are expected to be like this...if not, you're no fun and you probably still like Pokemon (no shame).

But with this small milestone of a birthday, I came to the realization that I am a mere 9 years away from being 30, 5 years until I have to pay for my own health insurance, and only 1.5 years left of this wonderful adventure of college. It hit me, much like my hangover, rather hard. I have had an incredible journey thus far, and I can only hope for what's to come- but shit, the years fly.

If I've learned one thing from this birthday (besides saying no to tequila), it's that life isn't a sprint, it's a marathon. At every mile you'll encounter a new hurdle or challenge. But these challenges aren't there to slow you down or discourage the adventure, they're there to inspire you and push you to live for the best. Because in all honesty, life is too beautiful to wish the days away, and life is too beautiful not to celebrate it with your best friends and family everyday.
Here's to 21, and the rest of the wonderful years ahead!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Olympic Rings and Emotional Things: What is it about the Olympics that make us ugly cry over sports and athletes we've never heard of?

I'm sitting here on a Wednesday afternoon where, from my couch,  I am transfixed by the multicast view of the Olympics. A quadrant of screens take up the TV where a medal ceremony, men's basketball, skateboarding and a women's soccer game are all happening at the same time. Now, I've always been someone with a love of sports - and it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for me to watch multiple events at the same time, or maybe even grab a stealth peak of the ESPN app to check the score while at a wedding...but to have a quad screen up with multiple sports - even for me, that seems excessive. It got me thinking, what is it about the Olympics that continually captures my attention so fully I can not simply fathom picking ONE of these events to watch? The simple and most obvious answer is that it's fun to watch the world's best athletes compete against each other. You get the super teams, the living legends, the hometown heroes, the underdogs, the record holders - ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Amster...dam(n), that was fun.

I have recently found myself double checking my memories- making sure things really happened, that I actually did the things I think I did, and saw the things I swear I saw, because with all this adventure going on in my life nothing seems real any more; like it's one big dream that I don't want to wake up from. It's a good thing I always carry my Nikon around with me to back up my illusive memories- for proof that my life is actually as exciting as my thoughts tend to illustrate. For the past two days, I found myself in Amsterdam . The best part is, I was able to explore the fascinating place with my friends who flew in from Rome, Florence and London. It was such a glorious feeling to have Katie in my arms, to chow down with Lindsay and Maria, and to do stupid things with Mallory and Heidi- all while being in a foreign (seriously, so foreign) land. Before I landed in the city of canals, I knew very little about it. I suppose research would have been a standard idea, bu...
Post a Comment
Read more

Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones.

I want to give a fair warning that this isn't my usual content. I'm very much a spreader of joy and good news and happiness- but I am also a human. And as it turns out, Maroon5 was right all along: it's not always rainbows and butterflies. So my friends, I share with you something incredibly personal, and honest. Please read on with the knowledge that my intent is not to be negative, or sad, or search for attention. Rather my intent is to write honestly and sincerely about my quest to turn my light back on. There are times in everyone's life where it feels as though the light is fading, and as if the darkness all around us encroaches with unstoppable force. I know I'm not alone in this feeling, but for me, accepting this is extremely hard to admit. Talking about (or writing about it) is even harder for me to do because I truly thought that if I convinced myself enough, there would be no bad days. But recently I've come to the conclusion that you don't know...
Post a Comment
Read more