TWENTY-FUN.

This past Sunday I turned 21. I promise this post is not what I think about drinking because 1. No one cares about my opinion and 2. There are many other things that are way more fun to write about.

Like the top 2 reasons why I looove celebrating my day of birth.

There are some things I don't really like about birthdays. I don't like surprises and get so awkward when people tell me or sing happy birthday to me because I don't know what to say back… This year my most common answer was, "Thanks, my mom did a great job!"

Gah so awkward. Moving on. 

Reason #1 why your day of birth is super fun: Celebrating all that happened in the past year.

I got to live with the gemstones (going on 2 years)!
Also I just now realized that it looks like my armpit is sweating in this picture.

I got to be a part of this hilarious small group.

Began adventuring in the big CO.

Went on the Spring Break adventure of a lifetime

I got baptized!!

Climbed a couple of mountains.

Made memories with these goobers.

Met friends from all around the USA.

And stuck my toes in the Atlantic Ocean after wayyyyy too long.

Reason #2 why your day of birth is super fun: Celebrating what is to come!

This list is obviously subject to change because I don't know the future but here's what I'm already thankful for in my 21st year:

• Bringing in the new year with my camp friends! Oh my heart.
• Running my first marathon!
• Being one step closer to getting to have my own classroom! Okay this is actually terrifying and invigorating at the same time…
• Spending the summer working with Children's Hope Chest in Colorado Springs and Swaziland… seriously the Lord is too good to me!
• Living in a lake house with 7 other beauties next year.
• Making more and more memories with the best friends a girl could ask for.
• New Lessons: in my walk with Jesus, in learning to be a teacher, in how to live life with people well.

I feel like this post is super mushy and tender and nostalgic but what can I say? I love all things corny and cheesy and clique. 

Sometimes I laugh so hard at myself when I think about how the things that I have wanted in life have drastically changed.

I used to ask for a pet monkey every year for Christmas until I was like 10 and found out Santa wasn't real. It was the first thing on my list every.single.year. I had this elaborate plan to make chimpanzees into seeing-eye-monkies to help blind people. I mean they could have made their owners breakfast and everything! It would have been great.

I think it came from watching the old school Little Rascals episode where Spanky tries to turn Cotton into a monkey. I'm still a little bitter that there was never a chimpanzee sitting under my Christmas tree but I guess my parents had their reasons…

One time get a dog named Bella though. She used to jump up from behind me and pull my pants down. She was the worst.

Then I was in middle school and I asked for a drum set. My parents said heck no to that one and I'm sure my siblings were praising the Great Lion of Judah because I would have been so annoying. In high school, I wanted things for the guitar that I can only play Silent Night and Hold Your Hand on. I'm not exactly sure why I was convinced I needed to be a musician of some sort but I think it had to do with my love for Taylor Swift and a boy telling me that girls who played guitar were soooooo cool.

Lately I seem to only want plane tickets, mostly ones that say that my final destination is Colorado. I'm in love with that place and those people. Maybe this is a phase, I don't know. Or maybe Jesus is growing and changing this southern girl's heart.

 It's too soon to tell if the big CO is just a place I'll visit and always love or if it's where I'm headed after graduation. Until then I'll be praying that I'll live the life that Jesus dreamed up for me whatever it looks like and wherever it is.