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Birthday musings

Monday is my 25th birthday. I don't usually care about my birthday, except for my 16th, 18th and 21st. Other than those, there usually isn't anything exciting about them. But this one has been on my mind more than usual, for several reasons.

When I was a teenager and would get upset about a break-up, my dad would say 'What you think you want now will be completely different when you are 25.' I used to wonder if it really would be as different as he made it sound, but it is. There were guys I thought I'd spend my life with, and now I wouldn't give them a second glance. There were plans I made for my career that I'm not interested in anymore. Ten years ago I was making plans to join the Army and go to West Point. Ten years ago I was skinny and hot and made all the boys at school drool. Ten years ago I thought life was going to go exactly the way I planned. Ten years ago I thought I would be done having children by 25.

What have I learned since then? Life changes. Life throws you curveballs, and if you aren't paying attention, they'll smack you in the face. Plans never go off without a hitch. Sometimes you run into hurdles that feel life mountains. Hind-sight is 20/20. And sometimes shitty things happen that you can't control. And in my life, bad things come in threes.

I try to remind myself that if I followed my high school plans, my life would be completely different, and not necessarily in a good way. If I had joined the Army, I would probably have been sent to Iraq. My current medical issues would have gotten me a medical discharge. I wouldn't have met my husband. I wouldn't have learned about the natural methods of managing my illnesses. I wouldn't have become a volunteer for Power Up for PCOS. I wouldn't have met many of the wonderful women I get to call my friends.

Hubs thinks that since I have been married since I was 18, and lived a fairly sheltered life before that, I should try the crazy things I didn't get to do. The only thing we came up with, though, is to dye my hair a crazy color. Woohoo, so crazy. I'm not interested in wild parties, drugs, drinking, etc. I don't know what I have missed out on, because, although I was sheltered, I was fairly satisfied with my life. I compared my life to his, and he did all the crazy things he wanted to do, and they aren't things I'd ever be interested in.
So I spent some time creating my '30 before 30' list. It seems a lot less daunting than the '101 in 1001' that I tried (and failed miserably at).
30 before 30:
  1. Go Sky-diving
  2. Go Scuba diving
  3. Get my concealed handgun license. Hubs and I are already registered for the safety course in June.
  4. Buy a cute bikini and wear it with pride.
  5. Successfully complete one month as a vegetarian.
  6. Move into a house (or get out of apt/townhomes)
  7. Get a second dog
  8. Take another vacation
  9. Get a nicer car
  10. Pay off at least 25% of debt
  11. Find my inner peace
  12. Create an exercise routine that becomes second nature
  13. Run a 5K - actually run, not host
  14. Teach Spike to dance
  15. Become a Big Sister volunteer
  16. Get a passport and use it
  17. Take a course in something interesting
  18. Get a new tattoo
  19. Learn to play another musical instrument
  20. Become fluent in another language
  21. Get my lip or navel pierced
  22. Dye my hair a crazy color
  23. Learn CPR
  24. Hold a tarantula
  25. Spend a weekend with my sister (no boys allowed!)
  26. Start a vegetable garden and actually take care of it
  27. Start school again for a Master's or second Bachelor's
  28. Meet some of my online friends in real life
  29. Eat a meal made only from ingredients I have harvested on my own
  30. Enjoy the rest of my 20s.

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