Things I'm glad I've learned or done before turning 25.

All week I've been feeling an increasing amount of weight from a couple of things.  First, a not-so-tiny growing baby in my belly, but also, the fact that I'm turning 25.  It's funny to me that it feels any different than any other birthday of mine because when any of my friends turned twenty five, I was like, "what's the big deal? It's not like thirty or something..."  Never did I realize that this particular birthday would feel like such a milestone.  That being said, I woke up this morning with a sense of calm and gratefulness.  The first thoughts that ran through my mind were about all the things I've done or learned before now, which have inspired me to write them down.  Like I said before, I'm not quite sure what makes 25 any different than any other birthday, but I think it's the fact that growing up, I've always thought of this age being the pinnacle of my life.  By now, I should have had adventures, heartaches, education, love, and ultimately achieve the life that I want to live for the rest of my life.  I've decided to share the list of things that I'm glad that I've done or know before I turned 25.

I'm glad I've learned:

• The lesson of self-reliance and independence.  I believe that these two traits are extremely important for everyone to have.  Growing up I had the idea that family and friends will ALWAYS be there for you.  No matter what, you'd never be alone as long as you had your family and friends.  Although family and friends are usually there for you when you need them, the reality is, they aren't. No one can be there for you all the time.  So I'm glad that I learned early on in life to take care of myself.  Whether it's paying bills, changing a tire on a car (or at least knowing how to accomplish a task like that) or cheering yourself up, at the end of the day, the strongest person that can help you is yourself.  I feel confident that if I were to be all alone, (living a military wife life has proved that) I'd get by just fine.  I don't NEED anyone else, but it sure is nice to have them around.  :)
• The problem with high expectations.  This one is one that I continue to struggle with daily.  I keep learning the same lesson over and over and probably will keep learning it. But at least now, I can recover a bit faster.  I always have high expectations for much of everything.  For my friends, family, co-workers, parties, holidays, whatever.  I have this imagination and yearning to make things fabulous that most people don't seem to have, and then I always get disappointed.  I've always stuck to the golden rule, "treat others the way you'd like to be treated" and let me tell you, that's bit me in the ass too many times.  The reality is, not everyone wants to be treated the same way as I'd treat them.  
• How to swim, snowboard, surf, ski, ride a bike, sew, crochet, and all the other hobbies that I know how to do.  There's nothing like the feeling of achievement after you've finally learned how to dive off the diving board, or when you get that full S-turn while snowboarding, or holding up some project that you've made.  I hope there will be many more things that I learn how to do because, why not? You only live once. 
• The lesson of saving and budgeting.  I learned this far before I got into the banking and financial business but I find it even more important now that I am in the career I am in.  I have been able to do and see and buy so many things that I never realized I could ever have because I've learned how to save and budget.  If there's one thing I hope my children learn from me before they get out on their own, it's how to save and budget.  I believe anyone can live a comfortable lifestyle as long and you can do those two things.

 Things I'm glad I've done:

• Travel.  I am so happy that I've had the opportunity to see so many places!  One of my goals was to pick a new place to go every year and I really accomplished that.  My favorites:  NYC, DC, London, Vegas, San Diego, Hawaii.  Seeing different cultures, tasting a variety of foods, and being able to say, "I've been there!" when it comes on the TV, YES! Now that we are having a baby, I'm sure that part will slow down a bit for awhile, so I'm very glad I was able to get that all out before now.
•  Graduate College.  This is an achievement that I am extremely proud of.  Going to school while working and having a life is tough.  Everyone who does it knows it's hard.  But the sad part is, it's really easy to quit and very hard to actually make a diploma happen.  I never got the inspiration for one particular career and I'm not sure I ever will so that was the most difficult thing for me while going to school.  After a certain point in school, you sort of have to narrow it down so you can get the degree and I just couldn't find one that I wanted.  So I took a "break" right when I was getting close to graduating and when I finally went back, it was even more difficult.  But alas,  Spring 2013, in a whirlwind of a weekend and 24 hours total travel time, I walked across the stage to receive my Associate Degree of Liberal Arts and nothing had ever felt so good. 
• Cut ties and break my own heart.  Most days I don't like to think about this time period in my life because it's one that was most difficult for me.  Break ups are always hard no matter what.  But some are worse than others and change the person you are forever.  There's always a story to go along with the event, but the story is not the important part.  The important thing that happened was that it did happen.  The event of cutting ties with someone I'd shared a good portion of my life with for 5 years made me the person I am today.  That was probably the biggest turning point in my life so far and although it was difficult, I learned SO many things from it.  Independence, self worth, how to have fun again, what I want in a life partner; all things that I would never have known if I hadn't had this life event happen to me.  And because of that, I was able to see a little more clearly and ended up finding someone that I knew was the one from the very first week of knowing him
• Falling in love.  This is not something that I've achieved nor accomplished, but it's something that I'm extremely happy has happened to me.  I found the most amazing person to spend my life with.  Tony is someone I can fully be myself with, who I know I can trust with everything, and who continues to make me fall even more in love every day.  To have that happen so early in my life makes me so thankful that I can keep him for many more years to come. <3
• Create a life.  This one I was hoping to have done BEFORE I turned 25, but I'm very very close, so I'll take it.  Being pregnant is the most amazing experience I've ever had and I've enjoyed every second of it.  (even the terrible ones)  I cannot wait to see this little miracle that Tony and I have been blessed with. <3

Thinking back now, I believe that I've accomplished most of the things I've wanted, but I realize that 25 isn't the end all, be all age that I've apparently built it up to be.  There are so many more life experiences that I'm excited to have.  But for now, turning 25 feels pretty good and I'm very happy and blessed to have the life that I have.  Happy Birthday to me. :)