Hello friends! This month, on April 20th, I turned the ripe old age of 24. And honestly, I can say I am terribly excited to see what this next year of being 24 has to offer. It's that age where you're young enough to not say you are in your "mid-twenties" just yet, though it's old enough to know you have come a long way since your sweet sixteen. Birthdays have always been my most favorite day out of the entire year (with Christmas coming in at a close second), due to the fact that A) you get to celebrate another year of life, B) there is ALWAYS cake and ice cream, and C) everyone else around you lets you know how appreciated and loved you are especially on that day. For my friends, I have always made it a point to celebrate their birthday with a bang. Cake is usually baked for them, drinks are bought, cards are lovingly handwritten (and sometimes handmade) and presents are given. Most importantly, it gives me the most satisfaction to celebrate another year of their life with them.
I received several cards in the mail from family and friends, however one of them stood out more than others. This is sent from my dear friend Becky (I met her working at Pottery Barn, she is the wittiest person you'll meet). Reading this made me so thrilled, that these words I spill out onto pixelated pages are in fact seen by many. I would not classify myself as a blogger though...whenever I think of something to write about it usually ends up being a longer essay as if I was talking to a good friend about life and such. To those who take time out of their day to read these posts, and who click like or comment on them, I want to say THANK YOU. Genuinely. Like seriously, you are what inspires me to continue to write about my new life up here.
I can remember most every birthday I've had really, from my mom baking me a bunny-shaped cake when my birthday fell on Easter when I was in elementary school, to my 13th where I was finally allowed to get my ears pierced, to my sweet sixteen which resulted in a belly button piercing and pool party, to my 21st birthday where I traveled all up and down and around California from Mammoth to Santa Cruz to San Francisco, to last year when I turned 23 and celebrated my birthday at Disneyland with my mom and two aunts...to now, where I celebrated my 24th birthday at the Oregon Coast with my sweet boyfriend Justen. We visited Cannon Beach first where we walked around shops, I tried saltwater taffy for the first time, and got sandy venturing to the bottom of Haystack Rock (pictured below). Next we went to Seaside beach where we ate a lovely dinner, went on bumper cars, wandered through antique shops, grabbed free birthday coffee from Dutch Bros, and walked along the boardwalk. It's strange to think about how fast years go by the older you get...my mom used to talk about that all the time. About how fast time flies and one minute you're in high school giving your sister a pad of paper to doodle on when her crush calls for the first time, to suddenly being married with four kids, to your youngest son graduating high school himself. I can't even wrap my mind around how to even take time out of my day to remember everything and appreciate the time you've been given to take risks, seek out adventure, try something new, sit and enjoy the world around you. I cannot wait to see what the rest of my life has in store; I know that turning 24 is only the (beginning) to my mid-twenties as well as the beginning to a life worth living.
