Before I Turn 25

I want to spend my twenty-fourth year of life living purposefully, making conscious decisions that I can stand behind proudly. I want to set goals and keep them. I want to know what I am living for, so that I don't waste my time doing something that isn't going to help me achieve my goals.

In no particular order, my goals for the next year:

1. Blog regularly-I'm shooting for five days a week, but I'm not going to kill myself if it's only three or four-I'm in grad school after all.
2. Run in a 5K (officially).
3. Finish grad school- in December.
4. Hopefully by the time I'm 25 I'll have my first real job.
5. Read through the Bible-already started this one, so I should finish this in December too.
6. Stop playing meaningless games on my iPod. I'm ashamed to admit I get really addicted to my games and waste a lot of time. Today, I deleted those.
7. Make at least three meals a week.
8. Once it gets warmer, exercise 3 times a week. hmm...March maybe? I just can't run when there's snow on the ground. It doesn't sit right with me.
9. Get an internship--this goes along with finishing grad school.
10. Set aside time to spend with Seth each week. Whether it is a date, or just taking a walk together.
11. Before I turn 25 I will become more involved at church--volunteering, becoming part of a small group, something. I know I can't pull this off while I am commuting to classes. I may be able to pull this off during my internship, but for sure after it is over. I am giving myself an ultimatum: get more involved by 25.
12. Clean the apartment on a regular basis. I've already set up a weekly schedule, but then again I've already broken it too. I just need to make sure the floors don't go two months without being vacuumed.
13. Continue to grow my hair out. It has fairly dramatic layers right now and I'd like for it to be all the same length.
14. Don't color my hair. Yes, blonde may look fun from a distance, but it looks terrible on and takes forever to go away.
15. Don't buy anything for the apartment. I am not allowed to buy anything specifically for the apartment. We already have all the furniture we need and it is decorated enough.We aren't living here forever, so we don't need to buy anything that may potentially not work in a future home.
16. Spend more time with my family. I'd like to go visit at least every other month, especially since I have a niece now.
17. Purge, purge, purge. At least once a month go through my stuff and donate anything I don't wear or use on regular basis.
18. Manage stress better. I'd like to pray first before I fire off an angry email or cry because I get so frustrated trying to solve problems on my own.
19. Join the 21st century and get smart phones. Of course this means texting has to go so we can afford it.
20. I promise once I get a smart phone (aka iPhone) I will stop texting and driving. Mostly because it will be really difficult and by the time we get them I will have a five minute commute.
21. Do laundry at least every other week so I am not so overwhelmed by trying to do it all once. Getting married didn't double the laundry--it has multiplied exponentially.
22. Spend less time on the internet---and more time working on homework.
23. Get at least 8 hours of sleep every night. And to listen to my body, when I am tired I need to send myself to bed.
24. Save money every month. Even if it is only $20. We need to learn to live on less than we make, not matter how little we make.

30/365: Aunt Jess

Last wednesday I became an aunt. Over the weekend I was able to meet my brand new, not even a week old niece, Savannah Grace. It was love at first sight. She slept on my lap for three hours yesterday afternoon and I absolutely loved every minute. I can't wait to see this little lady grow up.

Eve Of 24

This is the last day of my twenty-third year of life. Twenty-three was very exciting.

I planned a beautiful wedding.

I was accepted to grad school.

I got married to an amazing man.

I finished two semesters of grad school and maintained a 4.0.

I exercised regularly enough that I could have run a 5K if I wanted.

I became an aunt (just barely--my precious niece was born just three days ago!).

I had a live Christmas tree for the first time ever.

I have been cooking more than ever before---and enjoying it too.

I've added more miles to my car than I care to think about.

I am finally paying all of my bills and not relying on my parents financially. Feels good. Kinda.

Most months, I have made a budget and stuck to it.

Twenty-three certainly wasn't a cakewalk. There were hard moments. I am finding that the older I get, the more proactive I have to be. I cannot just let things happen to me. I cannot float aimlessly through life. I think that over the last year I have started making conscious decisions about what I am going to do with my life.

For better or for worse, I have made many important decisions on a whim. Aside from saying yes to Seth when he asked me to marry him (or date him for that matter), deciding to get my masters in social work was probably one of the first conscious decisions I made. I had drifted into seminary on a total whim, not quite ready to leave behind my collegiate lifestyle.

I have found that there is a great joy in making conscious decisions. I feel like I have control of my life. In a sense. Of course, there is the God piece. When I am making conscious decisions I actually pray about them in advance and can have peace about the outcome. When I just drift into the circumstances of my life I am praying, but it is usually something like, "dear God, please let this be the right thing....since I'm already here."

I am grateful for where I've been and what I've done and I'm happy to be where I am most of the time. I am thankful for most of the experiences I have had because I made decisions on a whim--like where to go to college. I am finding that I am much more appreciative of the decisions I've made consciously and with great effort and prayer.

27/365: Bittersweet

I don't know why it took me so long to buy this book. It might have something to do with grad school. Or maybe I was reluctant to buy something not deemed a "necessity."

Once I finally purchase Bittersweet, I devoured its contents within a matter of days. Apparently my declined interest in reading applied only to my grad school textbooks. Bittersweet has refreshed me. I should have bitten the bullet and bought it as soon as it was released. Maybe it would have spared me some of the heartache I have experienced during this hard, somewhat bitter season of life.

Suffice it to say: grad school has been a really hard transition for me and Bittersweet is all about changes and transitions. I now understand why I don't even recognize the person I've been for at least the last month. And I'm looking forward to walking through the rest of this transitional season with a clearer head and more grounded feet.

26/365: Post It

Sticky notes. I love sticky notes. I love making lists and sticky notes make it so easy to have lists going on all over the place. I am now officially 1/4 of the way through my sticky notes. As many lists as I have made, I truly thought that I would work my way through this stack much more quickly than I have. It's like a bottomless stack of sticky notes--every list-maker's dream. Goodbye, pink sticky notes. Hello beautiful, bright orange.