I should note: none of this blog has anything to do with pixie stix. Michelle just made it rhyme and I liked it. But I do have a pixie cut, so I guess it kinda works.
Anyway...
As a kid, I remember thinking that it was going to take forever until I turned twenty-anything. Now that I'm 26, the next milestones don't feel so far away. That said, I'm going to enjoy the rest of my twenties before they're gone. Forever.
Unlike last year, I got to spend my actual birthday off the road and in Nashville. The morning was spent having the ultimate girls day - splurging on breakfast, a mini shopping spree and manicures. While on said shopping spree, Corey, Michelle and I experienced something called Dragon's Breath. And well, it was certainly interesting - strawberry flavored cheeseball-sized cereal bits dunked in liquid nitrogen. Thus, incurring dragon breath. It was all fun and games until the cereal got stuck to my lips and I felt like Flick in "A Christmas Story" when his tongue got stuck to the flag pole. Don't believe me?! Ask the girls - they will spare no details.
I thought I might have time to take a nap so I had energy for the evening festivities, but unfortunately I had no time at all. In fact, after rushing to get ready and stopping at the grocery store, I was late to my own party. And not just fashionably late...like, really late. Sorry 'bout that, y'all.
The night was filled with food, laughter (lots and lots of laughter) and good times with friends. Their singing was something to behold - it was impressive how many different keys in which they managed to sing. But boy did they sing with gusto... probably to mask the 7845920 different keys.
By the end of the night, I was feeling like a zombie, and probably looked like one, too. So, we called it a night and I flopped in my bed and didn't get up until 1:30pm the next day. I had the realization when I woke up that turning 26 didn't really feel that different to 25. I'm guessing it will when I get kicked off my parent's health insurance in a few weeks.
At one point in my life, I was terrified of getting older. And not just because of actually getting older. My fear was that of not accomplishing certain things by certain ages. Funnily enough, as I have - you guessed it - gotten older, some of those things on my checklist seem trivial to achieve by age "fill in the blank." I know that in God's time, I will settle down, own a house, buy a new car, (maybe one day) pursue my ultimate dream, have a family.
Whether you're turning 16, 26, 66 or 76, we're all going to get older. Maybe not as old as others, but that's how it goes, it's how the cookie crumbles. And honestly, there's a lot of good things that come with age - most of which, in my experience, are pretty great. Here's to not worrying about how old we are and concerning ourselves with what the next year of age may or may not bring... Here's to living in the here and now and enjoying the time that we do have.
I don't know about you, but I'm not feeling 22. I'm feeling 26, and it feels great.
Stay awesome, possums,
Ellie
