Wednesday, March 9, 2011

28 on 3/9

First birthday, 1984. Oh yeah, cake is goooood.
A birthday post naturally includes mom too :) Love you and thanks for the birthday!

Today is my 28th birthday. So far, it's been great- I woke up to birthday wishes from Bobby, ran W1D2 of C25K, and have been showered with lots of birthday love via FB, texts, and phone calls. All in all I'm very happy to be turning 28. I was thinking about how much fun I've had in my 20's, and I believe that is part of why I'm not freaking out about turning 28 (turning 27 last year was a lot more strange for me because it felt so much further away from 25 than 26, don't ask my why). I can't say there is anything I've wanted to do that I haven't done so far. If I had put my dreams on hold, or not gone on the adventures I wanted to go on (living in Japan and traveling), or not paid off my debt and completed my master's degree (two big goals I set for myself upon returning home from Japan) I might feel differently. I'm also happy and content to be settled down with Bobby, because I had plenty of time being single, dating around, and generally enjoying a second round of college life as a grad student. I feel like I've been an active participant in my life thus far, making the choices I wanted to, and I'm happy with those choices- the good and the bad. I'm also so very grateful to be able to make such choices, because I know so many people in this world (especially women) don't have the same opportunities.

At this point I'm excited to see where late 20's/early 30's takes me. I've thoroughly enjoyed my past, and I'm grateful for the experiences, but I'm not pining for it. And I'm not worried about the future, or stepping into the 30's soon. I guess what I've learned is that getting older is a lot less scary if you're truly living your life the way you want to. I will fully admit that 28 is a far cry from getting older as we traditionally define it, but right now it's the oldest I've ever been, so I'm just working off of what I know so far :) Lastly, this might be a weird thing to include on a birthday post, but I really love this lecture. I particularly love the part about enabling the dreams of others...

10 comments:

  1. I had intended to watch this tonight while I clean the kitchen! Great minds....

    Happy birthday.

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  2. Thank you! And I think that will be a great kitchen cleaning video :)

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  3. I love the new look! That picture up top is amazing!!

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  4. Happy Birthday! The new look is great.

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  5. Happy Birthday!!!

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  6. Thanks so much for the birthday wishes everyone!

    And I'm glad the new look went over well- I was soooo overdue for a change. I love the picture on the header- that's me on top of Machu Picchu mountain in Peru, about 2,000 feet above the ruins of Machu Picchu :)

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  7. Happy Birthday girl! it only gets better from here on! I promise!!

    HS

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  8. Happy birthday, Cortney! :)

    I turned 29 yesterday, 3/11. No wonder why I think we could be friends in real life. ;)

    I'm so happy I am able to comment. I became a regular reader of yours several months ago through reading That Wife. You and I had exchanged a few comments back and forth, sharing in common wander lust and simple living with preferences based on experiences rather than material objects. WHEW! And I couldn't comment for some reason at the time, even though I LOVED several of your posts (okay, fine, all of them).

    And as far as the PLACE goes, I'm sure you will be just fine. Good luck!

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  9. Rachael I'm so glad you're able to comment now, it's good to hear from you again! I definitely remember that conversation- it's nice to meet kindred spirits :) And Happy belated birthday! I hope it was a great one.

    Thank you for the well wishes on the PLACE. I am about to wrap up my self imposed study assignments for the week and I'm feeling *so* much better about it now that I'm getting into a studying groove.

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