While I Was 23...

Hello my friends and stalkers,

So on Monday I had a birthday. It was pretty exciting because I was in Phoenix and my family had a cookout for me that included two birthday cakes decorated by my sister Ashley. My sister Cortney also contributed to the memorableness of the day by breaking down in Mesa and postponing the festivities with a rescue mission (not her fault, of course). My brother Jason came to see me the day before and my sister Kelci called me the day of, and Mom, Dad, Justin, Jordan, Lindsay, Grandma, Gary, Brett, and Amy were all there singing to me around my bonfire of candles. Thank you, family, for being so amazing!

So "24" might as well be "22" or "23." Until you're 25, no one takes you seriously, and until you're 30, you're not really...um...mature? Anyway, I thought I'd do a brief rundown of the highlights of my most recent year of life. Should be fun.

While I was 23...
I found out I was pregnant!
I went to my first graduation as a teacher of the graduates and simultaneously survived my first year of teaching.
Brett and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary.
I went to the ever-popular and highly-famous Giles Family Reunion (the big one).
I went to San Francisco and enjoyed the beautiful museums, trolly cars, and ocean views.
I went to Alcatraz and refused to enter the solitary confinement cell.
I began my second year of teaching and added a middle school class (the joy!).
I started taking piano lessons again.
I made it an entire year on my sugar-free diet (don't worry--I'm happily off it now!).
I (surprise!) had my baby.
I quit work a week earlier than expected (sorry, Ms. Johnson).
I celebrated my first Christmas as a mother.
I learned to like being a mother (if that sounds terrible, you are a better first-time parent than I was).
I started getting in shape (this is not an invitation to look at me more closely and say to yourself, "Huh. She doesn't look like she's losing weight").
I happily made it back to dear old 4/20.

So some big things happened when I was 23, and I'm excited to enjoy life as a not-quite-mature 24-year-old.