Make the most of my 20's

Was such an amazing trip. It really showed me that travel doesn’t have to cost a ton of money. It was great to see my friends since I don’t get to often. So nice to be around people that you can laugh with and relate to. I had such a great time. This was definitely the best trip I have ever taken, and am so happy that I went. Lifelong memories for sure.

I forgot to mention that I got tickets for us to see Alice in Wonderland for our anniversary. I didn’t realize it was a ballet performance but it was nice. It is such a nice time to dress up and go see a performance. I thoroughly enjoy it.

We also are going to another Tiger’s game this summer!

25 started off pretty rough due to a bout of bad, unexplainable health. I never did find out what was wrong with me but it cost me $1,000 to see a urologist. I was very uncomfortable and in pain for months. On top of that I was pretty stressed due to grad school and all that came with that. I really believe the two were related, and I hope I never experience that again.

I saved up about $4,000 this year due to selling almost everything I don’t use (mostly clothes), my tax return, and saving a few extra dollars. I also saved $640 in change in my peanuts tin. This was the most amount of money I have ever saved and I am proud to say I did it.

I decided I needed to do something to turn this year around so I am going to go to NYC and Greece this summer. I leave for NYC in just 24 days and Greece in 66. I am really excited to see two new places and traveling again gave me something nice to look forward too. I have wanted to go to Greece for a long time now so I am happy that I am making it a reality. I am planning to continue to focus on traveling throughout the rest of my twenties. It is really the biggest joy in my life.

Sal and I also celebrate our 5th anniversary this week. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone but I am definitely happy I have been able to share ALL of my twenties with him.

This might be a weird post to some but I have been waiting to see On The Road for about a year now. When I was in my late teens/early twenties I really got into The Beat Generation and their writings. The movie finally came through my town and I missed it in December. I was pretty upset because to this day it was never released on DVD. It was supposed to be On Demand but that never happened either. Luckily for me they re-released it in a theater by me for this week only, so I was able to finally see it. The funniest part is that I almost hesitated AGAIN, but I remembered the regret so I didn’t.

During the last few months, I have been thinking a lot about regret. Not seeing that movie was one source of regret, even though it was small. Not going to Mackinac Island last year is another thing I regret, but it was just after I got home from Ireland. I obviously don’t want to get out of this decade with regret in my life. But how do you avoid regret? How do you make the most out of every single day, every single opportunity?

I am truly feeling like my life is on hold right now because of graduate school. The sad part is my heart isn’t even in it anymore. I have often thought about taking time off to travel. When I’m at school, I think about traveling. When I’m at home, I think about traveling. When I am work, I think about traveling. I dream about traveling on a nightly basis. Pretty much everyone has told me that it would be stupid to take time off from graduate school because I am 1/3 of the way through the program, and I would just have to find a way to pay off my student loans. Without graduate school I have no real job prospects. I just hate that the only way I can move up in my life is to go almost a hundred thousand dollars into debt. Believe me I have applied and applied for jobs in my field and nothing. Everyone has said “just travel when you are done with your degree.” I know that isn’t likely because as soon as I graduate I have to find a job to pay off all this debt. I will be stuck making these payments for the next 10 years at least.

I really should be focusing on building some kind of career for myself right now. I hope that by my late twenties (when I finish my MSW) I can start that process. It is just hard to focus on that right now because I have been in school nonstop for the last 6 years without a break. Of course I am a little burnt out. I am definitely ready to explore other options and paths in my life.

All I know for sure is that I turned 25 in December. Time is moving faster than ever and I will be 26 before I know it. There is still so much that I want to do and see before this decade is over. And I only have 5 years left. Of course I know my life isn’t over when I turn 30, but I feel like this is the decade to do what you want to do, travel, and really find yourself. And I definitely don’t want to have any regrets.

About a month ago I wrote in to Oprah magazine about my scrapbook and the importance of it in my life (the question was what one item I could never part with). They picked it to be included in the magazine for the March issue!!!!

My sister took me to Olive Garden for my bday today and I finally made a trip to IKEA! That place is so overwhelming. She got me a coffee table and a nice bookshelf for my birthday/Christmas. She was going to give me cash but I decided to get some items for the house because it would last longer. Furniture was easy to put together and made the living room look very nice. I feel like our apartment is looking more grown up and less like a college dorm.

Today I finally used my DIA (Detroit Institute of Arts) passes. I took one of my friends from school and it was a lot of fun. We have been planning to go all semester so I am glad we finally got the time to enjoy the museum. I also used my free coffee and pizza birthday coupons. Made for a nice little free day :)

Was a lot of fun. Sal unexpectedly got the day off so we went bowling, which was a lot of fun. I don’t go as often as I would like to, but I really enjoy it when I do. We also got out a lot today since today was such a beautiful day. We went to the park where we first me and then came home. I got tweeted Happy Birthday by Suze Orman and Richard Simmons, which really made my day.

I have had an incredible time being in my twenties. I don’t do the party scene and haven’t dated since I have been in a serious relationship since I was 19. I wouldn’t change any of it. Over the last couple years Sal and I have worked on making our apartment home. We got new furniture, decluttered, and finally settled in.

School has been fantastic. I finished my BA degree and am plowing ahead on my MSW. I remember I used to drive by Wayne State every night on my way home from university and pray that I got in. Getting the acceptance letter was one of the best days of my life. I worked so hard to make the dream of getting in come true. I have been fortunate enough to do well academically and am looking forward to the next few years getting some real field experience. I truly look forward to starting my career in social work.

The Walmart chapter of my life is coming to a close. I have worked there for 6 years and have enjoyed my coworkers. However, it is time to move on and focus on my career. I don’t really make much money there (and don’t care enough to try to make more) and I find myself dreading going in. I don’t agree with their policies and socially hate them for the things they have done. I have a lot of anxiety towards work and the reasons why are too numerous to name in this entry. I have tried to stick it out for so many years but things are getting worse and worse. Rather than stay and continue to be miserable I am going to move on.

I traveled a lot in the first half of my twenties. I went to Paris, Rome, Venice, Edinburgh, London, Las Vegas, and all over Ireland. I did this in the span of two years since I caught the travel bug badly. I don’t have any travel plans as of yet for the second half of my twenties but am really grateful that I got to go at all.

Things with Sal have just been fantastic. Sure we still have our days (or weeks) where we drive each other crazy, but I am overall really happy with him. We have been through a lot together but things are finally settling down. He has been such a great partner for me and has supported me throughout everything. I love laughing with him. We have so many inside jokes and no matter what we find humor in everything. I feel really lucky to have found someone like him and I can’t imagine my life without him. We talk about getting married but I’m in no rush (want to get my career sorted), I just thoroughly enjoy the time we spend together and look forward to many more years together.

I have also enjoyed a lot of new experiences and interests in the first half of my twenties. I found that I love Broadway musicals. I got to see Mama Mia! and Wicked and it was wonderful. I try to go as much as possible. We also went to a murder mystery dinner which was a ton of fun, and I went to my first baseball game. I learned how to paint using watercolors, which I enjoyed. I also found that I love Scrapbooking as a way to record events of my life. I used to enjoy journaling, but am finding scrapbooking to be a creative outlet.

I know it sounds cheesy but I am really figuring out who I am. One of the most important aspects of life is finding the meaning (in my opinion). I am really striving to make the most out of my time on this earth. I want to live a worthwhile life and am trying to focus on doing things that matter not only to myself, but to others.

I can’t wait to see what 25-30 has in store for me!

Went to see The Nutcracker tonight. It was my first time seeing a ballet. Although I enjoyed the experience, and saw it for the discounted price of $24, I still prefer Broadway.