Here's to a New Decade!

My sister and several of my friends passed the big 3-0 in recent years, so I was prepared. I approached what some consider the funeral of young single adulthood with the determination to make it the best birthday of my life! What could be more exciting than having a whole decade ahead of you where you can literally do anything you want? I'm out of the structured years of college, well into my career (I have to admit, money does bring some freedoms). I. Can. Do ANYTHING (and not just by taking a look in a book).

I decided to count down to this special day by celebrating the last 5 years of my life, one for each of the last 5 days. Here are my recent Facebook statuses:

It's not every year that one begins a new decade of life! I'm counting down to the happy day by reminiscing about the last 5 years. When I was 25...I finished my Master's Degree, went on my first 2 major (, fantastic) road trips, did a lot of job hunting, and worked as a valet! Maybe I'll wear my bow tie today.

‎4 more days and counting. When I was 26 I landed my first real job in the great region of West Texas, grew up a little, didn't die traveling alone to San Diego and Harrisonburg, saw my oldest friend married, and discovered that some boys actually like Twilight (I still can't imagine why).

‎3 more days until a new decade! When I was 27 I went up the tallest structure in the Western Hemisphere; co-created the most delightful PJ Shrimp; bungled through 2 new leadership positions at work and one at church (and learned so much from them); and almost got killed 3 or 4 times in Amarillo by a candy-striped truck driving, non-seatbelt wearing, cigar smoking, rifle shooting, Mozart headbanging, cactus ramming, longboard riding kid!

‎2 more days! When I was 28 I met amazing authoress Shannon Hale (and kinda made an idiot of myself); went on epic hiking adventures to Julie Andrews Meadow and Stewart Falls (and tried to fulfill a life goal by climbing behind the falls, but it didn't work); discovered that every day is the best day of my life; and chanced upon a Halloween costume that was practically perfect in every way!

Only one more day until a new decade, so today is my day of 29! 29 was the year of wedding festivities and a series of reunions with my long-lost, much missed extended family. I saw 4 shows on Broadway, hundreds of kids sledding in Central Park, and kicked my way through 3 ft of snow up a steep hill on the north shore of Manhattan to get to a transported Medieval European Cloister. I drove through the worst haboob Texas has seen since the depression, played Fireball Tennis, and started documenting the insanity of my subconscious. It's been a good year!

I have to say, the actual day wasn't the most pleasant of all time. I've been beaten down by illness lately (my secret birthday wish was to be able to feel my legs again), and work shook me up a bit. Despite that, I'll have fond memories. I am so blessed to have very caring friends. As I was contemplating getting out of bed I heard shuffling in the hall. I opened the door to find my roommate Spikes and friend Sully trying to take a poster to the doorframe--so I would smack my face on it when I walked out this morning! I helped them move it to the actual door so I can enjoy it for the next week. I got another surprise when I went into the garage and found "I'm sexy and I know it", along with the more typical birthday wishes, painted all over my car windows.

When Sully asked if she could throw me a party last week, I told her she could as long as it was a surprise party. So the understanding was that I knew I was getting a party, just didn't know when. She and Spikes kept me guessing all evening! I knew they were taking me out to dinner but I didn't expect the big group waiting for us at Carino's. I wondered if there would be another party afterward, and Spikes made me pull my hat over my eyes while she went to an ATM and got gas. I could tell from the series of turns when we were back in our neighborhood, but when we pulled into the driveway she said something like, "What the fashizzle? A homeless person just hit my car with his body!" She pulled out again, did some weird turn (apparently they weren't ready for us yet), and parked again. I knew what awaited me by then, so I told Spikes I was too scared to turn the light on. She flipped it on, and there everyone was again!

This year will, without a doubt, be even better than what came before it. I've already made a list of what I expect to accomplish in my New Year's post. Even more fun are my goals for the next decade.

• Get married and start a family (my powers of persuasion are much stronger than they were last decade, so I may be able to convince some unsuspecting chap)
• Make funny home videos and laugh at them
• Publish a novel
• Ride an elephant (now that the camel is done)
• Travel to a foreign country I've never been to before--anywhere outside the United States, Canada, England, France, and Italy (Barcelona, Granada, and Cordoba are on the goals for life, but my heart won't break if I don't see them in the next decade)
• Fight a duel. Blindfolded. (courtesy of Abinadi)
• Last, some old ones--build a snow fort, and walk behind a waterfall! Once upon a time I wanted to surf, but I think I'll replace that with scuba diving or indoor skydiving.

But first things first. I'm still working on being able to feel my legs.