The Ticking Clock...

As I am rapidly approaching the dreaded age of 30, there are moments when I still feel like that young girl that I was at 18.  The girl with all kinds of hopes and dreams and questions about myself, life, and the future.  I realize that 30 is not the end-all... but it DOES mean that I am approaching a point in my life where there is no question about it: I am truly, 100%, an adult.

Can someone please tell me: When in the hell did this happen?

My parents (and society) would probably argue that I have, in fact, been an adult for the past 10 years.  I beg to differ.  Here's how I justify it:

• Years 18 through 23- At the time, I was, of course, excited with my new found freedom, ability to vote and drink legally drink, and pretty much the fact that my parents couldn't tell me what to do.  But, let's face it.  While you are in your early 20s, you aren't REALLY an adult.  Going to college and having the ability to make really bad choices, as life-lesson-learning as they may be, does not constitute adult-hood.  It's mass chaos.  You are just a super-hyped-up kid running wildly on the playground with no parental supervision.
• Years 23 through 26- Avoided being classified as a true grown-up by packing up all of my things, leaving my very small Cajun town in Louisiana where I grew up, and moving to the massive city of Houston (it was massive to this small-town girl).  Yes, moving may be an adult-like thing to do but the combination of fun, falling in love, making bad decisions, heartache, and wine consumed with friends may have aged me a bit but kept me from feeling like I was a grown up, simply because I had no idea what the hell I was doing.  Mid-20s are HARD... just sayin. 
• Years 26 and 27- I think my adult-hood journey digressed a bit.  While my love was in Iraq, I moved out of my apartment and became a nomad,  living with my boyfriend's mom for three months, sleeping on my sister and her boyfriend's couch for three months, and traveling through Thailand for another three months.  I was a kid in a candy store.
• Year 28... Here I am now.  About two months from 29 and on the brink of 30.  Finally, married to an amazing man who makes me happier than I have ever been before and despite the fact that we have adventures on a weekly basis, we both feel our years creeping up on us.

There's so much of that young girl stuff that I still need to do and I feel that clock ticking!  I have traveled overseas only once and have a number of countries yet to see.  Tick... I haven't gotten my masters yet or figured out what I really want to do when I grow up (even though I have been a teacher for the past five years and for the most part, have truly loved it).  Tick... I have still yet to bungee jump... tick... and scuba dive... tick... and run a marathon... tick... and do all of those amazing and adventurous things that my body is slowly starting to reject and having a very difficult time recovering from....tick, tick, tick....

And to top off all the young girl stuff that I still want, there are the few factors where age is REALLY taking it's toll.  The ten pounds that are harder to get off.  The few grey hairs that I'd laugh about when I was 20 have multiplied and are very carefully taken care of with highlights.   That stupid wrinkle that is wedged in between my eyebrows is now accompanied by lines around my eyes that I franticly try to hydrate and moisturize.  And of course, the hugest clock that there is: the fact that I am nearing 30 and have yet to have a baby... Goodness gracious!  The wrinkle lines alone make aging stressful!

Despite all of the negative, there is, of course, the positive, which outweighs it all... even the deepest laugh line.  With this approaching age, I have found peace and contentment within myself that I didn't even know could exist.  A large part of it is owed to the amazing man that is my husband but I also think that the years of experience and soul searching and just LIFE in general have finally paid off and taught me the many lessons that I needed to learn.

All of this is just to say: there is so much that is to come, especially in the near future for me and the hubs, so I guess that is the whole point of this blog- to document those changes and my crazy way of dealing with them.  It's exciting and scary and unknown but I have so much love around me that I know that each second that ticks away on my clock may not always be perfect but it will be dynamic.

- Dee :)

A Pro and Con of Aging...

Pro: It used to take me about three hours to get ready for fancy events... Now, I can get it done in less than an hour.

Con: It takes me A LOT longer to recuperate the next day...

My hubs and I at the Military Ball last night :)