24 and old growed up

My birthday is next Tuesday, and it's interesting to think about where I am in life and where all my friends are.

I was talking to a friend from high school on Monday, just catching up as I came home from work. We talked about wedding plans, my dog, my job, my new car.

"What else is going on?" she said. "You're getting married; you have a dog, a new car. You have such a grown-up life."

"Yeah, I do. I'm all grown up," I said.

I really am. When did it happen? One day you're a kid, the next day you're trying to grow up but you're still a kid at heart. Then it's like it's done. You're an adult. You're all on your own.

Even my parents aren't really buying me things anymore. (Which Nate laughed at when I said it, because he said his parents stopped that years ago.) I told Nate that they have made me his problem now!

My friends also are grown up. I have two friends who just bought houses with their husbands. I have other friends getting married; others have left the state to find new jobs.

Life sure is interesting. It crawls by slowly until you start to think back and realize just how far you've come in such a short time.

But when I think back, you know the times that really stick out? It's not really the grown-up things of paying bills and going to work but the grown-up blessings of close friendships, fun vacations, playing with my own puppy, planning the flowers and cake topper for our wedding. It's the little things that make up a life.

At work, someone mentioned that a local business owner said he didn't have a story to tell. Again, I completely disagree with that. We all have a story to tell of where we came from and dreams for where we're going. It may be little items that make up our life, but it is a story nonetheless.