I Wanted to Be Alone.

Birthdays are weird as an adult. What happened to the themed parties we had growing up and games you forced your friends to play? I want my Powerpuff party with the piñata and face tattoos again.

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Last year, I wanted to have my group of girls surrounding me for my birthday. I wanted the big celebration with me being the center of attention and people surprising me left and right with birthday wishes. I wanted the long, perfect Instagram posts, the unexpected gifts that were perfect for me, the world revolving around me and me only. I wanted things that I knew I was not going to receive because, if I'm honest, my expectations were too high to match. Instead, I had my girls, drinks, and it ended up being a good birthday. A man bought a round of shots for us as I disclosed that it was my birthday. Waking up the next day hungover just depicts how that night went. That was how I celebrated the start to my 24th year of life.

From there, I just enjoyed each day I was presented. Learned to lower my expectations and let the day come and go however it would be. In reflecting to my 24th, there has been a lot of growth. To start, I moved to a whole new country on the other side of the world. I started my dream job, teaching English to over 300 students, and exploring new places. It was a great year in the end. I will say, it might be difficult to top how my 24th went. I do enjoy challenges though.

This year, I’m okay with being alone. I'm perfectly okay going through the day without the need to have a slice of cake, shared by others. I'm okay with receiving birthday wishes from my friends and family while laying in bed, watching some terrible rom-com. I'm okay with eating a meal that I delivered because the birthday will not be cooking on her day.

But I won’t be alone. I have people wanting to celebrate me, wanting to do something with me. I won’t be alone in ringing in my 25th year. Instead, I will be enjoying a meal with new friends that are doing life alongside me. I will be diving into cake (and multiple pieces of it) with my church community after surprising me with it and singing that terrible song that comes along with being your birthday. I have people wanting to grab dinner and drinks with me, buying the first round in honor of me of course. I have a pretty good life right now you could say.

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Being 25 sounds like the time in adulthood where you have everything together, your routine set, your lifestyle to exactly how you’d want it. Checking off all the things you wrote about in your diary that you wanted to do when you were "older".

Plot twist: still not there yet.

I've honestly been looking forward to my 25th birthday as it just sounds more mature. I can finally say that I am 25 (I may not look the part) and people will take me serious. I'm a "true adult", right? Far from my teens (cries) and can look forward to what the world has to offer me- career focused and goal driven. I am excited to see what the next few years following looks like as it gives further details in who I am and who I want to become. More growth, more life experiences, and more memories that I can talk about proceeding the words "when I was younger...". So, here I am now writing this post birthday celebration, exhausted from this amazing day. Lets get into this new chapter, shall we?

Quarter life of a century. Closer to 100! Yippee.