well I turned 23 yesterday.

no big thing. everyone around here knows that I celebrate birthdays, milestones, tuesdays, and anything else with lists. 

there are a lot of songs that talk about being 23

maintain consciousness- relient K
23- jimmy eat world
pardon me- incubus
what's my age again?- blink 182
ganstah's paradise- coolio
twenty three- yellow card
dancing nancies- dave matthews band

(please go listen to all of these and find the age appropriate references. please.)


So there's that....
23 still feels young to me (TG because I'm not ready to grow up yet.) but I think somewhere in the not so distant past I really thought 23 might have been the beginnings of adulthood (or my pro basketball career- Michael Jordan #23 anyone?) Obviously I was wrong.

enjoy. 23 things I thought about being 23. Some right, some wrong. whatever

1. I thought by now I would be done listening to pop punk of any kind (i'm looking at you Fallout Boy, New Found Glory, The Starting Line, Brand New, etc.) Trust me, I'm still reliving the glory days while I'm stuck in traffic.
2. I thought I'd be dating someone seriously. (in the spirit of honesty I had very specific thoughts about my precieved relationship status at this age. I thought I was going to meet someone in college. I thought I'd be picking out a wedding dress soon. Can I just get an amen?! because you thought it too. ) If I'm honest though,  I'm really glad to be living life on my own. I needed to do this with just me for a minute.
3. I thought I'd have a job with a salary. but now I work as an indentured servant   volunteer for AmeriCorps.
4. I thought I would have figured out how to type the spanish accents in Microsoft word without changing the language.drats.
5. I thought i'd be driving a car other than Queen Esther the Escort. see #3
6. I thought I would have officially quit smoking. I'm seriously getting there, so get off my back.
7. I thought I'd have my own apartment- check!
8. I thought I'd be sleeping in a double bed every night. my room is roughly the size of a double bed.  struggle bus.
9. I thought I'd still be playing the clarinet. which is just comical.
10. I thought I'd graduate from college- yep!
11. I thought (hoped a lot) that I would still have friends. Amazingly I do. Blah blah blah, I'm always yabbering on about how much I'm obsessed with my social circle. Deal with it.
12. I thought either I would totally renounce my faith or dig my heels in and start to make my faith my own more and more. I would say I chose the later, I believe in the triune God who is making all things new and I'm loving life as a result.
13. I thought I'd wear high heels more. that was just stupid. why did i think that?
14. I thought I would have tattoos- ugh, sad but true, but only two.
15. I thought I would have developed a better taste in movies.apparently 'National Treasure' isn't everyone's idea of cinematic gold.
16. I thought my freckles would go away.
17. I thought the relationship I have with my high school friends would have imploded- I think the relationships I have with those girls are a testament to growing up, learning patience and recognizing the times when you need to tell someone to shut up.
18. I thought I would have visited Europe again by now. white girl problems.
19. I thought I'd have things to call "mine", like brands or types of things that I really liked. I thought iId be a regular for some things- a brand of jeans that fit like a glove, a type of oatmeal that always hits the spot, weird stuff white people like things. Currently, this is partly true. I know what kind of cheap beer I like best and I have a particular brand of Greek Yogurt that I'm loyal to. There's also a dish soap that is pretty close to my heart. So win for me I guess. ... on second thought, there is no go-to brand of jeans for me. So tie for me I guess.
20. I thought I'd have an interesting relationship wit my parents. Definitely  Two of the most important things in my life are Tom and Kath.
21. I thought by 23 I would be called "Elizabeth"- that's just laughable (remember when I tried to get everyone to call me Betsy?).
22. I thought I would have read the entire Bible. I really need to get on that.
23. I thought I would feel like an adult.