Time marches on…

This morning I turned 32.

On Monday in my Psychology and Counselling Theory class I had a “jeepers, am I old?’ moment.

I overheard one of the other girls in my class say she is 25. Then this happened.
Me (under breath): god, I’m old!
Girl sitting to my left: What? Why?
Me: I am 32 this week
Girl (almost giggling): I’m 19
Me (probably with look of sheer horror on my face): Oh god, that’s so much worse.

This lead me to thinking, What have I been doing with myself that I have only found my way to this degree in my 30s? The answer, is quite a lot, actually.

Since I was 19 I have
– been on 3 overseas trips: first at 21 for 6 months (UK & Europe), second at 29 for 5 weeks (USA), and third at 31 for 6 weeks (Europe).
– moved house 9 times (possibly soon to be 10)
– changed jobs 5 times
– started (with varying levels of success and completion) 5 higher education courses
– loved and lost and found myself a wonderful BF, who will be BD in a few short months

And this year- all going well- I will have a baby.

Yes, I have only found my way into this health and wellness place in the last year or so, but I know this is where I want to be because I’ve tried other things along the way. And I may not have tried as many things as some people, but that doesn’t matter. I’ve done what I’ve done.

I’ve failed. I’ve succeeded. I’ve cried (a lot). I’ve laughed (hopefully more than cried). And all in all I can’t complain about where I am at 32. To be honest I am pretty damn pleased with it.

Happy Birthday to me! Now, where’s the cake?

32 things before I am 32

As of 12.32am on April 4 I am 31 years old. Honestly this seems utterly impossible. 31? Really? It’s been a full twelve months since my 30th party, where did that year go? I am not really sure how old I feel but it’s not 31. People in their 30s are adults, I do not feel like an adult. But does anyone?

Time will inevitably continue to get away from me, there is no fighting it, I know this. What I can do though is a make a list (because I love to make a list here and there) of things that I would like to do in the next year, which will no doubt disappear in the blink of an eye. This way when I am back here in 12 months I will not only marvel at how quickly those months passed but also what I managed to achieve despite their speed.

This list is not in order of importance, but merely the order in which the ideas came to me:
1. do a juice cleanse
2. throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain
3. go to a yoga retreat
4. have a picnic at the Eiffel Tower
5. see the Berlin Wall (or whatever is left of it anyway)
6. drive on the right side of the road (and not get in an accident)
7. get to 100 blog posts
8. say “gracias” with the Spanish lisp (at least once) in Barcelona
9. send a postcard from every place we stop during the Euro-Gypsy-Adventure
10. continue the search for the world’s tackiest magnet
11. sort out all of the stuff under the stairs
12. eat no gluten (at all!) for one month
13. take a raw food ‘cooking’ class
14. spend a weekend in Sydney
15. make study more of a priority
16. do yoga everyday for one month
17. dip my toes in the Mediterranean Sea
18. take a photo from the top of the Eiffel tower
19. make a gingerbread house
20. go to a flea market in Paris
21. go to a farmer’s market
22. master a healthy (gluten free/sugar free/paleo) dessert
23. paint my nails (fingers and toes) once a month
24. find a peacoat
25. go to a beginner ballet class
26. bake birthday cakes for all of my family members
27. kick the medication (for good)
28. eat bratwurst in Germany
29. eat hazelnut gelato in Venice (like I did 10 years ago)
30. get blunt bangs
31. meditate everyday for one month
32. dream big

So there it is, 32 things I would like to do before I am 32. A number of these I am 100% confident that I will achieve, whereas others will be a little more difficult. I will do my very best to cross off each and every item and report back when I do.