Quarter Century

Yesterday, I turned 25. I know that most of my friends are older than me, and 25 is not that significant of a birthday. But for me, it has seemed pretty significant. I'm in my last year of law school, life is moving forward, and it's exciting. 25 seems big.

I had a great birthday. I worked from 8:30-6 at the Utah Supreme Court, and then I went to my friend's house. I thought that it was just going to be me and her hanging out, but she completely blew me away with a surprise party. Apparently, I was early, (I arrived at 6:51 instead of 7pm because I was driving from Salt Lake to Provo and that's just how the traffic went) so the actual hiding and yelling surprise didn't go over exactly right, but I was definitely surprised.

I had a blast and enjoyed my night with some of the great people I've met in law school over the past two years. I couldn't have asked for better friends.

As I was thinking about being 25, I looked up one of those "25 things to do before you're 25" lists. I'll share it with you, and see how I've managed.

1. Hang curtains in your room (Fail)
2. Be friends with someone you meet in unusual circumstances (I definitely think serving a mission automatically checks this off the list, but even if it hadn't, I met a random person at a Walk for Autism this summer who became my friend. I asked him for directions, and we ended up hanging out in Chicago this summer.)
3. Make your own Halloween Costume (Sort of check - when I was three, I wore a plaid blanket and lots of plastic jewelry and was a "gypsy," I once dressed up as a Christmas present (I wore a box wrapped in Christmas wrapping paper), and I made a "Juliet" dress for another occasion, but not Halloween -- all close enough)
4. Go to a concert/movie/restaurant alone (I went to concerts alone this summer, I've gone to a movie alone before, but it wasn't on purpose)
5. Open a Roth IRA account (Fail)
6. Own stock in a company you believe in (umm, I own stock, but I'm not sure that anyone believes in any companies anymore)
7. Read The Illiad (I don't know - I think we had to read this in 9th grade, but it might have been The Odyssey, but I have read lots of classics after high school because I wanted to, so I feel good about this one.)
8. Start a blog (check)
9. Join a professional organization (I'll do that in July - I'll join the bar of whatever state I practice in)
10. Attend a poetry reading (I did this in the Michigan League in Ann Arbor one year. I didn't like it)
11. Go to a Music Festival (I went to the Chicago Blues Festival this summer, I've been to Arts, Beats, and Eats numerous times, I'm sure I've been to many others)
12. Learn to Dance (ehh, I've learned some dance - it's not my preferred recreational activity)
13. Take a road trip with friends (I've gone to Chicago, I went camping this summer, I've gone to Northern Michigan, I'm planning a trip to Moab in October)
14. Go on a spur of the moment weekend trip to a foreign city (I randomly went to Windser for the day before, but not the weekend)
15. Get paid to do something you like (I got paid to referee soccer from 13-21; I get paid to talk to people about law school, one day I'll get paid to do legal work - and I really like legal work)
16. Do some sort of adrenaline/adventure activity (rock climbing, shooting range, snorkeling, hiking, biking, zip lining, and lots more)
17. Take a course on something you're interested in. (The summer after my freshman year of college I took two photography courses at OCC, in college I took a lot of classes I was interested in - Language and Culture, The History of the US Family, The History of Witchcraft, Politics and Culture of the 1960s, American Leisure, Race & Religious images in the media, etc)
18. Regularly read a newspaper, magazine, blog (I read CNN everyday, I like the Ensign magazine, I semi-regularly follow some blogs)
19. Be recognized for something or at somewhere (Umm... My picture is on the wall of my high school for getting a straight 4.0, does that count?)
20. Cook dinner for a friend (I've done this numerous times)
21. Win something. Big or small (when I was 12, I called into 95.5 and won Christina Aguilera's first cd, Vitamin C's cd, another cd that I don't remember, and $50 to Steve Madden shoes. It was pretty awesome. Last year I won $500 from Lexis Nexis - a legal researching database)
22. Start a new hobby after college (I'm still in college, so this might have to wait. But if it means since undergrad, I've gotten into pilates and hula hooping)
23. Have business cards (when I was 11, I started a baby sitting business - think "The Baby-sitter's Club;" we called our company "Helping Hands Childcare" and we made business cards. I do not currently have a business card)
24. Pick up the tab for no good reason (check - but not a very good tab just FYI)
25. Be Irresponsible (I'm sure I've done some irresponsible things, but as my mom said, I was 30 long before I was 16).