Recklessly Thirty

Since starting my blog back in May of this year, I have begun to follow a few fellow twenty something bloggers. There is one specifically that caught my attention because of the way she writes and the topics she chooses to speak upon. This young woman is a twenty something in the midst of her own struggle of an adventure to thirty like myself. Being one year younger than me, I can relate completely to her blog, Twenty Everything. After reading one of her posts that hit me close to home, I reached out to her to give her my positive feedback. Next I asked her if she would mind me featuring her blog via my blog. Gladly and gratefully, she agreed! I put together an e-mail of random questions to ask her. Some meaningful, some just for no reason at all! In doing this, I learned that my fellow blogger, Sarah, was more like me than I even realized! Without further ado... Q: Why did you start blogging and what prompted that decision? A: " I have always loved writing! It's a...

That's right, I have gone and done it again! I never cease to stop surprising myself with all of the silly things that I say or do. Back in September, I compiled a list of the random things I find myself doing  sometimes . It wasn't anything special, just my way of letting people know that I am one weird, funny, normal human being and it's ok for all of you twenty something's to feel the same way about yourselves! Sometimes I ...Make lists upon lists. I say this with no exaggeration to the fact that I will literally make a list of things to do and then a separate, individual to-do list of how to get the first list done. Some call it OCD, I call it organized!...But for real, that's OCD, I know! Sometimes I ...Eat potato chips in bed. Yeah, I said it! I will lie in bed and be on Pinterest or watch tv on my iPad and eat an entire can of Pringles. At times I forget that I even did it the night before and wake up in a sea of crumbs and wonder what happened. I am in n...

The majority of you twenty something's will end up making your New Years resolution something along the lines of losing weight and dieting better. Maybe you'll try to quit smoking...again! Perhaps you will try to drink less. Lets face it, you'll work out for a month at most and give up because it's a lot of work. The fried foods call your name loudly. Hey it does my name too, that's why I don't work out...ever! If you're going to quit smoking, just do it already. Enough with the electronic cigarette bullshit! Man up and cold turkey it! Just quit. It's gross!! As for drinking? Well let me put it this way... After the New Year, it's February, which means Valentine's Day. As a single woman, I will be home with a glass of wine! Did I say glass? I meant a bottle....or two! Ah hell, let's face it. I'm not quitting on the drinking any time soon! 2015 for me is going to be a major change in my lifestyle!Allow me to begin with this year. If you...

With Christmas quickly approaching next week, I find it very fitting to talk about what I want... My two front teeth ...  No, I have those! What I want is to share with you a list of things I plan to do for my Christmas 2015. That's right, next year. This year, things have been quite messy, so I am planning on making next year fantastic! Not only am I sharing that list, but I'm filling you in on what I like to do on my favorite holiday of the year! Christmas morning as a child, I remember my brothers and I would have to sit on the staircase while mom took a spray bottle to our bedheads and dad got the video camera ready for our excited little faces. I would open up present after present of Barbie Dolls, baby dolls, and other toys from dear old Santy Clause.  One of my favorite things to do as a kid was to pile into the car and drive around looking at the Christmas lights on all the houses. I like doing that with a giant hot chocolate and the Christmas music blaring in...

Dating in your twenty's is one of the most difficult things to do. At least I find it to be. The way it was to date decades ago has turned into a slew of one night stands, awful dates, no creativity, and terrible communication between two individuals! I am no stranger to the dating world. Sure I have had a few serious relationships here and there, but lets not forget some of the most terrible nights or weeks I spent spending time with certain guys. Allow me to share some of the funny, annoying, and heartbreaking stories of mine. Let me remind you that not all of these fellas ended up being boyfriends. Some were just dates and dear Lord, some were just big fat mistakes! The Confused Runner Lets go back to my very first date ever... I was 15 years old and crazy about this boy from another school whom I met while running track and cross country. He was taking me to a movie. I remember I wore this God awful, brown and gold glitter top with dark jeans and brown tie shoes and my...

Have you ever checked your credit score?  Have you ever decided to stay in on a Saturday night with a married couple and their kid? Is this what happens as we get older? Saturday night my friend and I both decided to stay in and hang out with six year olds and she asks me, "What is 35 going to be like?"  I could only laugh. We're on the last leg of our twenties. In the final stretch now! In the last few years I have really found myself making the "grown up" decisions to stay in on weekends, only have one glass of wine on a Friday night so my entire weekend isn't ruined by a massive hangover, or one of my faves, offering to watch the children of my coupled up friends so they can get out for a bit. That doesn't mean I haven't done  anything  in the last few years. I still enjoy a good night out of the house with my friends, having too many drinks, and not worrying about going home to a crying baby! Ahh, the life of a single twenty som...

With Thanksgiving approaching, it's very cliché for people to rattle off the top things that they're grateful for. I however, try to steer clear of that bandwagon. I would prefer to be thankful for what I have on a daily basis. Which leads me to the way I felt while driving to work Thursday morning. Living in middle Tennessee gives me a great chance to breathe in the beauty that is the south, with the mountains surrounding the bowl of the greater Nashville area. After seeing all the pictures and Facebook posts of friends and family up north in the snow, I really appreciated the sunshine in my eyes during my early commute. Weaving between cars, with my heat on high, I caught myself smiling at the last colors of fall coming and going. I really noticed the green, burgundy, bright and deep oranges, and browns that were more than likely the last we'll see of the year! It makes me laugh to think about the fact that I smiled at such a beauty, but I felt as if with all the ugly I...

I have come to learn throughout my 20's, especially as a female, that friends will come and go. It's not like in high school when "The Sexy 6" and I would hang out every weekend and those were my girls! BFF's right? A few of us grew up and apart. Such is life. A couple, I was in their weddings. However, throughout the last 8 years, I have met, become friends with, and cut ties with many, many new people. It's the ones that you let into your life, the ones you call your best friends, the ones you tell everything to, the ones you fight with like a sister, that you have trouble letting go of.  I never thought that a handful of these ladies, wouldn't be standing by my side today! I have this friend, she and I have been close for over 5 years now. We used to do everything together. She was like a sister to me. Mostly because we fought like sisters because we were so similar in personality. We have gone quite some time on two or three different occasions now tha...

When I was 6 years old I lost both my Papa and my Grandpa two weeks apart. As a child, I didn't understand what was going on. I knew people were sad and I knew my parent's fathers were gone, I just didn't understand the intense feelings that the grown ups were feeling. After high school, my graduating class experienced a huge loss when a classmate passed away a week before we all started college. I was never extremely close with the boy but he grew up around the corner from me, we rode the school bus together, and we hung around with all the neighborhood kids together. He was a good kid! I was deeply saddened by the loss we had all experienced, but still didn't feel the same hurt that some others were feeling. I prefer to say how fortunate I am that I never lost someone that I was so close with. That I never had to hurt daily, lose sleep, or cry myself to sleep. Luck runs out sometimes... Sunday morning, recovering from the events of the previous night, I received a pho...

To my greatest loves, Your hearts are innocent, kind, and energetic. You live with such excitement! It's admirable to see the curiosity in your eyes. I hope you never lose it. Any of it! Today I want you to know how much I love you. I want you to know how much you are enjoyed, adored, and loved by me and everyone else in your world! You deserve to know these things above all else in your life. I am such a blessed young woman to be in these lives of yours. I may not be there for every little scrape and bruise along your path, but I'm a simple phone call, skype date, or FaceTime away! Your life is simply the most precious thing in my life. You have no idea how lucky I feel to be your aunt and to two of you, your God mother.  I wanted to tell you a few things that life will throw at you that I know will suck, but that I also know you can conquer!  Homework : Do it! End of discussion. It'll be sucky when you have it over the weekend, or when you're out sick for a day and it...

There are moments in our lives that we think "Did I really just do that?" and then there are those moments that we think "Yep, I just did that!" Sometimes I tell myself that's it's not normal to do these things, or that it's fine if no one sees or hears me. However, I'm getting to the age and point in my life that I just don't care what you think about what I say or do! I compiled a small list of things that I do or say sometimes in my life that I want you other 20 somethings to know that it is plenty alright with me if you do these things or have your own little quirks about you. Sometimes I... listen to 90's music to reconnect with the girl I was back then. I feel like I was innocent and full of curiosity and I never want to lose that in my life! I may not be the innocent child I was in the 90's, but as long as I have my curiosity, I will have a life full of adventure and excitement! Sometimes I... curse like a sailor. I definite...

"Breathe, my friend. You are not old, you are young. You are not a mess, you are normal. Extraordinary, perhaps. In the blink of an eye your life will change. And it will continue to change for decades to come. Enjoy it, embrace it... Be grateful for the ride. You are not old, you are young. And faith will get you everywhere. Just you wait."  - Abby Larson

Next month I am turning 28. I'm closing in on 30. Just two more years to go and the time everyone expects you to stop having fun, your life completely together, and settled down with your other half is here. Let me make this clear; I am almost 28, single, a total train wreck and nowhere near having my life together.  Did you ever hear that Baz Luhrmann, Everybody's Free To Wear Sunscreen song? First of all, listen to it. There are so many things the man says in it that are just real and true and until you've lived a little, you don't believe what he says. Most importantly he says, "Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life... The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't."  Ok, now I'm not so concerned.  Right now, more like the last few years, my Facebook feed and my life in general has been filling up w...

As much as I'm in love with watching my tv shows, playing on my computer, my iPad, my iPhone, and committing suicide with my social medias, I much prefer the good old days. You know, the ones with less technology. Before it completely destroyed us as interactive human beings. I have been saying for some time now that I would leave some of these things behind and just disconnect for a little while. And until last weekend I didn't think I would ever want to do this so badly.  Saturday afternoon I took a friend with me to meet some other friends of mine at the lake. On the drive there it never occurred to me that I would lose cell phone service. As soon as we turned off the main road. BOOM! This not only unplugging me from the world, but my GPS. Luckily, my friends place at the lake was easy to find. We got right down to mingling with our friends and having a big old time. It was later that I realized the only reason my phone was even in my sight, let alone my hand, was for the so...

"It's a terrible thing, I think, in life to wait until you're ready. I have this feeling now that actually no one is ever ready to do anything. There is almost no such thing as ready. There is only now. And you may as well do it now. Generally speaking, now is as good a time as any." - Hugh Laurie 

The first time I was told my mom had cancer I was only in 8th grade I think. It was a small mole under her eye that turned out to be skin cancer. She had it removed and has since been very cautious about the time she spends in the sun. She became more aware of her health and how she treated her body.  When I was 15 or 16 she told us she had breast cancer. The dr. was sure that radiation would be the heal all end all. So my mom did radiation treatments and after a few months of going it alone without much support she was in remission. Unfortunately, when I was that age I didn't understand what she was going through and I didn't take the time to educate myself on it.  After that she was even more aware of her health. We support everything breast cancer now. Socks, pens, if it has a pretty pink ribbon, you name it we buy it! Back then  I didn't think of how badly it could have gotten and just how lucky we truly are to have her around still bugging the poo out of us all with ...

Traveling. I love it. I enjoy experiencing new places. Learning my way around a big city. There's something exhilarating about traveling alone especially. I feel accomplished. Like I bought this ticket. Although, this time, I was gifted the ticket. I always find myself people watching. What're they wearing? Their luggage. Where are they from (of course it's always a guess)? Where are they headed (again, the guessin game)? Like right now I'm sitting at a bar having a brew and some munchies. There's a couple next to me. I have no idea if they are married, coworkers, just met, or long lost buds! They're chattering away is all I know. It's kind of a wonderful thing to see/hear. Especially if they just met because the conversation sounds deep and who knows, maybe they've found a soul mate or an incredible friendship! Either way, the interaction is intriguing. I wish I knew more!  The woman on the other side of me. She lost her luggage. Traveling from New York...

Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Skype YouTube Blogs (Any and all) I know there are more, however, I have all of those. They consume the majority of my time throughout the day. They say the average person now picks up their phone about 110-150 times per day! I'm guilty. I do it for more than the phone call, time check, or text message. If I wasn't out of state, away from all of my family and friends, I can tell you I would have already deactivated my Facebook and Twitter accounts. I enjoy Instagram though. I mean, if you're following along, I am a picture whore! Pinterest... Mercy! Okay, we'll get to that one...Skype is the best way I get to see my family when I want to and need to most. YouTube, a very creative site but I use it rarely. Clearly I use my blog site now. These forms of social media are what some people who don't use it call "Social media suicide". I have been informed that it's called that because it's suicide for ...

Music, in my opinion is one of the best forms of therapy. I find it amazing how from one song to another, your mood can transform. You can hear a sad song that brings tears to your eyes, an upbeat song that makes you want to dance, an angry song that makes you feel strong. I have so much music I listen to! I like to say I'm very open minded when it comes to music. As a dancer, I was introduced to many artists that never made it into the main stream. Some I have followed since my younger days. I do quite enjoy some 60's, 70's, 80's, definitely 90's and of course stuff from today. It's cool to be able to hear how much it has all changed over the decades! I love to listen to country music mostly. Maybe being in the south helps, but I liked it even when I lived in the north. I like listening to 90's music, it puts me in this state of mind like I'm still a kid. It can take me back to junior high or a certain memory in my life. It's beautiful how music can...