28 Things for my 28th Birthday

It’s pretty hard for me to beat my last 4 birthdays (24, 25, 26 and 27 (spent in France, didn’t publish a post)). For 2 of my last 4 birthdays I was unemployed so I had a great time traveling. This year though is certainly a big year, because next week, we close on a HOUSE!! I think it will be some time before we move in as we have to do a few things first, but I can’t wait to have my own kitchen, a dedicated yoga/office room and be able to do some DIY projects and painting to just make it my own. I also can’t wait to open my boxes again of my things that have been packed away since December 2016 before our travels. I really have only unpacked some of my clothes and bought some new items due to not being able to get to my boxes anyway. That’s alright though because most of the things I bought were kitchen related and I didn’t have too big of a collection yet.

Anyway, to celebrate this year, I wanted to write 28 things for my 28th birthday. I know that I have grown a lot in the last few years with all my moving around and adjusting to new places, so I thought it would be fun to share some things about me.

1. I’ve lived in 3 states (Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York) in 6 years but now we bought a house so I think I might stay in this state for more than 2 years this time. I can’t say I won’t move again though.
2. Even though I haven’t settled, I have found it to be more and more beneficial that I have now worked for 3 different size/types of companies in 3 different states. I can’t really compare companies because that is comparing apples to oranges, but I have been able to bring different lessons and skills I have learned with me to other companies that has helped me in my work ethic.
3. The turning point in my life was when I got laid off from my first post college job. That is still one of the best things to happen to me and something I will forever be grateful for. I can’t believe that was 4 years ago now.
4. I quit my second job in order to travel and ended up traveling for 4 months. Another one of my decisions that I will always be grateful for.                   
5. On those travels, my dream to hold a koala came true. 

   

6. I used to think I would have settled down and had kids by 30 but life took me another way and I am enjoying this time to learn about myself more and discover new things that I will one day pass down to my children. Sorry mom, no kids for another few years.
7. I grew up surrounded by “stuff”. I didn’t realize how much physical stuff could stress me out until I started letting go of my items. I felt so much more free and love an empty space over furniture any day.  

   

8. I’m a kid at heart, my favorite thing is to lay on the floor some days. I also sit cross legged in my desk chair at work. At home I sit on an exercise ball at my desk as I love it more than a chair.

   

9. I look forward to entertaining at my new house, though I suppose I might need some furniture or chairs for that rather than offering the floor or exercise balls for a seat. I understand that not everyone likes sitting on the floor or rolling around and doing backbends over an exercise ball like me.   
10. I don’t like shoes unless they are sneakers and I am going somewhere or to the gym. I also don’t like slippers. Barefoot always. Cozy socks in winter are ok, but usually I just complain about my cold feet because I also don’t really like socks.
11. I’ve never dyed my hair and have no plans to for now. I think if I did dye my hair it would be to a lighter blonde as it has gotten darker over the years but I don’t really want the up keep and I also love when I go into a new salon and they just admire my hair. I had the same hair dresser until age 24 so she was already familiar with me, but new ones just admire my hair in awe. Yes I’m lucky.
12. I watched so much tv growing up, but now that I don’t have cable, I watch some Youtube videos in the morning while I eat breakfast and have a few shows I follow, but otherwise I have been reading more. I have also found value in finding more time to write and be creative.
13. In case you can’t tell by the fact that I have a blog, I love to write. It helps me with my anxiety, something I didn’t realize until I wasn’t writing on a regular basis and I have gone back to writing/journaling for myself. I have probably mentioned before a while back, but I would love to write a book someday. It will probably end up being something about my life and especially my turning point (mentioned in #3).
14. Growing up, I was the shy girl and didn’t do things unless a friend did something with me. In the last few years, I decided to stop waiting around for someone to do something with me and just go out and do it. That has led me on some great travel adventures and new friends. I say if you want to do something, make it happen yourself, don’t wait on someone else. 

    

15. So I’m writing this at the library I recently joined and I was looking for a new book to read. Not knowing what book I wanted, just a fun fiction read. I wandered the aisles and was attracted to the bright obvious chick flick books. I know you aren’t supposed to judge a book by the cover, but I read the little synopsis and figured they would be good light chick flick books before bed.
16. As much as I love the convenience of shopping online, I love going to the store and wandering the mall to pick something out. Before I got a job in Philadelphia, I went to the mall a couple times a week. I’m pretty good at window shopping which is good on my bank account, but I would often find deals on something by going more often. It makes me sad that so many physical stores are closing these days. I wonder what my kids future will look like.
17. The closest I got to being sporty growing up was my 1 year on the swim team in high school. I was never into sports. I don’t follow professional sports (Facebook keeps me up to date on Chicago and Philadelphia sports now). But Brian introduced me to weight lifting back in college when he wanted to get into better shape and I haven’t looked back since. Weight lifting is something I love and look forward to, even when there are those days that don’t go well at the gym, I’m always glad I showed up.                                                                       
18. I was introduced to yoga as a teenager with a summer program at the local library. This was before the days of all the options of workout leggings and such. I really couldn’t take it seriously and my sister and I tried a class at a local studio afterwards and just went on a laughing kick. I never imagined I would go on to love fitness so much and do a yoga teacher training.
19. I’ve learned to not be afraid of change, because change really is where you grow. Moving from place to place, I look at it as a fresh start and clean slate, especially when you don’t know anyone in the area. Also take that opportunity to learn about yourself and find activities you love to do. For me, finding a gym and yoga studio are my priorities because it will help me find a place to meet some people that share one of my interests. 

    

20. I’ve always loved math and numbers, why I majored in applied math for college. I track my spending in an excel spreadsheet. I started doing that when I had one of my first summer jobs and have improved upon the template and categories since.  
21. If you want to talk fashion, talk to my sister, not me. Though I feel I could talk about workout clothes, because that is often what you will find me wearing outside of work.
22. My sister and I are 5.5 years apart. I think we are starting to really look alike, but we are also quite opposite as well. Take pancakes for example: she puts only butter and I put only syrup on mine. It works well when we go out to eat, I give her my extra butter and take all the syrup lol.                                                                                                   
23. My favorite social media platform is Instagram (though I hate the new algorithm). You can follow my blog account @bridgesthroughlife or my personal account @ilabk . Facebook is kinda boring these days except for the groups I am in. Twitter is more for my blog, but I don’t go on often. Snapchat I deleted a while ago as it used to suck up my phone battery and that’s about all I know for social media platforms.
24. I love taking pictures and I love having pictures. I love having pictures to look at for memories instead of a physical object from that destination. It also has been fun to put together photo albums or calendars with my photos since everything is digital these days and we don’t print the actual photos as much.
25. When I am home and not traveling around my birthday, I like to make myself some sort of cookie cake, whether that is the healthier kind with chickpeas or the butter and sugar classic chocolate chip kind. Also adding sprinkles makes it even better 😉                                                                                                                                                                           
26. My other favorite dessert are cupcakes. I’m probably going to have cupcakes instead of a cake at my wedding next year.I think it’s a better frosting to cake ratio, but my favorite is a cookie dough filled cupcake, combining my two favorite desserts, cookies and cupcakes.
27. Sometimes driving gives me a lot of anxiety due to all the flat tires I have had or when there is snow. However, on sunny spring/summer days, I love going for a drive to a new place. I can’t wait for some weekend road trip adventures this summer (I mean if winter ever gets the hint to go away).
28. Number 28, what can I say? I feel old and yet I don’t. I look back at everything I have accomplished in the last 4 years with many changes and I know this next year will be no exception. So cheers to another year of learning, growing and being myself in this world.

I’m so glad I have this blog to follow my journey. Thank you for reading and following along.

What do you do to celebrate your birthday?