my blog

Sometime within the past year I've realized that I'm not 22 anymore. One would assume, reasonably, that this would have hit me- oh, somewhere between ages 23 through 29, perhaps? But it didn't. Throughout this time period, I felt the same. I knew I wasn't a teenager, but didn't feel much different at age 29 than I felt at age 24. It was sometime in year 30 that I realized a few things:

First off, now that I'm of a certain age, any cinnamon rolls or french fries I eat go straight to my ass within 24 hours. I wish I were exaggerating.

It's not uncommon for me to grow lines on my forehead overnight. I've got a long line going straight across my forehead, created from thousands of hours of raised-eyebrow surprised looks throughout my lifetime. I've also got a short horizontal line between my eyebrows. She is not a pretty one. I once had a traffic camera take a photo of me when I was speeding through an intersection, so one day a photo of me driving arrived in my mailbox along with a $70 speeding ticket, thankyouverymuch. Much to my dismay, my driving face is one of anger and confusion. Apparently, 11 months of Denver driving has resulted in a fine addition to my forehead line collection.

I also realized after 30 that a crazy night of drinking no longer results in a cute little Saturday morning hangover. Try going out on Friday night and STILL feeling the effects come Monday morning. Not adorable in the least.

I also realized somewhere around my 30th birthday that having a passion is a wonderful thing, but having an obsession is maybe not so healthy. Balance is SO important, and it was something I had been missing out on for almost 5 years. I thought being obsessed with jewelry making would launch me to the moon, but now I am starting to learn that you can't have true happiness unless you are nurturing more than just that one part of yourself. Of course, I told myself that I took time to take bubble baths and to smell roses, but in the midst of all those bubbles was me with a pen and paper scratching down new necklace ideas.

This year, I've made a conscious effort to find more balance. First of all, I'm still doing jewelry- just not skipping dinner most nights for the sake of art. I'm not saying Yes to everything that comes my way. I've got a few small shows lined up for this summer, and am starting to create months and months ahead of time- rather than 3 weeks in advance.

I'm also trying to better manage my finances. So far, I'm in the beginning phases. I have started contributing to a retirement fund and educating myself on these topics- something I wish I would have started doing 5 years ago. I'm listening to a book on tape, Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover. I haven't used credit cards in years, but still have old debts lingering out there, so am hoping to get more aggressive regarding payoff and becoming debt-free. I would love to be one of those people who doesn't use credit cards at all. Finally, my sister Becki and I have signed up for the Denver Half Marathon, a race which takes place in downtown Denver in October. Serious training starts soon, but in the meantime, I'm trying to get to the point where I can run 3 miles straight without walking. So far, I'm about halfway there.

Speaking of marathons- I just read that a 70-year old woman who runs marathons ran after some teenaged thieves after they stole alcohol from a corner store. I read that story earlier today, and had to remind myself that even though I'm not 22, there's a lot of life in all of us no matter what our age.