When I turned 24, my hope was that people would start taking me seriously. Not that I don't think that people listen to me and value my opinion, but most of my friends and all of the people I work with know that I am young. They don't treat me like it by any means, in fact I think they often forget that I'm younger than them. But anyway, I thought that 24 sounded so much older and more credible than 23 so I thought 24 would be awesome.
It took about 6 months for me to realize a better goal would be to quit taking myself so seriously. Being young and professional is fabulous. You have all the opportunity in the world. I realized I needed to embrace that and just roll with it and have fun. I'm in my 20's! I credit this line of thought to my girlfriends Elisa, Jenny, Kerry, Kim, Dana, Jaclyn and Dalia. They taught me that it's OK to stay out too late sometimes when you have to work in the morning. That it's OK to not know what you want and be indecisive, to keep all your options open. Best of all they helped me grow by loving me just for the way I am. Even when I'm whiney and indecisive and may have stayed out too late with them the night before.
I turn 25 on the 25th of August. My golden birthday. I have three goals for year 25. I don't know if it's a good idea to set goals, but I figure why not. It'll be fun to look back a year from now and see how far I've come.

1. Have an agent for my book
2. Buy a house or condo
3. Slalom ski on my left leg--sounds minor to the other 2 but it's been a goal for a long time and I suck. My dear aunt Karla suggested we cut off my right leg and then I'll have no choice. I maybe should add a goal 4 of still having both legs at age 26.

Year 24 was great. Cheers to it only getting better in year 25!

New things for July.

Week one: I went paddle boarding.

My totally awesome and wonderful friend Jenny and I went on a bike ride with a local riding group on the Fourth of July. We started in Omaha and then had to ride over the bridge to the darkside...Council Bluffs, Iowa. Dun, dun, duunnnn. It was actually a really great ride.  Super pretty once we got out in the country. Jenny and I didn't want to go the whole 70 mile ride so we turned back after a while and then, of course, got lost on the way back to Counciltucky. We decided to stop at the fire station to ask for directions back to The Good Life because we know firemen like to help people. And I've always wanted to be saved by a man in uniform. When we found our way back over the river, we gave our friends the Storys a call to see if they were serious about their previous invite out to their lake house. Were they ever! Trish went to the store and got lunch goodies and they pulled the paddleboard out for us and we spent the day on the boat. It was one of the greatest days ever. I haven't had a day like that where I had no where to be and could just be spontaneous for so long. New life goal: be spontaneous whenever possible. 

Week 2: I competed in the Boulder 5150 triathlon. This was my first time racing in altitude. My mom drove out with me. We had a lot of fun. It's been a long time since my mom and I took a road trip together just the two of us. We went over the mountains to Steamboat where my aunt Linda, cousin Cameron and uncle Rick live and own a shoe store. The Petets are the hostsestes with the mostestes. Linda, my mom and I went tubing down the Yampa River and managed to not get stuck in A Hole, B Hole or C Hole (whirlpools where if you get stuck in them, you just swirl around and everyone eating lunch at the cafes along the river laugh at you). My uncle Rick helped me cross something off my bucket list: riding a motorcycle. He took me down the mountain to breakfast with my mom, Linda and Cameron. 

The race was tough. Like I said, it was my first time racing in altitude. There was a mountain to climb where we rode up 1300 feet in 2 miles. I wanted to kill myself biking uphill. On the way down, I thought I was going to kill myself because it was so steep and curvy! But I finished the race 24th of the 80 in my division and no one who didn't come from a mountainous state beat me. 

Week 3: I went to my first concert at Stir Concert Cove in Council Bluffs. It was all 90's bands--Fastball, Vertical Horizon, Gin Blossoms, Sugar Ray and Smashmouth. I was super excited for the first three bands but actually my favorite part ended up being Sugar Ray. I had such a blast. I went with wonderful friends and we just sang our little 90's kids' hearts out. I also went out with my little brother for the first time since he turned 21 at the end of June. It was one of the most fun nights ever! I was really nervous about it because my brother is in a frat at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and I thought I'd be hanging with just a bunch of young college kids and I'd feel old and I wouldn't fit in. I did not live a real college experience at all. I never partied. I was too mature and looking back that was really lame. I wish I had had those experiences my brother and normal college kids are having. My cousin Sydney, also newly 21, came out with us too and this night was all about family! I'm pretty sure if at the end of the night I had smoked a cigarette and said something like, "Oh, I only smoke when I drink"and I had taken some random dude home, I would have lived college in a night. We played yard games, bar crawled around downtown Lincoln, took shots, danced, talked to rando people and went out for Perkins at 2am for my first drunk food experience ever. I'm not saying these were all good things but it was fun and wonderfully freeing. Annnnnnnnddd, best part of all, we got Tannie to boobie smush!!!!

Week 4: I lived in Counciltucky (man, oh, man there's a lot of the ol' CB in this post--I should probably quit ragging on it) for a week dog sitting for my friends Dave and Michelle. I played Harry Potter Scene It for the first time. It mostly just made us want to watch the movies. What a wonderfully dorky Friday night! I also rode the longest I've ever ridden on my bike. My good friend Molly invited me to come ride with her and her husband and more triathlon friends. We left from their house in Bennington and rode from to Arlington (my first time in Arlington too) to Fremont, to Valley and home. 61.5 miles. Bam. It was fabulous. 

Week 5: I did the most epic trail run of my life so far. I felt like such a badass running through the forest. Like I was running from giant spiders and/or Voldemort. And I started barefoot running this month. Woozies. July was a good.