20 Things I Hope I Never Forget About My 20s

My friend Lindsey posted hers a week or so ago, and my first thought was "my 20s we're bad, I'm glad they're over" and then I had to stop and correct myself. Where the heck did that come from?!? My 20's were great. Full of new adventures and friends and experiences. The only year that was pretty much bad all year was 2012, the year of going through the divorce, and that wasn't even when I was 20! I was 30.5-31.5(ish) so why in my mind was it a bad decade?! Anyway, the only thing to do was to right that wrong.

I probably won't actually have a list of 20 things, but I do want to reflect on some of the bigger 'life lessons' learned during that decade (of awesomeness).

So, I specifically remember turning 20 because I was afraid to leave my 'wild teen years'. I was up in Northern Michigan at a student leadership training camp with InterVarsity and it was the summer I became friends with Jill over long walks after dinner and her making fun of my 10 shirts the exact same style just different colors

Ahh, so young, so tan looking

Turning 20 was fun and even kinda 'wild' as Jill, another friend, and I snuck out of our dorm and went skinny dipping in the lake at night (just girls, calm down).

My 20's also included my first mission trip! I went to Calcutta, India for 2 months and worked in a Mother Teresa orphanage.

Look at those sweet faces of those precious girls. My mom says I came home begging them to adopt.

In my 20's I took an epic road trip with Liz. With just a map and our Bad Girls Guide to the Open Road book we hiked into the Grand Canyon, slept in our car, tried to sneak into a ghost town, cooked sandwiches on the car engine, camped and I cried when I thought Liz was kidnapped (turns out she was just sleeping outside on our picnic table), we ran over a snake, (twice), and drove up the coast of California. I fell asleep as we left California and Liz drove us all the way to about Nebraska when I woke up, haha, friend drive sharing fail.

My 20's were a huge time of out-of-my-box personal and spiritual growth. I'll never forget the year I spent in Tulsa, Oklahoma as an intern for a mission's organization. I helped kids go on missions trips, was involved in Bible studies, tutored girls in a girl's home, worked with the youth group, was an intern at the church. It was a year of developing new relationships. I became friends with another Jill (Oklahoma-, then Kentucky-, and now Missouri- Jill) who is still my friend today

That was a year of learning about love relationships. I was a total jerk to this super nice guy and broke up with him telling him "he wasn't funny enough". ouch. (I did later apologize). Later I fell in love, and wasn't loved in return. It was a year of learning.

And it was a huge year for me as I decided to get baptized as an adult

Thank you God for saving me!

My 20s were years of education! I earned a certificate in therapeutic massage, a Bachelor's in Wellness, Health Promotion and Injury Prevention, and a certificate in paralegal studies. Now, I didn't say years of good paying jobs! But education yes, and years living at my grandparents and nannying which were both amazing experiences.

(especially being flown in private jets to Aspen... ah the good old days....)

There were trips and travels.

I loved our family trip out to Yellowstone National Park/ the Tetons

A couple years later the "kids" went on their first (no parents) camping trip to Tobermory, Ontario

let's hear it for cards!

There were lots of good times as a family, and fun times with my siblings. Bittersweet times too, moving Joel out to Colorado

and then Elizabeth a couple years later

I took so many trips in my 20s! India, Canada, Venezuela on a mission's trip

Mexico

me and Liz got a tour of Mexico City from a guy we had met on the plane

Costa Rica

Honduras

where I learned a lesson of failing as I failed my scuba diving lessons (and got the most horrible forehead sunburn of my life)

(and more good trips in my early 30's: Peru, Guatemala, and Hawaii so far!)

I was engaged and unengaged in my mid-20s. Valuable lessons learned there. Looking back now I think I just really wanted to get married because my 2 best girl friends were. It hurt at the time, but I know we're both happy we didn't get married. And then I did get married at 29. Which in a lot of ways was good, and I really loved him, and for a short time I thought we had a beautiful life together. And then of course, it wasn't. And even though the divorce was so hard and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy, and the year was really really hard all year - it was also, as I've shared again and again, such a beautiful year. I had never felt such love and support and community from my family, friends, and Savior. I will never forget that.

Wow, God has been so good to me! I love seeing all these pictures and remembering so many wonderful memories and stories.

I'm SO thankful for all the amazing life experiences God has blessed me with so far, I look forward to another decade of love and learning and life!