#23- Hopefully It's as Lucky for Me as it was for Michael Jordan

My 23rd Birthday is fast approaching and it's really freaking me out! Last week in church, all of the graduating high school seniors were invited to the singles ward. It dawned on me how seriously weird it is that I have been graduated from high school for 5 years... I remember being 18 and meeting people who were 23 at college and thinking, "Wow, they are SO much older than me..." My how the tables have turned... I feel like time has aged everything but ME! I still feel like the same me with a few more life changing experiences under my belt.

I can remember thinking at age 18, "In 5 years, I #1 want to be graduated from college, #2 Serve a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, #3 have a good job, and #4 be dating a really great guy." Each of those 4 things were certainly achievable, and would take some work! Now that my 23rd birthday is in 4 days, it's dawned on me that I'm where I wanted to be when I turned 23! That is a huge relief, and for some reason almost a little bit surprising.

The first two, graduating and serving a mission, I never had any doubt about achieving. The second two have been tender mercies. Yeah I have a bachelors degree and I'm only making $12 an hour... but I don't have to work Sundays, the economy is TERRIBLE and I know so many people who are jobless, college graduates. I mean I just read an article that said 53% of graduating college students will be jobless. I'm gonna count this as a good job and a huge blessing! 73 people applied for my job, and when it came down to myself and one other girl, they told me they hired me based on a lot of experience from my mission... the Lord takes care of me!

Number four, dating a really great guy. I was so absolutely against the dating world when I was preparing to come home from my mission. At the time there was no prospects, and no good reason to start dating just one person. Boy, have I put my foot in my mouth! Dating Dan has been so unexpected and I've never felt so comfortable around another soul in my life. Honestly Dan just dropped into my life a puzzle piece, and happened to land in the exact place where he fit with everything else in my life so that things would work out perfectly.

The last 5 years of my life have been pretty fantastic. Living in Atlanta the summer after my first year of college was probably the biggest turning point in my life. Just one of the best experiences I've had, loved it all so much. Nothing will ever compare to my experience of serving a mission in Los Angeles.  I've been to Colorado, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, New York, and California, each one of those visits were huge tender mercies as well! Internships, day care jobs, living with a girl every second of my life for 18 months, making friends across the globe from all walks of life...

All of this has molded me, and humbled me into this "almost" 23 year old woman who needs a plan for the next 5 years of her life! So where do I start? These are a few ideas roaming my mind...

#1- Be Happily Married in the Temple!
#2- Be a Mother of one, with maybe another on the way
#3- Run a Marathon
#4- Find a new hobby I love and become really good at!

Here's to the next 5 years...