yesterday was a large milestone in my life-- i turned 23. it wasn't really a big deal and i'm happy to say that as you get older, birthdays become less of a party and more of a relaxing day where people help you out more than usual.
as i was sitting in church yesterday i chose to reflect back on my year of 22. i realized that for 9 months of 22, i was in salt lake/wyoming serving as a missionary. oh boy, do i miss that more than ever. i reflected back to my birthday last year-- i was serving in salt lake by the U. it decided to snow (utah didn't really take into consideration that i was a california girl and maybe didn't want to be showered in snow on my day of birth) and we went about our daily business. we went from appointment to appointment, had wonderful teaching opportunities, and attempted to navigate emmigration canyon in our toyota corolla, which barely made it there and back.
22 reasons i loved 22
(1) it was the year where i learned that selfless service truly allows you to be the happiest you've ever been.
(2) taylor swift has an epic song about being 22, which i listened to yesterday. i also received the revelation-- she says, "we'll just keep dancing like we're 22", which makes me believe that she wrote this song about being 23+ and wants to go back to being 22. i'll take it.
(3) i met some of my greatest, lifelong friends.
(4) 22 was the year both erika and julia went on missions-- all 3 mahterian girls were out for 3 months at the same time. how's that for an unexpected miracle? also, 18 days until sister mahterian the second comes home. i'm quite excited.
(5) salt lake become my second home.
(6) wyoming tied salt lake for being my second home.
(7) i discovered the pie pizzaria -- gluten free/ dairy free pizza goodness :)
(8) general conference at the feet of the brethren? yes.
(9) baptisms. and conversions. lots and lots of conversions.
(10) thusfar in my life, i think that 22 was my happiest year.
(11) i was reunited with mama suze and popsicle after 18 long months of separation -- if you don't count S stalking me at GC...
(12) "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God" (Mosiah 2:17) --> https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/2?lang=eng
(13) my best friend had a baby and i OFFICIALLY became aunt ali.
(14) i learned to love those i knew very little about.
(15) you know, i think i finally realized that i'm worth something.
(16) i also learned that how others treat you is a reflection of them, not you.
(17) i also learned that being yourself will allow you to make a bigger impact on people, as opposed to being fake and telling people what they want to hear.
(18) i love being me.
(19) oh, 22 was the year of the "rawr" tic. can't really forget that.
(20) 22 was the year of loving others, being patient, growing immensely, and learning to just embrace the crazy that you are.
(21) true friends are those who you might not see forever but when you are reunited with them it feels like no time has passed.
(22) ben folds & JJ both were graced by my presence at their concerts. yessss
i really like lists. i think it's the ocd in me
revelation time: that list won't really mean anything to anyone, but it meant something to me. improvement and progression are 2 things we are desperately striving for in this life. looking at this list and reflecting back on the year of 22, i realized that both improvement and progression occurred in my life and in the life of those individuals i was fortunate enough to meet. guys, life is good and it's just going to get better. but for now, let's go eat some birthday taquitos and keep dancing like we're in high school, okay?
love, almost a quarter of a centry old ollie
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