32

Today, I turn 32.  I'm celebrating with Phil by going out to my favorite BBQ place, Brasa, which means I'll cross something off my bucket list! I am looking forward to celebrating with the special guy in my life, and this birthday should far outweigh my lackluster, celebration-free birthday last year, which I spent in Charlotte at a sales conference.

I feel like birthdays are a time of year that make us account for the year behind us and anticipate the year ahead.  I am proud of what I accomplished last year, like passing level II of the CFA and PR'ing at my marathon.  I had some wonderful experiences, like trips to Chicago for a girls weekend, the Pacific NW for Amber's wedding, and St. Louis for Nora's wedding, and I extended work trips to Austin and California and got to spend time with some of my favorite people and see more of the country.  I met a great new guy who has definitely brought me much happiness.  So there are lots of great things to look back on.

What I struggle with is looking at the year ahead of me.  I know I need to stay positive and I will get behind this move, but I would be lying if I didn't acknowledge the fact that there are going to be a lot of struggles ahead of me, and that the upcoming move is casting a bit of a shadow over the celebration of my birthday.  I know that the year to come will probably hand me more struggles than years past. I am up to the challenge, of course, but instead of having a sense of excitement about the year to come, it sort of feels a bit daunting and scary.

For now, I am trying to focus on the fun things that the year ahead of me will hold.  Things like my Chicago marathon trip in the fall with some of my favorite fellow runners, trips to explore areas around Charlotte like Asheville, Charleston, Savannah, and Raleigh, trips to cities like New York, Boston, and Pittsburgh to visit URL-turned-IRL friends, and hopefully having this dang CFA experience behind me for GOOD!

So I definitely have quite a few adventures ahead of and lots of exploring to do - both inward exploration as this move will undoubtedly teach me a lot about myself, and exploration of news placess.

I have to believe Sigmund Freud's quote which I am sharing below.  I have to believe that, despite all the inevitable struggles ahead, 32 is going to be a beautiful year.
 

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