Today is my 25th birthday. Yikes. How am I already closer to 30 than I am to 20? It’s such a cliche, but time really does move faster the older you get. Lately I’ve been feeling really nostalgic about my childhood and college years and how I didn’t treasure those moments enough. A lot has changed since then, and if there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you have to appreciate the every day. Life moves too fast, and it doesn’t help that we live in a culture that is always looking to the future (that next milestone, vacation, big job, etc.). But if you’re stuck in the future, you’re going to miss today. In ten years I don’t want to look back and think that I should have appreciated my mid-twenties more. I want to soak up every moment of it.

There are a lot of things I want to do with my life. There are a lot of places I want to visit and goals I want to accomplish and experiences I want to…well, experience.

So here’s to 25! I’m scared of that growing number, but I know life has barely just begun. Here are 25 things for my 25th birthday that I want to do in the next year (in addition to just living in the moment, right?):

1. Visit Portland, Oregon

2. Learn how to use a sewing machine

3. Make my own sandwich bread

4. Go apple picking

5. Enroll Kipling in an obedience class (you can still teach an old dog new tricks, right?)

6. Read the entire Anne of Green Gables series

7. Buy a new mattress

8. Run 3 miles straight (I’ve never run more than 2 miles)

9. Go camping at Joshua Tree

10. Get my splits back (this will be the year)

11. Go on a day long hike

12. Take a lesson at a shooting range (so I can believably shoot a gun on TV)

13. Take a SkillShare or other online class

14. Learn how to actually plant an herb garden (my last attempt was half-hearted and failed)

15. Have a pen pal

16. Read Harry Potter (it’s probably time, huh?)

17. Book a national commercial

18. Book a role on a TV show

19. Sign with a theatrical agent

20. Have a picnic in Central Park

21. Ride on a train

22. Invest in new friendships

23. Unplug (I’m tired of technology!)

24. Find a fitness regimen that is right for me (finally)

25. Be happy.

I’m just going to do what makes me happy. And my new decision maker? Will I regret doing it, or will I regret not doing it? I think that’s a good way to look at things. 😉

-wonderland sam