This week is my 24th birthday and I figured that my blog post for you all today is going to be the top things I have learned in the past 24 trips around the sun. Through the years I have traveled, moved, gotten married, almost completed my masters, and learned a lot of lessons. Here is what I have taken from my life and what I want to pass on.

1. It is okay to be scared, it is what you do with that fear that matters.
2. Life is too short to read bad books (or watch bad movies, etc.). If you aren’t loving it, change to something you do love.
3. Loving something doesn’t mean that you are defined by it.
4. Some of the best friends are ones that you don’t speak to all the time, it is the ones that you can pick back up with automatically without any hesitation.
5. School (and life) becomes so much more enjoyable when you are doing what you love.
6. I don’t always know what I am thinking and that is okay, sometimes my feelings take time.
7. Crying and being emotional doesn’t make you weak, it makes you human.
8. There is not much I love more than a hot bath with a candle, music, and a good book at the end of a long day.
9. Where you live doesn’t make a home, it is who you are living with.
10. I mess up, a lot, but every day I get a little bit better, and all that matters is that I try.
11.  I haven’t managed to keep a plant alive yet, though it doesn’t stop me from wanting a house and yard full of plants.
12. I wish I was better at keeping connected with people.
13. Treasure the time you have with people, it sometimes goes too fast.
14. If you are feeling stressed, go outside. Fresh air and nature are healing.
15. Don’t judge other based on what they used to think. There are a lot of my previous opinions I don’t want others to judge me on anymore.
16. Surround yourself with community. Life is better with other people.
17. Sometimes it is okay to go to bed angry, life always looks a bit brighter in the morning.
18. It is amazing the words you remember to the songs of your childhood. Keep them in your brain, you never know when you might need them.
19. Learn something new every day.
20. I would way rather bake than cook, but I am getting better at it.
21. Sometimes I need people to make me more spontaneous, otherwise I get too much into a rut.
22. Sometimes it is okay to be scared, I just need to work on it not affecting my life.
23. Sometimes the best thing you can say is yes. Sometimes the best thing you can say is no.
24. I am beautiful, I am smart, and I am the only person just like me.

So there you have it, my top tips and lessons I have learned from the past 24 years. I am hopefully many years to go and many more lessons to learn, but here is to 24 amazing years and more lessons than I can count!