When I was 9, I couldn’t wait to be 13. I’d officially be a “tween.” That meant hopefully I’d “become a woman” which is a complete fraud way of saying you get your dreadful period (who came up with that?). And you have to ask your mom for a bra that you clearly don’t need and you have colored strings on your braces.

When I was 13, I couldn’t wait to be 16. That would mean I’d upgrade to a “teen”. I would have my license and could drive anywhere I wanted. I’d be able to pick my friends up, not have to wait for a ride after practice and get a job to support my taco bell and Speedway slushie habits.

When I was 16, I couldn’t wait to be 18. That meant I was officially an adult. I’d be graduating high school and going to my “dream college.” I would try to figure out who I was, what I wanted, where I belonged and who needed to stay in my life and who needed to go.

But when I turned 18, I couldn’t wait to be 23. I calculated that I would graduate college, I’d become a registered nurse, and be on my own completely. However, I didn’t realize at that time, all the other big things that were going to come this year.

My big 23:

-I graduated nursing school with my BSN
-I moved across the country to Tampa, FL, just because
-I passed boards and became a registered nurse
-I became a dog mom for the third time
-I got my dream job in the Emergency Department at a Level One Trauma Center
-I bought the most gorgeous house
-I married my best friend

So now that 23 is gone and past, I started thinking what is this next year going to hold and what are my goals for it. I started feeling sad like what could top this year and I realized that this year I’m going to work on becoming the best possible version of myself that I can be. I feel like this past year, I started taking on new roles: becoming a nurse, becoming a wife, becoming a homeowner, becoming a blogger, becoming a gardener, becoming a dog mom of 3 and now this year the goal is to try to become a master at those roles.

My goals for Chapter 24:

• love myself more and take adequate time for self care and self improvement
• keep promises to myself
• show up for myself
• setting new health and fitness goals
• becoming the best wife I can be
• work on my mindset
• furthering my career and becoming a trauma and pediatric ER nurse
• fully investing myself into my passions, as well as Leonard’s–music, fitness, blogging, gardening
• trying new things and new experiences
• continue to become who I’m meant to be

I saw a quote in a book that said, “You can’t skip chapters, that’s not how life works. You have to read every line, meet every character. You won’t enjoy all of it. Hell, some chapters will make you cry for a week. You will read things you don’t want to read, you will have moments when you don’t want the pages to end. But you have to keep going. Stories keep the world revolving. Live yours, don’t miss out. “

If I had I skipped Chapter 16, I wouldn’t have been able to compare how a boy treated me vs. how I deserve to be treated. If I had skipped Chapter 18, I would have missed out on meeting my future husband. If I had I skipped Chapter 19, I wouldn’t have learned the true value of friendship and learning to put myself first.

Basically, every chapter is a new lesson and one day we will be who we are meant to be because of all the lessons and all the chapters we’ve overcome. Some chapters had heartache, pain, and sadness. Some had let downs and disappointments. But some chapters were filled with so much joy, silver linings, celebrations and true happiness. I’m learning to stop wanting to skip the chapters, read ahead and miss out on the journey and just enjoy the book.

xoxo,

keanna