Everything Thus Far

I'm 24. A year to go until I have officially circled the sun for a quarter of a century. Here's my 2 cents, (or should I say 25 cents) on everything in my life, thus far.

I'm still in the process of completing my psychology degree at York. If you would have asked me when I graduated high school in 2004 where I would be in 2010, I would have answered, "teaching." Life has thrown me a few curveballs and the answer I can provide you, now, as to where I am is: 'Here.'

Confused? Don't be. What I mean by 'here,' is that I am in the here and now. I'm doing what I have to do now, to get me to my tomorrows. To further explain, I've spent the past 6 years of my life looking back, year after year, of my list of coulda, woulda, shoulda's. I've spent the last 6 years looking forward, to where I wanna be, where I could be, where I should be.

So I've decided, rather than hold onto my past like an anchor, or get swept away by dreams of the future, I have to stay in the here and now - for a better tomorrow.

I've been holding onto this 'big apple' dream. No, not what you think -not a New York State of Mind, rather my dream to become a teacher. So many reasons why this dream may remain merely a figment of my imagination but I can't stop myself from trying. It means too much to just let it go now.

As for the other aspects of my life, I am completely happy. I am still with my elementary-school sweetheart (we started dating in 2000) and he couldn't be more than perfect. Selfishly, I think God put him on this earth for me; he makes me smile when I don't want to, pulls laughs out of me even if it's like pulling teeth, and gives me all the reasons in the world to be thankful.

One such reason, walks on four legs. We happily walk, chase, play tug o' war, and completely spoil our fur baby chihuahua -Rocky. Don't let the breed fool you, he's 10lbs of Mexican hot sauce all rolled into one firecracker of an animal. He's rambunctious, not yappy. He loves attention, yet wants space and will walk himself out of a noisy room. Last Christmas he got more presents than my cousin's husband! This little guy is -my hearbeat at my feet.

The other wonderful people who make my life shine are my family and friends. These very select people have supported me through my 24 years. Through my many Ups and recent Downs... I can't imagine where I'd be without their 'love & support.' Cliche as it sounds, I have so much of both that I can probably jar them up, sell 'em, and make a whole bunch of people just as happy and well-loved as I am.

If I were to tell you where I wanted to be at this age here's my list:

• teaching (certified, supplying, or landed a ft permanent position)
• probably engaged, looking for a house
• having evening dates with my girls, doing dinner sushi dates in the middle of the week

But here is where I am now:

• happy
• in love
• well-loved.

If there's anything that I could say as a moral of the story:

Think It. Dream It. Have It.

As long as you stay true to your heart & let your heart do the wishing, while your head does the work, everything is possible.