One more candle and a trip around the sun.

(Jessie Bruggers, name that song.)

Here in Sydney it's 11:13 pm on July 28, 2010. That can only mean one thing: I should really be in bed. However, because Renee and I decided it would be a good idea to do a Tim-Tam-Slam at 9:30, I am wide awake just waiting for midnight. As I lie on the floor in our living room listening to the newest Hillsong album ("A Beautiful Exchange" - go buy it. it will change your life) I am thinking that I can't believe I am about to turn 25... in 47 minutes to be exact. (Well... 43 now 'cause it's 11:17, but whatev.) Earlier I was saying to Renee, "Man, if I had known at 17 what I know now..." How many times have we all said that?? Thing is, there are some things that I'd probably like to change, but I also know that everything, good and bad, that I've been through - every situation, every friendship - has made me who I am, and brought me to where I am right now. I've learned a lot of the past 25 years, starting with how to sit up... and it only got better from there.

Having a summer birthday has meant that I've had birthdays in a lot of different places over the years. One of those places was never school, however, and as a kid that was REALLY sad. I never got to be the one whose mom brought cupcakes and Hi-C juice boxes for the entire class because school doesn't happen in July. You know what does happen a lot in July? Vacation. There were 3 or 4 years where I didn't even have a proper birthday party because my family was on vacay when July 29 rolled around. I spent birthdays in hotel rooms, random restaurants in other cities, and even once at someone's wedding. I celebrated my 16th birthday in September because I was bound and determined to do something fun with all of my girlfriends and having the party in September guaranteed that everyone would be in town because school would have started. I turned 19 while I was on Summer Staff at Sharptop Cove. This guy on the ropes team told every high schooler that rode the swing that day to go to the snack bar and tell me happy birthday so all day I had high schoolers paying for their nachos, looking at my name tag and saying, "Oh you're Mary Clyde?! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!" It was awesome. When I turned 20, I had just driven 10 hours from Buena Vista, CO to Lubbock, TX with my friends Katy and Rachel after finishing summer staff at Frontier Ranch. Our good friend Ginny flew to Lubbock to meet up with us and we had such a fun week hanging out together! My 21st birthday was spent at Windy Gap (are you noticing a pattern here??). My birthday just happened to fall on a Saturday that year, so after all the campers left we were already supposed to have a party anyway, and it just became a big birthday party. We had a huge dance party by the pool and at one point I was shag-dancing with a guy I was on Summer Staff with and I noticed we were inching closer and closer to the edge of the pool. No one was actually in the pool because the pool at Windy Gap is ALWAYS freezing, so needless to say, I was fully clothed. Next thing I know, his hands are planted firmly on my shoulders and I am flying backward through the air into the water. Obviously this turned into a free for all and almost all of the girls were picked up, or pushed to the edge, and thrown in. What used to be a dance party was now a swimming-in-your-clothes party. It was, again, awesome. On my 22nd birthday, I actually had 2 parties. On my actual birthday I went out to dinner with a couple of girlfriends, and later my friends Jami and Mo showed up with a cake they'd gotten from the grocery store and we are pretty sure it was left over from the 4th of July, but I didn't care because they are just great friends. The second party was that weekend and it was just hilarious.

For my 23rd I was determined to have a bonfire and cookout at Carolina Beach, so I dragged everyone out there and that is exactly what we did. Josh was so gracious and drove all of our junk out there and dug the best fire pit that beach has ever seen, Mo made monogrammed cupcakes, and everyone had a such a good time... well, I mean I never heard any different so that's what I'm going with! Haha. There was a second, smaller celebration that year as well because of the mid week birthday and it included personalized coozies and a cake that said "OMG MCP is 23!" Classic.

Last year I just happened to be living with 2 of the best people I know and we had an awesome cookout with an equally as awesome photo shoot on the couch (it took about 27,000 tries to get a decent group shot). Come to think of it, there were 2 birthday celebrations that year as well. This leads me to believe that I am either a brat, or I have the greatest friends a girl could ask for. Probably some of both. But for real... my friends are awesome and they are way too good to me, way too patient with me, and give me a lot more grace than I think I deserve.

So now I'm 25. I have no idea what is in store for this birthday, but I'm Australia so that in itself is pretty cool. I've had 2 hilarious and fun-filled days already with Renee (hurry up and get back from Fiji Corrine!) so I'm going ahead and counting the week as a win. I'll put a post up about all of that tomorrow, but for now here are some things I know about the number 25:

It is a square number.

It is the size of a full active-roster for a major league baseball team.

It is the number of cents in a quarter.

Tommy John, Bobby Bonds, and Barry Bonds wore the number 25. My mom knew/knows all 3 of them.

There are not that many fun-facts about the number 25.

My 25th year better not be as boring as this list.

For real.

One thing I do know is that 25 is mid-twenties which means I am just as close to 30 as I am 20. YIKES! I also know that once you turn 25 you don't get to check the 18-24 bracket on surveys because you have to check the 25-35 bracket. DOUBLE YIKES! Is this when my quarter-life crisis kicks in? I am actually ok with turning 25, so I think I'll be able to avoid the whole I'm-getting-old freak out. At least until I turn 26...

I am not afraid of tomorrow, for I have seen yesterday and I love today.

William Allen White