On My Year of Being a 21-Year-Old

In 19 short days, the official age will have come to an end and I'll be turning 22. I always knew being 21 would be kind of nuts, but I hadn't quite prepared for everything this year would bring for me.

On my 21st birthday, I went out for my first legal drink and in the past 346 days, I've probably consumed hundreds of gallons of booze.

It's been the craziest of years. On my 21st birthday, I got my mom drunk and we got to have the heart to heart we probably needed. I got everyone I ran into at the bar to sign my "Here for the Beer" shirt and man did I get a lot of free beer.

Since then, life has been an intense roller coaster. I've made a lot of new friends and I've fallen from a lot of people who I thought I would be close to forever because we just became different or they found a reason not to like me through my adventures of being 21.


I got back in touch with a few old ones though, at least for a short time period.

I've made a lot of poor decisions as a result of drinking, but I've made leaps and done things I would have never done sober that led me to meet new people and have some fun experiences. On the other side of things, It's also given me a lot of nights I don't properly remember. Good thing I usually keep my camera on hand to remind me what the hell happened.

I got engaged two months after I turned 21 to the love of my life. We celebrated our three year anniversary just about a month ago.

I managed to aquire two more cats within this last year. I mostly quit smoking and started vaping instead. I cut off all my hair and learned to convince people I'm a lesbian to avoid men hitting on me at the bar.

Lance and I finally got out of Accent after him being there for four terrible years and having two years under my belt. He started a great job with Charter (where I've gotten to drive to IL and stay in a hotel with him for multiple days) and I am officially employed with my favorite gas station right around the corner from my house.

It's been one hell of a year. I'm sure it won't be nearly as crazy, but I'm excited to see what 22 will bring for me.

I really want to give a special thanks to Lancelot (who has been there and a total sweetheart despite all the poor decisions I've made), Dani (because we've been friends for 8 years and we've finally just gotten ridiculously close), Adam (for having drunken girl talk nights I so desperately needed), and Mike and Ricky (my Autumn Creek apartment Bros who are always down for a drinking night). You guys all kick ass. Thanks for making this year 100x better.