Twenty and Blessed

A sore throat and a pinched nerve in my neck that hurts whenever I look to my left greeted me this morning when I woke up. But I was determined not to let it bother me or take any joy away from this day. I pulled myself out of bed, jumped in the shower, and put a smile on my face because today was my birthday. I turned twenty years old today (No longer a teenager, Yeah!).

Unfortunately the smile I put on my face didn't last long. This year my birthday was on a Sunday and I was planning on wearing one of my favorite dresses to church today. The dress I really wanted to wear didn't work out and I found myself rushing around like crazy trying to put an outfit together and do my hair and make up (and my once clean closet is now in need of cleaning again).

I wish I could say the rest of my day went perfect and met all of my expectations but I'm just gonna be honest and say that I didn't have the perfect day, and things didn't go exactly how I wanted them to.

But Instead of focusing on all the things that "went wrong" I'm doing my best to choose to focus on the things I can be thankful for in my life. I'm twenty and blessed. So blessed. I have the best family who loves me very much. Each one of my siblings is very dear to me. My friends all wished me a wonderful day, and I have a lot to look forward in this next year.

My day may not have have gone exactly how I wanted it to go but that's not what matters. I'm learning that if I take the time to count my many blessings my disappointments vanish and I'm left feeling blessed and happy once again.

I've been thinking a lot about the next year of my life. I have decided that what I really hope for in this next year is for it to be a year of learning. I have come up with a list of things I want to either make, improve upon, or teach myself;

• Improve my cooking skills by making a new meal at least once every two weeks and trying new dessert recipes. 
• Learn how to make a dress without a pattern and learn how to make my own pattern. 
• Read for at least 20 minutes everyday 
• Make a hiccup cosplay for my brother (because I got an Astrid cosplay, but I kinda need a Hiccup cosplay now) 
• Draw more, Write more, and take pictures more often 
• Make a promise Box (If you want to know what this is check out this wonderful blog post from A Lovely Calling: http://alovelycalling.com/2015/10/20/promise-box-future-husband/) 
• Most importantly grow closer in my walk with God 

I will most likely add to this list, it's still what you can call "an idea in progress". My goal in this list is to help me stay focused and not always fall into the habit of wasting my time. In the end I know that my plans are nothing compared to God's plans and I know his plans are always the best for me.

I'm excited to see what God has planned for me in this next chapter of my life. Twenty is gonna be a great age, I just have this feeling. I'm warming up to it quick and am ready to take my first steps of life in my twenties.