I am 25

In case you have missed my countdown on Twitter, today is my birthday… Not just any birthday, it is in fact my 25th birthday. I’m half way to 50 and a quarter of the way to 100! I also feel pretty lucky because my birthday is also in my favourite half of the year, Autumn. Whilst I love the warm weather in summer. I love the dark nights, Autumn colours, and seeing all the lights at night.My birthday last year was spent celebrating with my family…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egaratKD9LwAs you can probably tell from that video of my birthday last year, I get my ‘crazy’ from my Mum!It feels very odd to be 25 in some ways I don’t feel ready to have hit my mid twenty’s as I am a definitely an adult child (Marysia likes to point this out regularly). Particularly with my love for Toy Story, Onesies (There is a Cookie Monster Onesie I have my eye on in Primark and I’m currently trying to justify purchasing, maybe this birthday is the reason I have been looking for!), and all things soft. But I guess everyone has got to have something to hold on to and if I am going to be the real life Peter Pan, so be it, I definitely won’t be complaining!On the flip side turning 25 feels like something I should have done a long time ago as over the last few years I have accomplished things I have never dreamed of doing. I left my parents home about 7 years ago (I genuinely feel like I have blinked and missed that time) to go to university where I lived in Bournemouth and since moved on to Cardiff – which is a place I love! I attempted to have my uncle convicted for sexually abusing me, this is something I didn’t think I would be able to confront. I have a degree in Business and Management, although I haven’t put this to much use. I have completed the London Marathon, I didn’t exactly train for this but my sheer determination meant I was able to finish it and I have the medal to prove it. I have learnt a lot about my own mental health and self-care which is probably one of the most important things I have learnt over the years.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9cDfzg3Y78&t=572sIn particular this year has been the year that I feel I have progressed the most. I have learnt a lot about what I do and don’t want from friendships and relationships. As a result of this my friendship group has decreased in size but has definitely meant I have been able to invest more time in those friendships that matter the most, so the quality of my friendships has definitely increased. I have also learnt the lesson of prioritising doing the things you enjoy. I found that when I was investing more time into this blog I was happier compared to the time that I neglected it, so I am planning to invest more time into building it back up. Doing this blog makes me more productive with my time and actually getting out doing things which also helps my mental health.Before I sat down to write this post I read quite a posts quite similar to this one, where people have said that 25 felt like the turning point in their lives with everything kind of clicking into place. I kind of feel the same in some respects. I have already ticked off things I never imagined doing/ achieving which has given me more room on my bucket list for completing other things. I have also found a person at a time in my life when I wasn’t really looking for it who I can be myself around and the perfect partner for adventures and exploring new places as well as some old favourites.So what do I have planned for the next 5 years before I hit the next milestone?I want to get myself a new passport and explore some new places. Whilst there are a lot of places within the UK I still want to visit, I want to broaden my horizons and have some more adventures a bit further away. I would also like to expand my ever growing tattoo collection, I have a whole list of tattoos that I want to have done for various reasons so I would like to make some of these ideas come to life. I would also like to do some kind of challenge similar to the Marathon which tested my mind and my physical stamina.I am excited to find out what the next year and beyond holds for me…