On The Edge of 25...

So, here I am, almost 25 years behind me. I thought I would be a lot more excited about this moment then I am, but honestly, I'm feeling sort of serene about it all. Calm, relaxed, reflective. I'm pretty happy with the last 25 years of my life, and I have some pretty major accomplishments under my belt! I have loved, I have lost, I have hurt, I have felt immense joy! I have made amazing friends, and even kept some along the way ;o) I have married an amazing man - the dong to my ding (my bookend, as June would say). I graduated from college (somehow) and I'm half way through my MBA. I've gained weight, I've lost weight, I've gained weight, I've lost weight, I've gained weight, I've lost weight, I've gained weight... etc, etc, etc.

I thought it might be fun to make a list of my "top 25" moments in the history of Kerith:

1. Being Born (pretty important, I think, and not as easy as it looks, as it turns out)
2. Hanging out with my dad when I was a baby in our refrigerator fort (I don't actually remember this, but I'm sure it must have been great philosophizing with him)
3. Rocky Point w/ June and the family when I was around 7 or so - we adopted a stray dog for the week and I named him Rontu from the book Island of the Blue Dolphin
4. Taco Bell lunch with my Mom for my 10th birthday - she said I could pick whatever I wanted, and she brought it to school and we ate lunch in the station wagon. I felt special :)
5. Goodyear Swim Team Summers - I hated competing, but I loved swimming, and Mom would always come watch the swim meets and make a fuss over us getting plenty of carbs beforehand and banana's during the match
6. Jessica Lidner adventures - I was exposed to a lot of things hanging out with that chick that I might not have otherwise. I tagged along for a few years and experienced the wonders of the Wigwam, Tennis Camp and putting virgin Pina Colada's on her father's tab at the Wigwam Swimming Pool.
7. Alpha Far West - I loved hanging out at that bookstore with my Mom and all her cool pagan friends. The store is gone now, but I'll never forget it!
8. Naomi Marine - that crazy bird! She turned my world upside down! She was amazing, brilliant, unique - I wanted to do everything just like her. She is still a dear friend, even if she is 3000 miles away! I will never forget our 48 hour challenge to not sleep, finished off by rollerblading to Western Sky Middle School to see what our 8th grade schedule would be.
9. Valerie Tucker (Farris nowadays) - she adopted me in the 8th grade and we've been "BFF" ever since. She also exposed me to a great many things, like ridiculous amounts of soda, hanging out with older kids and it being "cool" to be good. We both played the French Horn in marching band, and she always gave me her soggy fries at lunch. She helped me through my first couple broken hearts, and I viciously attacked aggressively defended her from anyone that tried to break hers.
10. Agua Fria Marching Band - oh how we sucked, but it was still the most fun a kid can have in high school. I fit right in with them, and there was nothing more awesome than Friday Night Football games and 2 weeks of band practice in the sweltering August Arizona heat. We would concoct the most god awful "wake up juice" made of mountain dew and any disolvable candy several days before any band competition. Yuck, but so yum :)
11. Swing Dancing - we danced, we went to clubs, smoked cigars and watched swing bands - it was amazing fun! I somehow managed to see the Cherry Poppin' Daddies 9 times before I was done with high school - they are so great!
12. Ace (formerly known as Jason :) - He was like some rare older brother - he took me places, to concerts, to Tempe, to Albertson's, lol. We shared a love of blue sweethearts and unrequited love. He showed me all the coolest things, like checkered slip on Vans and the Royal Crown Revue.
    
13. The Summer after my Freshman year of High School - I was recovering from a massive case of broken heart, and my fondest memory is riding in the back of Val's jeep on our way out to Waddell. We had just been swimming, so my hair was wet and my skin was tight from the chlorine. It finally occured to me that everything would be ok.
14. The Summer before my Senior year of High School - It could have been right out of any coming of age movie. Again, I was mending my wounded heart, and I was looking for love in all the wrong places. But - it was still an amazing summer, full of part time work and swimming, and chasing after boys.
15. Senior Year Spring Break - Oh, holy hell, the trouble we caused in Rocky Point! Chelsey's dad was cool and bought us chests full of Dos Equis. I spent an entire week stuck to the beach with my best friends! Ashley got drunk and pretended she was Anne Frank, and I danced my ass off at Manny's Beach club. The high lite of the week? Seeing our Principal at that same club dancing with what appeared to be a Mexican prostitute...
16. My 18th Birthday - I wasted little time in getting pierced full of holes and tatted up. It is my belly button piercing that brought me to Joshua (or you could give that credit to Ryan Badsgard, who technically drove me around that week). The weeks and months after my 18th birthday were spent driving back and forth from the West Side to Tempe visiting Josh at any opportunity. Some might call it a booty call. I called it lopsided love. This phase of my life drifted into the next phase...
17. Summer Before my Freshman Year of College - This summer was insane. My lopsided love for Josh grew with each passing day. I spent my days in a haze of metabolife and diet coke. I looked amazing, and I knew it. I wielded that power unfairly and tripped Josh into the sack many times throughout the summer. He called off our fling 1/2 a dozen times that summer, and finally ended it for good in mid August.
18. Summer Samba with my Summer Grandma - June and I bond over this summer. I love her. I relish our talks, her advice, and she does my laundry. Does it ever get better than this?
    
19. October 15th, 2001 - Josh claims his undying love for me. I rejoice. Victory is mine!!
20. A Drinking School with a Football Problem - Freshman year football games are some of my happiest memories. Stinky Tamale keeps me in the fold, even during the games when Josh and I are not "together." I spend home game Saturday's getting drunk tailgating, sobering up at the football game, and then getting drunk again at the band party afterwards.
21. 3 Roommates and a Private Bathroom - My dorm experience was incredible! I lived with three of my best friends, and we made that little place a home. It didn't hurt that two of my roommates were art majors. Naomi and I shared a room, and it was a "beautiful disaster." April would often cook for all of us, and we always fought over who's turn it was to take out the trash or buy toilet paper. I loved living in that dorm room, and I truly regret only spending 1 semester with those girls.
22. March 4th, 2006 - Josh and I get married - the day is calm, and I'm relaxed (somehow) and I couldn't have planned it any better. Good friends, good food and good beer.
    
23. June 16th, 2006 - my June June dies. I am devastated, yet some good has come out of it. June's last act was to bring us all together - for the first time since high school I am in the same room as all three of my siblings and my mother. We spend a week after this wallowing in sadness, drinking beer and mourning her loss, but we spend it that way together.
24. Vegas Baby! My first trip to Vegas in August of 2007 is just as amazing as I hoped it would be. I got to see all the sights, and drink all the yards of Pina Colada my stomach could contain. I turn $1.00 into $6.00 at the Penny Slots!
    
25. A New Roommate - for a short time, my little sister moves into my guest bedroom. She and I don't spend an enormous amount of time together, but we bond. She does my hair and my makeup. We eat... a lot. She moves out... it was good while it lasted :)

So, in 2 hours I'll be a whole year older. Sometime tomorrow my Mom will call me and play the Beatles "Birthday" song for me over the phone. It won't be as good as if she were here, but I'll take what I can get :) Here is to another 25 amazing years!