The One Where I Get Older

I turned 27 whopping years old on Sunday. In honor of officially being a grown up, here are 27 things I miss about being a kid...

1. Saturday morning cartoons
2. Frosted Mini Wheats (they just don't taste the same when you reach the age of calorie consciousness)
3. Swim Parties
4. Hot summer nights filled with running in the street with neighborhood friends
5. Not being afraid of bugs and spiders
6. Three Words: June, July, and August
7. Bringing cupcakes to class on your birthday
8. Getting surprised by mom and dad with a day off school for a trip to D-Land
9. Allowances
10. Believing in Santa
11. MacDonald's kids meals
12. Slap bracelets
13. Boarding the plane first
14. Packed lunches in a brown bag
15. Home-Cooked dinners
16. Super Mario Kart
17. Making "forts" out of sheets, towels, and pillows
18. Playing house
19. Going flying with my dad on a Saturday morning
20. Summer camp
21. Slumber parties
22. Tire swings
23. Putting on skits for the neighbors
24. Note-passing
25. Jump roping
26. SNIK and TGIF
27. Goosebumps books

And just to prove I'm not bitter about getting old, here are some things I LOVE about being a big kid

· Not having to make my bed
· No more homework!
· Playing house for real
· Staying up as late as I want
· Not having to ask permission to go out with my friends
· Earning money for something other than emptying the dishwasher & vacuuming the house
· Having dessert even if I don't finish dinner
· Never having to eat meatloaf again
· Swimming right after eating
· Not getting yelled out for bringing home a stray kitten (or three)
· Starting a family of my own

See, growing up ain't that bad!

The One Where You Learn About Me

1. When I was in early grade school, I wrote a paper on what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wanted to be Clarice Starling from Silence of the Lambs. I think it horrified my teacher.
2. I had very little restrictions when it came to watching R rated movies as a kid (see above). I blame this on my dad. He blames it on my mom not watching scary movies with him…he needed a buddy.
3. I used to be a competitive figure skater.
4. I am an only child. My two best friends are pregnant, and I've claimed their girls as my nieces since I won't have any "real" ones.
5. I LOVE animals. In fact, I can watch movies where people and children die no problem-but if an animal is harmed, I have to change the channel. I'm sure this will change when I have kids.
6. I eat cereal with a fork.
7. I despise Mayo and Ketchup. If they are anywhere near my food, I'm too grossed out to eat it.
8. Je parle francais
9. I have never tried an illegal drug. Nope, not one.
10. I have an encyclopedia of serial killers in my nightstand. It freaks my fiancé out.
11. I changed my major 5 times in college and still graduated in 4 years. Ironically, I graduated with the major I started with as an incoming freshman.
12. I went away to school, but chickened out and came back home, only to move out into my own apartment and not return home (to live) since.
13. My parents are awesome. Many people may think that, but mine actually are awesome.
14. If I won the lottery, I would buy a mansion and fill it with cats.
15. I got my first passport at 6 months old and have been traveling the world ever since.
16. I could eat Mexican food every. single. day. and not get sick of it. I would, however, get fat.
17. I once broke my foot just from walking. My foot slipped off the side of my high heel and the bone snapped. This came a few hours after I had bragged to my friends that I had never broken a bone. I guess I forgot to knock on wood.
18. I'm destined to have ginger children. My mom's a redhead and John's mom's a redhead. It skipped us, so it's only logical that the dormant gene will awaken in our child. Needless to say, we will go through a lot of sunscreen in our house.
19. In college, I used to write on my butt with magic marker and moon my roommates. I only now remember this after discovering pictures while working on our wedding video. I still don't know what possessed me to do that on a regular basis.
20. I'm on Team Blackberry, Team Edward, and Team Jennifer