Goodbye 33, Hello 34!

I LOVE my birthday. Since I was in my early twenties (maybe even before), I've celebrated my birth month! (One day is simply not enough!) I've even started to think about my birthday was my own personal New Year's Day. That makes tonight my New Year's Eve!



(My eyes are closed in the right one, but I worked hard on my eyeshadow, so I'm posting it anyway!)

I usually plan a dinner or a movie date with as many friends as I can wrangle. Sometimes both. This year looks very different, but it's still been a sweet weekend. Jordan has been humoring me with marathoning some of my favorite movies with me. (We watched Everything Everything and Blue Crush yesterday. Today, it was Clueless and Halloweentown.) Tonight, we had tacos and funfetti cupcakes with my family. It's been the sweetest weekend.

33 flew by. I'm noticing that the higher the number, the faster the years go. I'm excited about 34. I'm not excited that I'm getting farther and farther from my twenties, thus making me feel old/distant from youth, but I am excited about a brand new year.

The sermon this morning at church was about being who God created you to be. It really got me thinking. Who is that exactly? Am I doing it? It has made me hungry to seek more of what that means and to try to live it out.

I want to be kind. Caring. Patient. Generous. Gentle. Bold. Seeking justice. Unafraid. Those are all things I want, though, and I want to know what things He has for me that I may be missing. I want to live this life to the fullest, but I just want to know that I did what I could to bring glory to Him.

I love making resolutions for a new year (typically a calendar one, though!), but I haven't given too much thought to it for my birthday.

Things that worked at 33:  Seeing a counselor. Prioritizing family and friends. Being open and honest about my anxiety and depression. Drinking decaf coffee 97% of the time.

I'll keep all of those, thanks. I do want to add to the list for 34, too.

Read more nonfiction. (Especially since I just ordered a heap of new books!) Honestly, I just want to read more PERIOD. I met my reading goal last year, and I want to keep trucking towards this year's goal. Quarantine slowed my reading, which seems like it should be backwards. I'm going to get back into it though!

Write. It's my life goal to write a novel, but if it continually lives as an idea and I never actually write, that's not going to happen. Also, I would love to journal again like I did in high school/how I blogged on MySpace in college. So yes, 34 should include more written words. And typed words, too.


Up my skincare game! I've been doing much better about keeping my face clean, but I want to find what works best for me. As 34 will attest, I'm not getting any younger! I don't believe I want or need 16 products for the morning and another 20 for night. My checkbook certainly doesn't. I do, though, want to try and find a system that works for me.

Be myself. I also want to continue to be true to myself by embracing the things I love. Disney. Pro Wrestling. Graphic tees. It's hilarious to look back and see that those things have always been my favorites! I still love the ocean and everything surf-inspired, making bracelets and laughing with my friends, and I find such joy in those things! I just want to help you know that you can be your unique self, unapologetically. So catch me, at 34, wearing Disney shirts and bright eyeshadow and an arm party meant for a 7 year old.

Tell me, how do you celebrate your birthday? Have you had a quarantine birthday, too? Let me know. Let's engage. (Hi, mom. Hi, Jordan.)

Love always,
Jessica

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