Thoughts on being a 20-Something

   So lately I have been seeing a bunch of girls/women "sharing" blogs and posts of "how to be a 20-something", or you know titles close to that. I am all for some of these blogs considering I am a 20-something... 22 to be exact, and for the most part it seems as if the posts are speaking to me . However, in most of these reads there's always sections or a quick line about being married to young or before a certain age.. how people think marriage will ruin their early 20's and so forth.... Now I am a early "20-something" and I AM getting married at the very ripe age of 23 (in 4 months to be exact).. So I wanted to share some of the thoughts I have when reading those posts..

1. Since when do people put an age on marriage? Now I'm not talking about being 18/19 so forth because I to think that's too early.  Don't get me wrong, I realize that in the south there are pressures of getting married early because the "biological time clock is running out" BUT what's wrong with getting married at/before 23? 
2. Saying things like well how can who you're marrying be your best friend? Doesn't that hurt your BFF (girl wise) feelings? Well....the answer is no. You SHOULD marry you're best friend... Friendship is the basis of a healthy relationship...these men are going to be with you day in and day out and without that friendship you're headed for a very rocky road! 
3. Being so young and getting married will cause you to lose out on the things you have dreamed.... Since when has this ever occurred? If you miss out on the things you have always dreamt of doing...it's not because of marriage... it's because you have backed out on your dreams..
4. My friendships will continue to grow and flourish while married. I love Jared, but I definitely like my time with just my girls drinking wine and having fun too. I realize that the way of thinking may change, but true friendships will continue even though I have a wedding band on my left finger.

The truth is Marriage is SO exciting to me... I cannot wait to be Mrs. Tiffany Averill.. even typing that puts a smile on my face.

I don't believe that marriage is a hindrance, I believe people let it become that way, use it as an excuse as to why they can't do things or go places when in reality... it's not their spouses keeping them.. they just really don't want to go.

I also am a big believer that life is what you make it... if you want to be miserable then you will be miserable... I believe marriage is the same way.

I also feel that as long as God is the priority in the relationship, then the marriage has nothing but room to flourish...

People want us to be so open minded but are so close minded when it comes to marriage.. The divorce rate is high? So what.. that doesn't determine how YOUR relationship will be.. don't look at it that way. You shouldn't go into a marriage expecting divorce, if you do go ahead and wave that little red flag and get out now! 

I am off my soap box now, just thought that maybe, just maybe marriage isn't the problem... it's the ideologies people throw behind that word.

July 21, 2013... The day of our Engagement!

Reflections

 Since I cannot sleep tonight I have been reflecting on my past year. This year has been such a whirlwind and I wouldn't have it any other way! I'm blogging (the first time in a LONG time) because I didn't feel like being one of those people who place massive status updates on facebook. So here goes... a recap of My 2013!

  My group of friends is what I would call a rather adventurous group. There is always something being planned, a new scheme every week. Whether these plans/schemes/escapades ever occur well that's another story. However, we had talked and talked...and talked about wanting to go on a ski trip for a while. So in March of 2013 that's exactly what we did! A group of 12 packed up and went to Winter Park, CO. We had an absolute blast!

The girls after an eventful day of snow tubing

Colorado is seriously a BEAUTIFUL place!

 Coming home from Colorado required a serious reality check. I came back home to my crazy, fast paced life of working 2 jobs (at the time) and nursing school. 

  In May, my nursing school held its Pinning Ceremony. It was an awesome service and I am so glad I participated. The pinning ceremony is the big point of nursing school, it's like a nurse's right of passage. 

Me and my fella afterwards

Sarah and myself after the ceremony!

  In July a lot of big events occurred for me! Jared and I got engaged! Totally unexpected, and SO perfect :) He proposed on the beach in front of Edgewater and I could not have imagined it any better. We had gone down to Panama City Beach for our annual beach trip and his mom (who lives in PCB) wanted to have pictures taken on the beach (and we had this planned for a while). So we get ready to go down to the beach while our friends stay in the condo to get ready to go out that night. When we get down to the beach the photographer tells Jared and I to step over she needed to focus her camera with the light along with some other snazzy photographer terms. Well, once again didn't think anything of it because Mrs. Ginger, John-John and Jenn were getting Bailey Grace (our niece) situated. It was incredibly windy on this particular day so before she snapped some shots I had turned my head to get the hair out of my face, giving Jared the perfect amount of time to apparently drop to one knee.... When I turned back around there he was... on the ground...on ONE knee...and I being totally unaware of what was going on, thought he had fallen down. Then he popped the question! Excited is an extreme understatement.

EEK!

This says it all :)

  Fast forward to the next week, I came home to 3 finals in one class :/  Talk about a MAJOR buzzkill. Cloud 9 was still in full affect however, I passed all 3 with no problem! So there's 2 milestones in my life that occurred in this past year.

  In October I lost a very special person, my Nana. Nana is the first family member that I lost, and I can actually say I remembered. Nana battled lung cancer for 1.5 years, and considering the field I chose to venture into caused me to know a little more than I would have liked at times, especially at the end. She and I became pretty close throughout her fight. She was a fiesty little woman and I am so sad that she won't be there on my wedding day, but I am so fortunate that Jared proposed in front of a camera and she got to see the pictures of our engagement! 

  On a happier note, in October Jared and I got to celebrate our niece, Bailey Grace's, first birthday party! My oh my this year has gone quickly, and she has gotten so growny in just a year! Love that little munchkin with all my heart!

Bailey Grace is ONE!

 I also got to celebrate Braydon's 4th birthday in November! Ah he's getting so big and I cannot believe he is for! "Tippany" sure loves this little boy as well!

Braydon is 4!

 Finally, this December I got to walk in graduation, since there is no summer graduation! I am so glad that I finally got to close that chapter to a very long book! I was given a pin at graduation called the Presidential Challenge Award for completing school in 4 years or less... pretty cool... or at least I thought haha!  

 Christmas is less than a week away, and Jared has to work so it's now a 3 day event rather than 1! I'm fine with that.. this is my favorite holiday after all :)

In the past year I have learned to start letting go and letting God more than ever. Everything is for Him after all, so putting it in His hands is much easier than trying to control it myself! I am so thankful for my blessings! This year has been a fun one, and I cannot wait to see what 2014 will bring :) A husband is for sure on May 10th... now I just have to get through the boards exam for my License as an RN!!