Celebrating 25 Years of Paigel

I know I gripe about the stupidity that surrounds me. A lot. But on days like this, I’m reminded of all the love and happiness that has made me smile. Every day.

So in honor of my 25th birthday, I give you 25 of my fondest memories:

1. Being completely silent when I was born. Not a peep. Until the doctor said, “Boy, looks like we’ve got a quiet one here!” You can only imagine what happened after that.
2. Scaring my mom half to death by wedging my little baby self under a recliner.
3. Snoopy. [Whom I lovingly referred to as "Tootie" for many months.]
4. Elementary school. Defined as: sleepovers, Girl Scouts, field day, Chuck E. Cheese and generally BEING A KID.
5. Eating pizza and playing chess with my [late] grandfather.
6. Spending summers visiting family, which meant swimming pools, delicious blueberry desserts and lots of time spent listening to the adults chat while I played with the dogs.
7. The heart-wrenching conversation I had with one of my best friends, Lindsay, that led to my…
8. Getting baptized.
9. Welcoming my niece into the world.
10. My first love.
11. Being voted friendliest senior year. [What happened?]
12. Winning the State Marching Band Championship, 2002. [Yeah, I'm a band nerd. What.]
13. Freshman year of college. Enough said.
14. Six-week long summer mission trip at a Navajo reservation in Utah. The trip that changed my life.
15. Spending two and half months as a youth intern in Fairfax, VA. Those teens taught me so much.
16. Teaching myself to play the guitar my brother gave me.
17. Getting my very own puppy, Maggie. Six tons of garbage, one chocolate bunny, half a salad, a $346 vet stay and three years of “no ma’am!” later– she’s starting to calm down.
18. Graduating from college.
19. Spending five months after that searching for a job.
20. My first job at Lightning 100.
21. Going on my first overseas trip to Barcelona. Another trip that changed my life.
22. Sitges.
23. Completing my first marathon.
24. Living on my own for the first time.
25. Buying my own car [that actually accelerates when you step on the gas pedal].

To those of you who have been a part of these wonderful moments, thank you. Thank you for loving me no matter how cynical I get. Thank you for sticking by my side no matter how flaky I get. I hope you’ll always remember how much you mean to me.