21 To 21

I turn 21 in approximately 21 days.

I don't usually do much for my birthday, it's never really been a big deal.

Normally in my family, you get to pick whatever's for dinner that night and we have some cake and you get a couple presents from family members (which, don't get me wrong, is great - I've always appreciated and enjoyed my family's lovely little celebrations together) but it's always been small and calm (well, as calm as things can be when my siblings and I are around each other while in good spirits). 

I'm turning 21 this year. It's one of those 2 (18 and 21) "Threshold of Adulthood" ages where you're suddenly allowed to do more by virtue of simply having survived life for so a certain amount of time. While I don't drink or anything like that, I still feel as though I'm moving on and transitioning into a new phase of my life (after all, it's the start of my 3rd decade of life). So it is something I'd like to celebrate in a  fun way. 

I turn 21 on May 2nd.

But, I walk for graduation on the 4th and my family will be in town and everything. I'm expecting the focus to me more on my graduation and visiting relatives (which is totally fine - I'm not complaining. I'm excited to see my family and I'm excited to show my parents my gratitude for their support by participating in the school of Humanities Convocation). 

So... for the 21 days leading up to my 21st birthday - I've put together a little "To Do" list (some are vague and some are specific) I don't have a LOT of time since this is pretty much the last 3 weeks of the semester so I've tried to keep them from being too time consuming and I'm not gonna be upset if I don't do all em...

• Redecorate (...or at least get a new bedding set) - If you've ever seen any of my bedrooms since I started college, I've always had a pink and purple color palette. Time to graduate (pun intended) to a more 'grown-up' (but still fun - I'm gonna be twenty-something, not fifty!) style.
• Put a smile on an old friend's face!
• Do something that makes me happy, every day! (Whether it's hoopdancing outside for 15 minutes or going for a fun drive - I wanna do something that makes me smile and feel content at least for a little bit every day!)
• Try a new food and/or restaurant! (One of my most favorite things is food! I love food, I love eating, I love food culture, I love cooking - it's all so great! And I always enjoy the opportunity to have new food related experiences! -- I've also got a ridiculously long list of restaurants in SLC that I've been dying to try!)
• Put together a Life Board (a Life board is a visualization of your life's goals. You can use anything you want to create one but you essentially just write/draw/collage together your life's goals and dreams and place it somewhere that you can see it everyday).
• De-clutter, get rid of at least 21 unnecessary items (I'm a nomad...with a LOT of baggage. For someone who moves as often as I do, I have WAY to much stuff. I'd like to simplify my life and cut down on all my material possessions. And since I'll be moving back onto campus this summer, now is a good time to pare things down a bit).
• Update my Resume (I'm gonna start job hunting soon - now is probably a good time to polish up my poor little resume - Not necessarily a 'fun' activity but I'm sure that Future [employed] Kaylynne will appreciate it, so it's really a gift to her). 
• Take a Photo Every Day! (I still feel like I don't do near enough with my cameras or my photography skills!)
• Start eating healthy again (Back to Paleo - but this time probably just 80% of the time and regular foods the other 20% because as awesome as I felt while eating paleo all the time, missing out on all the yummies [specifically my beloved carbs] was just making me sad!)
• Get my car washed and maintenance'd (Cause I'd like to be a responsible 21 year old and I like to think responsible 21 year olds would have cars that are clean, have fresh oil, rotated tires and the steering wheel doesn't vibrate when they go above 60 XP) - Plus, Mandy has assured me that we would get snacks and hangout while the car is being washed - so it'll still be fun!
• See a movie (Cause I think the last time I was in a theater was...months ago!)
• Compile and update my portfolio (seriously, my website has some of the oldest stuff on there - it's not impressive)
• Go to the SLC Public library (and by go to the library I mean...actually go inside library - I've photographed people outside of the library but...I've never actually gone inside. So I wanna go and I'm gonna get a library card too!)
• Explore SLC! (By which, I mean - I wanna go somewhere I haven't been before! - This may actually be the first thing I do since the LDSSA Publicity Committee is going to the new Natural History Museum this Wednesday!)
• Finish the Semester! (Well...DUH! :p)

I'm so excited!
I'm gonna be 21!
It's gonna be a good year (I'm determined to make it so!)