Fun Fun 31

Well, my "Dirty 30" has come and gone and I am now the ripe old age of 31. Sigh. I really thought 30 was going to be my year, but alas, it wasn't. That's okay because I know I have so many more ahead of me. And I am hoping bigger and better is still to come for me. It has to.

Like most years, there were the highs and the lows. Of course my 30th year was no different. Below were my highs and lows of the year.  I am going to start with the lows as to end with the highs so I can continue on a high note as I enter this new year of my life. Right on...

LOWS:
1) Hospitalization.  Healthwise, this was one of, if not the worst, year of my life. Ulcerative Colitis took over the start of it with a few flare-ups and a hospitalization. I was freaking miserable and not myself for quite a long time. I couldn't live my life normally and that was not okay. However, after finally getting on Remicade, things have definitely improved so much. 

2) My childhood room is no more. This is some sad shit. So what that I am 31? When I go home to Glenview, I expect things to stay exactly as how I left it. That wasn't the case this year. My parents re-did the upstairs of the house and with that came a total renovation of my bedroom. I was not a happy camper the first time seeing it. It's not cool to feel like your room is no longer yours. Not cool at all.

3) Body image issues. Still. You'd think at 31 years old, I'd finally be comfortable with my body. But this is something I still struggle with each and everyday. It affects my social life and my mood and it sucks. I am not proud to say that it has kept me in on many occasions because I just don't feel comfortable with myself even though I do want to go out and be social. But I'm just too embarrassed. I am trying to work on it and be more positive about it, but its hard. For someone as healthy as I am, you would think I'd be okay with with how I look, but I think that may be the opposite reason. All the exercise I do and all the healthy eating I do (90% of the time), I should have an awesome body, but its just not the case. This year I need to work more on accepting what I've got.

HIGHS:
1) I dated more this year than ever. I promised myself that I would try to be more open-minded this year since I was still single and 30. Well now single and 31. Sure, I didn't get a boyfriend out of all this dating. Not even close to it. (And by "all this," its clearly all relative to the minimal to non-existent amount of the past as it wasn't even that much.) But I got some experience "being out there" and taking some risks out on the NYC dating scene. That has to count for something. From this, I gained a little more confidence with putting myself out there even if it gets me nowhere whether it be my choice, or the guys.

2) I ran my 6th marathon. This was almost the marathon that wasn't. But after two years of not running 26.2, I finally conquered the distance again. Harrisburg, PA wasn't the marathon I trained for and planned to run, but sometimes there are things out of your control, like a hurricane, that just derail some plans. However, making lemonade out of lemons when the NYC Marathon was cancelled after Hurricane Sandy, I was still able to run 26.2 and got my second best time ever. All in all, everything worked out okay.

3) I tried a lot of new things. Yoga. Concerts. Dating. New restaurants. Joined football and basketball leagues again. All of these were things I said I would try and do to experience more that the city had to offer and to help me meet new people. And I did most of what I wanted and stepped out of my comfort zone a bit as far as my rigid scheduling goes. This was big to me. I am not one to be super flexible when it comes to certain things, but I made exceptions this year and that was big of me. There is so much in NYC to take advantage of and I am still trying to do that.

All in all, 30 was a decent year.  Not amazing, but not terrible. I can't complain too much. I live a good life. And as per usual, I don't feel nearly as old as I am. And I have no problem telling people I am 26 or 27 years old. No biggie at all. I can pull it off. But more often than not, I am honest about my age no matter how old it makes me feel to say that number out loud. But here's to 31 being a great year. Happy and Healthy to me.