A Country Gal's Domestic Journey: 7 Days...

I have 7 days left in my twenties! And there will be NO tears this year!

I am happy beyond words. I have a terrific fiance', that I get to marry in 10 1/2 months. I have my dream car (superficial yes, but still...love it), family that loves me and so many friends (old and new) that I have gotten closer too over the past year.

I read on another blog that the way to celebrate birthdays is NOT to celebrate getting older. It's about celebrating the past year and how many blessings we received throughout that year. I loved this. It's exactly what I needed to hear.

This week is my countdown to the last days in my 20's. They've been great and deserve to be appreciated!

In fact, I think I'll share some of my favorite memories from the past few years. I have a ton but I've come up with my top 7.

Here's favorite memory #7:

This is probably, technically, more than one memory but I'm going to throw it all into one because it's how I view it. It's also probably more recently in my 20's. Meeting new friends. Most of you probably think that's not something that would make the top 7 since most of you have had girlfriends since grade school/high school. But here's the thing with me. I was always at the barn instead of hanging out with friends. I had girlfriends in high school but afterwards most moved away, we drifted apart, or life just got too busy and we stopped making time. My best friend from grade school moved to some far away land (you know who you are...) after college and some of my horse friends went away to college and never came back (not dead...all alive and well...thank you Facebook).

Now technically the first friend I made that has been with me my whole 20's is a friend I met when I was 19 but she's still on my list. She made my 20's fun and my bad moments bearable. "T" you are awesome and definitely one of my closest friends!

After meeting Tony (who's further up the list of favorite memories) I was able to meet some more fantastic people. All of the "Winneconne Clan"...they have always made times more fun when Tony is busy gabbing to everyone else! :)

Then I met "Zoey's mom"...and it's been fun getting to know her better over the past couple years. All of our lunch dates and shopping trips have been tons of fun and I love getting texts from someone besides my mom and Tony :)

Most recently I started seeing the Meinen (and no longer Meinen) girls a lot more...Oh emm gee...where do I start? It's so refreshing to have girls to plan stuff with, dance with and just have fun! And the bachelorette party is definitely a night I'll never forget. It was my first bachelorette party and my first all girls night since I've been with Tony. I'm looking forward to many more nights of dancing in my 30's!

Thanks to my friend who moved to a far away land, I met my favorite Freemont gal and through her, my Wild Rose chica...these girls are TONS of fun. I don't think I stop laughing when we have our girls night dinners. I wish I saw them more but I'm happy that they were a part of my 20's. They have definitely been there for me when I most needed it. (Pssst....we need another girls date night!)

Another is my cuz K.T. Obviously we've known each other a (her) lifetime but we got much closer the past couple years and some of my most fun times were with her. The county fair will never be the same...since I don't think you can make something so simple that much fun ever again. Oh gosh...and beach volley ball. Beach volley ball and the lake will never compare to that summer. In fact, that may have been my most fun summer to date.

Lastly, I've met J.E, who might just be my soul sister. We have so much in common. She can talk as much as I can, she loves to have fun and she would rescue every animal known to man kind if she could. See?? Soul Sista's...I'm telling you....

And there are WAYYYY more that I know I haven't mentioned but let's be honest...everyone that knows me is awesome since I only pick awesome people to be friends with. It's because of all my awesomeness. True Story.

I told you it was a bunch of mini memories all rolled into one...but without all of my friends, my 20's wouldn't have been what they were. So if any of you are reading this...thank you for talking to me that first time, inviting me to that certain thing, making me laugh, replying to the first text message/email I ever sent you, or laughing at my sense of humor. :) I love you all!

See? There will absolutely be no crying....only lots of laughs and celebrating with my wonderful family and awesome friends!

Speaking of counting days...I'm at day 5 of my photo-a-day contest for Country Outfitters. I am to show my "Country" lifestyle with each photo. Some of them are going to be trickier than others. Here were the last two. I can honestly say that day #4 was not very exciting. But I promised I'd share them!

Day #4 Bubbly