I turned 27 a couple of weeks ago, so I decided to write-up a list of 27 things that went through my head recently about turning 27.

1. I had to get a new driver’s license because the one I got at 18 expired. It’s something you think is always a few years out until you get the card in the mail saying you need to renew. Then it hits you.
2. If I was my parents at my age, I’d have a 2-year-old, a 3-year-old, and a 5-year-old. Sometimes I can barely keep track of myself.
3. Student loans are very real. They crush the dreams you have in your twenties because it’s safer to have a steady, paying job than to follow them. I dream about the day and the spending power I will have once they are all paid off.
4. Taxes aren’t always a refund.
5. My friends are married or engaged. The ones who aren’t in relationships are questioned about what they’re doing with their time.
6. Friends have babies. I watched them grow up and I don’t know if they should have another life in their hands.
7. Friends are slowly disappearing. Some I’m happy to see go, other’s I’m struggling with.
8. I’m having trouble making new friends because for the first time in my life, I’m not in a room with other people who need friends as well.
9. I’m an uncle.
10. I have a stock portfolio. Sure, it has a few shares of one stock in it, but could 25-year-old me say that?
11. I finally understand the daily grind. And the rat race. And I hate it. Thanks a lot Baby Boomers for this terrible situation you created for us Millennials.
12. I get frustrated with teenagers and their use of technology.
13. I get frustrated with politics because I follow politics. Loosely.
14. I can save for vacations in reasonable amounts of time.
15. My body is reacting to foods differently.
16. I have acid reflux.
17. I’m happy that I am not in college. And I’m happy that I’m not mid-career. I have experience but I’m not too far into what I do to make career changes difficult.
18. I could settle down.
19. I don’t care for drinking really any more. 
20. I have more projects in my spare time than I know what to do with. They’ll get done when I have the time (I think I inherited this trait from my dad).
21. I enjoy working outside on the weekends because I’m stuck inside during the week.
22. I can manage my own appointments.
23. I plan things in advance.
24. When I buy things, it’s rarely impulse buys. Each purchase is calculated.
25. I’m looking for hobbies and I like the ones where I get to create something with my hands.
26. I feel like I’m too old to be young still but too young to be old.
27. I’m okay not knowing what the future holds.

I feel like I could keep going on an on about all the wisdom I’ve gained in my 27 years, and at the same time I’m drawing a complete blank. In my short time on Earth, I’ve visited five foreign countries, worked numerous jobs, met people I’ve never thought I would meet, and at the heart of my I feel like I’ve stayed true to myself. I wouldn’t want to go back and do any aspect of my life differently.

Here’s hoping there’s a solid 27 more years to come!