Turning a quarter of a century old

Every May spring flowers reappear, the weather is perfect and I celebrate a birthday. In 2014 I turned 25.

It was a different kind of birthday for me. Not only did I turn the age where I’m allowed to rent a car and hotel rooms, I also had people congratulating me on turning “a quarter of a century” old. That sounds scary doesn’t it?

Turning 25 is a big deal because you are entering into what people refer to as mid-20s, you know the time when you are supposed to have your life figured out.

I had a little anxiety about this birthday. First, I don’t like getting old and secondly I kept thinking about where young Erin thought she would be at 25. I haven’t met any of those milestones. So part of me wasn’t ready for 25 to come.

But thanks to my family and friends, turning 25 was amazing. I can’t thank the people in my life enough for getting me through the birthday, which turned out to be a blast.

It started the weekend before when I went home to visit my family and had a cake waiting for me.

They joked they had to get the number candles instead of normal candles because they didn’t want to catch the house on fire.

I can always count on Momma to make me a cake. My grandparents also gave me some presents. Aren’t grandparents the best?

I headed back to Forest City thankful for my family with no idea what was waiting for me at work.

My coworkers Alyssa Mulliger, Travis Durkee and Garrett Byers showered me with gifts. They are the best at birthdays.

Alyssa even had everyone in the office sign this huge and SPARKLY birthday card for me.

And she got me a special ribbon to wear all day.

Meanwhile, Garrett gave me a recipe book and Travis picked up munchkins from Dunkin Donuts, and gave me chocolate and a scarf. The munchkins are a big deal because we don’t have a Dunkin in Forest City.

Then, just when I thought I was done with presents, Travis told me to come outside to his car where he gave me a gift I’ve used over and over since then.

He got me the chair because he knew we would be going to a lot of baseball games soon and I needed my own. In the past I had to borrow one from him or sit on the ground. I was so excited and I loved the color. I’ve used it at every Forest City Owls game I’ve gone to since.

We ended my birthday by going to Mi Pueblito’s, one of my favorite Mexican food places in Rutherford County. We had a few drinks and took a few pictures.

It was one of the best work days.

To continue the celebration I headed to Charlotte for the weekend to see my best friend Zandi Watts. She worked so hard to make sure my birthday was incredible.

When I arrived, she surprised me with a present that included a birthday wand and balloons.

And then it was time for hair and makeup and a trip to Uptown Charlotte. I think we looked pretty good that night, if I do say so myself.

Our adventures that night included popping my first bottle of champagne:

Posing with my birthday wand:

Crashing someone else’s birthday party (thanks for letting us crash Adam):

Taking pictures with more friends:

And spending lots of time on a roof in Charlotte:

Doesn’t that look like the best birthday weekend ever? It was, but Zandi Watts wasn’t done.

The next night we went out again with more people. I wore my crown and couldn’t stop smiling all night.

And that is how I celebrated turning a quarter of a century old. Thank you to everyone who made it such a wonderful birthday. You have no idea how much I appreciate all of you. And being 25 wasn’t so bad.