Apparently

...candles only come in packs of 24. I am sure I made this same observation just about a year ago while buying candles for my last birthday cake but the fact was reinforced earlier this week when I bought the biggest pack of candles (24) that I could find at the grocer's for my birthday cake.

As I look toward my 25th year, I have so much to be grateful for. I have always been thankful for my family but lately I have realized the circumstances that I have been blessed with are truly blessings and I have long taken them for granted. I have both of my parents who set such a wonderful example of what a married couple should be like. They do have their disagreements from time to time, but I have never doubted their love for each other and their desire to work together to raise children who know that they are loved.
I have an older brother who I have watched through school and fighting through adulthood who married a wonderful woman that now works with him to raise their child (soon to be childREN). He's ambitious and strong and he has worked so hard for all that he has and continues to set an example of a successful take off for the rest of our siblings and myself.
I have three, very different, younger siblings who have showed their own examples of strength. A sister who has served a mission and now aims for a college education; a brother who is preparing to serve a mission in a tough environment; and another sister who has fought through her own difficulties and continues to push on and not give up on herself and right to happiness.
This year has landmarks and new horizons for us all to explore and though it's intimidating, I know that our love and regard for one another is often what gets us through the day.

As many of you know, I have struggled to get back into school after falling below half-enrollment to a complete hiatus from the institution. But I am there, finally pursuing a goal. I found a school environment that I can feel confident and comfortable in. I pushed to get my residency status corrected (dropping my beginning debt to the government monies from roughly $5000 to under $200, easily payable during the summer). I have even taken my math class head on (a subject that I vowed to never take again upon graduating high school) and have so far been keeping up with the teacher's speedy covering of the material.
Admittedly, I have far less time to do my writing than I had before school began but I suppose in that there is the blessing of wanting to write as much as possible even if the mood is having a hard time striking...
I will try to do some more writing exercises here (the little short blurbs that I have done before). But until then, know that I am happy, healthy, and striving to become an even better adult this year than I was last year.

Cheers.