End of an era.

Until New Year's Eve, I hadn't really thought much about the fact that midnight would mark the end of a decade. Between that and the fact that my three-year Manhattanniversary was this weekend, I've been feeling a little sentimental and have had time to wax nostalgic about the last 10 years. I think that for me, they can be summed up as The Decade I Grew Up. Although I still don't really consider myself an adult, 2001-2010 contained some of the most significant moments of my life thus far. I went to prom. I graduated high school. I got a passport. I left the country for the first time. I went to college. I had my first boyfriend. I lived in a foreign country. I got my degree. I moved away from home. I landed my first grown-up job. I also made some lifelong friendships, learned what it means to make major decisions, and discovered how to rely on myself.

In the car on the way to the airport to come back after Christmas, my mom and I were talking, and she asked, "What do you think the next decade will bring?" When I imagine myself 10 years ago, it's hard to remember what I thought the next decade would be like. I picture the skinny girl with the braces and the new driver's license and the basically zero life experience and I think, you have no idea. No idea how great and hard and exciting and challenging and hilarious and amazing and scary and FUN things were about to get.

Even if I had the chance to go back in time and tell Past Me about everything, I wouldn't want to (not the least of reasons being that I'd have to prove that I was really from the future, and in the movies they always use their knowledge of the outcomes of sports games as evidence, and I would totally suck at that). For better and worse, I'm glad I didn't understand back then what I was getting myself into. And that's why I won't even try to predict what's next. Because I'm fairly certain that I really just have no idea.

Milestone.

A few years ago I wrote a song about these three girls. It was about them being kids and thinking about what life would be like when they all grew up. And it was about how even though things would inevitably get tough, they'd always be there for each other. In hindsight, it probably should have included something about destroying hilariously awkward photographs of themselves.

Today feels like a milestone for these girls, as the youngest one is graduating from college and they are all officially adults now. And the girl who, in high school, claimed she was "just not smart" is now a Dean's list graduate of the University of Utah Nursing School, and is about to go on to do great things and change lives.

I'm sure our lives are not quite what we imagined they'd be 20 years ago (I'm still waiting on our connecting houses), and there will be plenty of uncertainty to come. But I'm glad to know that these girls will be there for each other for lots more milestones.

Congratulations, Becca! We're proud of you.