three.hundred.and.thirteen.

remember what it was like to turn thirteen?

it was the year that i got two bunny rabbits for my birthday.

my friends all came over and we watched dirty dancing, even though my mom thought it might be a bit too "racy" for people our age.

and we went swimming at midnight, doing our best to avoid the jelly fish that would have made us pee on each other.

maybe that's why my birthdays were always one that people wanted to come to.

too bad my birthday party popularity generally didn't translate for the rest of the year!

i do wish though, that tomorrow when i woke up it would be the day after my 13th birthday party.

that the biggest concern would be if there was any spice cake left.

or if there were enough gift bags for all my friends, plus their siblings that would come to pick them up.

and, of course, if my mom had enough elastics to put fish tails in all of my friends' hair before they left.

oh, the joys of the early teenage years.

i think i'm going to revel in them a bit more.

i was going to go into a whole tangent of what i'll be doing tomorrow instead of all those things, but have decided against it.

i mean when is the last time that you thought about your 13th birthday party?

or if that's too long ago (ha, sorry to those of you who that applied to! ;), try to remember your 16th or 21st.

each of these monumental occasions bring back amazing memories for me.

ones that include bailing hay (yes, i'm from bathurst, let the joke making begin ...) and getting a tractor stuck.

and ones that include a surprise party and getting cut off by a bartender.

honestly, let's think of things we never take time to remember today.

i'm sure you all have a memory or two that you know you love but just never think of.

tell me what they are.

or keep them to yourselves.

but whatever you do, think of a few today.

they'll make you happy, i promise.

and they'll remind you of how far you've come. and how strong you can be.

and how amazingly lucky you've been to have great families and friends and life experiences.

here's to the memory of playing kickball at recess. and putting the game on pause until the next day.

or more importantly, here's to a time when you could remember exactly where you were standing 24 hours ago!