Five Years Ago...

Five years ago today, I woke up early on a Sunday morning. I put on a white dress, and over it, a long white gown. I tried to make my hair do something that went with a flat board cap. I put on my sandals, and opened my front door to find my family with flowers in their arms. Five years ago today, I graduated from college, from The University of Rhode Island. May 21, 2006 was a day that my friends and I had dreaded for four years, and it had arrived. And now, here I am. Five years later. Try as I might, I could not imagine what life after college would bring me. And, I can't say that I've been disappointed.

Earlier this week was one of my best friend from college's birthday. He turned twenty-eight. We met each other on the very first day of freshman year. (Friendship at first sight). I was eighteen years old and he was nineteen. It's funny, I always consider the friends that I grew up with, as the ones that I've known for years. And, it's only hitting me now, that my college friends have also become the friends that I've know for years. Sure, my college friends missed out on my five year awkwardly hideous phase. (Thank God). But, still...to know someone for nine years, is an awful long time.

Corey (first boy college bestie) and I were talking about how crazy it is that we are really on our way to becoming grown ups! I told Corey that I like it here in my twenties, I want to stay forever. (Though, I have a feeling I had a similar sentiment about my teens). Corey replied, (and this is a direct quote), "You respond to change with comically poor behavior, Fisher. It's one of your defining characteristics." And, well. I have to agree. But, also I have to disagree. I have come a long way in the last five years. Sometimes, it is really hard to look back and see change within yourself, but thanks to a trained professional, and being born the reflective person that I am, I have learned a great deal about myself in the last few years. And, so I give you my list. Just some of the thing that I have learned over the last five years in my post-college life. Some serious, some silly. All are true.

1. I miss a life where my parents paid for my home, my bills, my food, my clothing, and my travel expenses. I miss it every single day.

2. You do NOT get paid your salary in full upon signing for a job.

3. Disappointments happen. Both big, and small. (It seems for me--these disappointments occur especially with da boyzz). I've learned to let myself feel sad for a little while, but then it's time to stop feeling sorry for myself, and move on. My spirit is far more resilient than I give credit for.

4. As Leona Lewis once said, It will all get better with time.

5. Experiencing things that put you out of your comfort zone is a good thing. It's actually a great thing. It will challenge you in ways you hadn't imagined.

6. If you run out of toilet paper, paper towels and napkins. Old wife beaters and socks are not an appropriate substitute.

7. When Becky, Amelia and I travel together, it is always the best time of my life.

8. Going home with a drunken stranger is not the smartest or the safest idea.

9. Your apartment building is not a dorm. It is not a good idea to drunkenly hook up with your next door neighbor who you've met twice. It will be awkward when you see each other in passing.

10. Drinking more than two nights in a row has become quite challenging for me. (The college me would not be proud).

10. It is eighty-four percent certain that if BGbabe has her camera, and we are in a women's bathroom together--there will be a picture taken of me, from underneath the stall, mid pee.

11. Going to bed before ten pm on a week night feels dang good.

12. I am extremely lucky that my parent sent me to camp seventeen summers ago. My life would quite literally never have been the same.

13. Sticks and stones may break my bones, and so will large bar bathroom doors.

14. You can throw up from drinking too much, even if you are hooked up to an IV.

15. It's perfectly okay to take a couple of shots before going on a first date.

16. Attending a wedding with your highschool friends; might just make for the most fun weekend of your life.

16a. At said wedding, really hilarious combinations of people will hook up with each other.

17.It feels really good when a little kid thanks you for teaching them something that they did not understand.

18. Celebrities don't like when you give them hand written letters at their book signings.

19. I'll never stop loving anything associated with the 1990's. Ever.

20. As Ke$ha once said, "We r who we r." And, so, if I've learned anything--it is this: All we can do is be ourselves, own who we are, and hope that everything else will fall into place.