26!

I can't believe I officially passed the age of 25 and that I should identify as an adult, not a young adult anymore (as I should've done 3 years ago).
I welcome this year with a heart full of gratitude with everything that's going on in my life.

This is the first time I celebrated my birthday so far away from the people I am familiar with.
Tbh I was so unfamiliar with the situation that I even told my friends I didn't want anything, not even a simple dinner. But boy was I glad I changed my mind.

We went to dinner in an Indonesian restaurant and we had such a good time.
I can't believe I found a good Ayam Penyet in the Netherlands and I loooooooooved it.
I felt so warm and content. They even gave me some thoughtful gifts.I called my husband right away when I arrived home and I told him I was so glad I tried harder and that I did not succumb to my desperation hahaha.

I cannot believe that I graduated university half a decade ago and too many things have changed since then.
Thanks to Instagram's memories feature that reminded me of the day of my thesis defense, I literally spent 20 minutes to think about where my friends are going right now and how I thought it was only yesterday.
Some have babies, some are married, some are crashing it in their job, some are chilling, lots are studying again, but I can say I am glad everyone's alright (yeah I also followed up with asking them how they're doing cause I cant believe it's been 5 years?!).

For a sec it felt like it was just yesterday.

26 is such a weird age because my friends are experiencing different things in life and even some are already parents now. Wow.
Tbh I still feel like I'm a kid by heart so it's kinda weird to realize now I'm already in mid 20s.

Being the baby of the group, my school friends kept telling me that things would go very fast.. like one blink and suddenly you're 30.
Personally I look forward to my 30s cause I'd have more money (lol I hope) but really though, I would be glad to live a long life, especially if it's a happy one.
But hey, this is only the beginning of the second half of my 20s, it's my time to enjoy the show.

Like always, birthday is my time to reflect.
This year offered too many life lessons than I thought I would get. Even more than the academic lessons despite me being a legit student now.
I feel like 2023 is teaching me humility. So much that I didn't know what to do about it.
But maybe I would, one day :)