Growing Older But Not Up

Welcome to the seventeenth day of the 2019 Love Blog Challenge! Today’s prompt is Growth. Check out the announcement post for all the prompts and rules this month. You can still join the link-up for Friday’s topic, Heartache.

I love the Jimmy Buffett song “Growing Older But Not Up.” I was probably still a kid when I first heard it. While I didn’t get the lyrics about “metabolic rates” back then, I still wholeheartedly approved of the overall message.

Why stop enjoying life just because you’ve aged a bit?

Dan and I are basically two little kids who happen to be responsible with money and healthcare.

I still remember giggling together the day after our wedding as we relaxed in our hotel suite’s massive bathtub. Completely submerged in bubbles, eating jellybeans and drinking sparkling wine, we crowed at our ability to fool our families (and the government) that we were mature enough to get married.

That was almost five years ago.

Since then, we’ve done adulted a bit. We moved from Ohio to Georgia. We bought a house.

But we’re still basically two oversized kids. Just ask Moose or Gabby, the globe-trotting stuffed animals who accompany Dan and me whenever we travel.

During the last five years, we’ve had seven Disney vacations across the globe.

Our favorite hobby is Pokémon GO.

I like to curl up on the couch with either a large pink unicorn or a small pink flamingo.

Dan and I eat bacon cheeseburgers with tater tots at least twice a month–but hey, we’re adults, so we cook our own at home!

We still crack up at a good fart joke.

We try to out-burp each other.

As much as we love playing with our nephews, we also love playing with all their toys when they nap.

Dan still occasionally plays with toy race cars, except now he can also play with real race cars.

He keeps his office desk stocked with Easy Mac, Pop-Tarts, and sugary cereal.

I may have given up Pop-Tarts, but I still consume copious amounts of dry cereal, eaten only from pink kiddie cereal bowls. Dan loves to groan about living with a toddler whenever he vacuums up cereal crumbs in the living room.

I treat life like a never-ending game of dress-up, which explains my collection of pink coats and sparkly hair accessories.

The wonderful secret of adulthood is the freedom to define it for yourself.

Dan and I choose to be grown-ups in the ways that actually matter. We both work hard to live a life we love. We’re smart with money, but that doesn’t stop us from spending money on entertainment! While our culinary tastes aren’t sophisticated, they fit our current priorities, including my depression.

Adulthood doesn’t have to look like bran flakes, or endless serious conversations, or strict bedtimes.

You can’t choose everything that happens in life, but you can choose how you respond to it. You can choose who will be by your side as you journey through life.

Dan and I choose joy. We choose laughter. We choose each other.

Poop jokes and all.

Meet Your 2019 Love Blog Challenge Hosts!

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Brita Long is the pink and sparkly personality behind the Christian feminist lifestyle blog, Belle Brita. On her blog and social media, you’ll discover more than authentic storytelling–she’s brutally honest about pursuing a fulfilling and joyful life even with Crohn’s Disease and depression.

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Amritha is a travel and food blogger offering travel, dining, and healthy recipe guides for vegetarians who love to vacation. Her mission is to guide others in creating meaningful life experiences with friends and family through mindful travel, vegetarian food, and an active lifestyle.

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Kayla Whitter is a 20-something INFJ and Hufflepuff. She works full-time at a local university, goes to graduate school, and runs the lifestyle blog A Paper Arrow. Her favorite things include reading, drinking coffee, eating Chick-fil-A and Mexican food, and hanging out with her hubby and cat (Courage).