Finally legal... Turning 21 years of age

Realizing that you are surrounded by amazing friends is one of the best feelings in the world. I was lucky enough to experience this on December 19, my 21st birthday! Ever since i was a kid i was jealous of my peers who got to make big deals about their birthdays and have parties during class while all of their friends were able to wish them a happy birthday. My birthday has always been bunched in with the holidays considering it is 6 days before Christmas. I celebrated a lot of "Christmas parties... AND Caroline Birthday party" with my friends and the gifts ran together in a combination of both. I do have to thank my parents for always making an effort to take me out and make it a separate special celebration.

This year for my 21st birthday we made it a week long festival with the help of my loving family, wonderful boyfriend and fabulous friends. It all began the night before on Monday night during a Colts game. I went to visit a few of my friends that live here in Carmel and had a laid back evening cheering on the Colts counting down the hours until midnight when i was officially 21. Being the old age of 21 made me very tired and after the Colts game i went home to get some sleep. Tuesday, the 19th, i woke up early to have a very yummy breakfast at The Pancake House with my parents and Josh. Before breakfast my parents went with me to renew my license. Maybe it was my beautiful 8 AM look, or the fact that dad was taking pictures of me as i walked up to the front desk, but the lady working asked me if i was there for my Driving Test. Now please correct me if i am wrong but i do not believe that I look 16!! Anyways I told myself in 10 years i will be flattered when they mistake me for being 5 years younger than i actually am, and ignored these first comments. After passing the eye test and taking a horrifyingly non-flattering picture, I left the place with a fully adult operational licence.

I went home after breakfast to get ready for my wonderful friends to spend the day with. 20 + Zetas were planning on meeting me in the Indy area to celebrate me turning 21! I would have never believed that, that many girls would take the time to come join me and I was so flattered and excited to celebrate!! Instead of pushing so many girls into my parents house at 3 in the morning my dad graciously got a hotel room for us girls to reside in for the evening. Considering not all of my friends were 21 yet, I choose to spend the evening at the Champps Restaurant in the Keystone area. We enjoyed the hotel and the Champps staff was extremely supportive (especially when they wished me a happy birthday and played Sweet Caroline over the music system). Josh brought some of his roommates , Brandt and Mike, who i was extremely glad to see!!! The night brought long laughs, a little bit of dancing, several cartwheels, yummy popcorn and endless smiles!! Since not much sleep was received this night, I spent the day of the 20th catching up on sleep.. ALL day.

Finally I woke up to continue the celebration with my family, Josh and Joanna, and the Eaton family at Cheeseburger in Paradise. Everyone was tired, but dinner was delicious and I was so happy that everyone could take the time to come together. After dinner we enjoyed some cake and icecream and present opening. I will have to say how much i love my new jacket, vera bradley bag and catchphrase game! Thursday was spent all day with Josh running errands and seeing movies with Josh. It was the perfect day and I couldn't have asked for anything more!! That night after the movie, Josh and i picked up grahm crackers and went to my sisters house to make gingerbread houses. After a lot of struggle with the roof and the icing holding the house together we finished the neighborhood of gingerbread houses which actually turned out looking half decent. To end the night, we broke up into teams, couples against each other, and challenged each other in a catchphrase game. Overall, the night was fun and the week was very memorable. So far being 21 hasnt felt monumentally different but then again.... it has only been 1 week :)

Merry Christmas !!

Pictures are soon to come .... :)