25

I was re-reading some old emails from loved ones tonight and suddenly I felt a bit inspired to something on my blog a bit different from what I usually do. I got to thinking about all the amazing memories I've had and all the incredible things I've experienced in my young life. Below is a list of my top 25 memories (though there are so many more, these are the ones that I feel have shaped me the most)... of moments that have changed me, that have made me who I am, moments that have been the hardest or the best moments of my life and through all of them... I have grown, I have loved and I have lived.

25. Presenting my college Thesis to an audience and having it so warmly accepted and acknowledged.
24. Renting an apartment totally on my own for the first time... and spending all my own money to get it together and set up.
23. Meeting my childhood friends 12 years after I left Saudi and feeling totally comfortable with them even after than long span of time apart.
22. Having my childhood pets die... within months of each other.
21. Making the decision to change colleges and never regretting it.
20. Losing my aunt to family fights and misunderstandings, an aunt that was one of my best friends and confidantes and who is no longer in my life.
19. Saying goodbye to Nick when I left Seattle, moving to Hawaii.
18. Watching my little brother graduate from high school and being so proud of him.
17. Leaving Saudi, leaving my childhood behind and losing everything I knew and the year that followed - one of the hardest years of my life.
16. Finally figuring out for sure what I wanted to do with my life... knowing that my passion truly lay in the design field and going after that dream.
15. Moving in With Nick - through all the ups and downs of that experience
14. Afternoon teas and lunches with my grandma... a woman that I would not be myself without
13. My senior year with my mom when my dad was gone - a year that changed my life and that made my mom and I closer than we ever would have been otherwise
12. My first night in my apartment in Portland, I'll never forget that feeling... so alive, lonely and anxious all at the same time
11. My first "date" with Nick - I knew I wanted to be with him and I knew that it was meant to be
10. The first time that I could support myself financially all on my own
9. The death of my great uncle - seeing and experiencing that made me truly understand death and made me wonder how I'd ever survive the death of someone close to me
8. Meeting Nick's family for the first time.
7. Mending the relationship with my dad - after my senior year of high school I was barely speaking to him and through the years... we've become the closest we've ever been
6. My first car - which I still have that I am so attached to
5. Turning 20 - for the first time I really felt like an adult, and I knew my path and was taking the steps to complete it
4. Nick and I's first kiss
3. Graduating college with honors and having my entire family there to support me
2. The first morning that Nick spent the night at my apartment and waking up next to him in his arms
1. The moment when I realized that no matter how many ups and downs we face, Nick is the one and only person in this world that I can tell anything to, the one person that I want to be with over anyone else and the one person that will always understand me more than anyone else ever could.