Birthday Blessings

{via Pinterest}

Today I am blessed to be celebrating another fabulous year of love, health, and happiness.  I'm turning the big 2-8, and though I always thought I'd be type to avoid sharing my age as I got older, I am embracing the fact that every day is a beautiful gift, and I should be grateful to be turning another year older, surrounded by so many wonderful blessings in life!  The past year has been filled with so much joy and excitement, as well as unique challenges and important life lessons.  For the past few years, I've done birthday recap posts, but this year, I'm simplfying a bit, sharing just a few of the standouts from age 27 (with links if you missed any of it!)

Starting my year-long internship, which has pretty much taken up most of my year.  Though it has been an exciting and much awaited step towards finishing my Ph.D, it's also brought some major challenges.  Moving away from Matt, working 55-60 hour weeks, and integrating into a new environment.  But it's also been incredibly rewarding, meeting great people, working with remarkably resilent college students, and learning a ton about myself.

Defending my dissertation.  Enough freaking said!

Watching my little brother become a Sooner and love all that is Crimson and Cream...

Traveling to Vegas for the first time and absolutely loving a "no reason at all" vacation with Matt...

Roadtripping 18 hours to Texas to celebrate Christmas with my family...

Congratulating Matt as he officially became Dr. Davis...

Taking on a major spending challenge that has significantly impacted my life and outlook on finances...

Scoring a coveted postdoc position for next year, and back in Chicago no less...

Modeling for Ann Taylor in New York...

Continuing my most favorite fall tradition...

Celebrating two awesome years of marriage with Matt...

Cheering on my brothers-in-law as they tied the knot in New York...

All in all, it was a pretty awesome year.  I'm so grateful for the people in my life who continue to encourage, inspire, and love me, because without them, life just wouldn't be the same.  And while 27 was pretty incredible, 28 has something in store that I've been anticipating for a long, long time.  That's right, 28 is the year I become "doctor."  Hell yeah.  Dr. Allison here I come!

PS: As if birthdays aren't exciting enough, my whole family is flying into Chicago tonight to spend the weekend celebrating with me.  I plan to unplug from all electronics and soak up every second I can with them!  Cheers to a fabulous weekend!