By the Time I'm 30...

Two posts in a week? I know, I'm getting prettttty crazy.

This post is inspired by a graduate student that I'm working with who is celebrating her 30th birthday today. In the car ride back from a rather long home visit (for my lab) in Racine, she was talking about all the things she thought she'd be or have by the time she was thirty: wife,  mom,  [real] professional,  house-owner, car-owner, etc. This of course got me thinking as to where I want to be in just over nine years.

Throughout high school, I had a plan. This plan was to be in law school by 22, married by 25, have my first child (or rather, daughter) by 26, and everything would follow from there. Since graduating in 2009, this plan has changed immensely. Well, sort of.

If I had my way, this plan would probably still be the same. The only major difference is that I am taking time off between undergrad and law school to "find myself" (or, better put, to make some cash money). If I could plan my life exactly how I wanted it, it would be like this:

1. Finish all of my classes by May and graduate in the spring of 2013. 
2. Spend a wonderful summer in Madison, Wisconsin.
3. Move to Chicago, IL and live in a beautiful apartment downtown with one of my best friends.
4. Find a terrific job as a child welfare specialist/child development specialist that pays enough to cover all of my bills and then some. (I can't live in Chicago and not hit up Michigan Ave. every once in a while, right?) 
5. After two or three years in Chicago, go to law school either in Chicago or back at UW-Madison. Hooray!
6. Meet a terrific, McDreamy man (complete with gorgeous, ever flowing hair) who just happens to be a world class brain surgeon and has an affinity for german shepherd puppies and flying to London on the regular.
7. Acquire two german shepherd puppies who just happen to be house trained. Name them Cory and Topanga. 
8. Graduate from law school with a dual degree in law and a masters of social work.
9. Get married to McDreamy in a fabulous lace dress at a magnificent wedding of eggplant and ivory. 
10. Be hired as a [tobedetermined] at [thebestpossibleplacetowork].
11. Have a beeeeautiful little girl by the name of Kristyne Grace.
12. ....I guess I would settle for a boy, too.
13. Turn thirty. 

While I'm sure you all know that I'm definitely going to meet McDreamy (I'll settle for McSteamy, too...and even McVet), I'm afraid you guys will have to settle for the fact that the probability of me doing all of that other stuff by the time I'm thirty is slim.

So, here is my realistic plan: 

1. Finish all of my classes by summer of 2013, if not May, and still be able to graduate in the spring of 2013.
2. Spend a wonderful summer in Madison, Wisconsin.
3. Move to Chicago, IL and live in an average apartment in a safe neighborhood with one of my best friends.
4. Find any job that's not babysitting and pays enough to cover my bills. 
5. Probably work part time at Loft...I'm never escaping retail. 
6. Go to law school after a few years...once I'm more financially stable (only to have it ripped out of my hands at the mercy of my education. shit.).
7. Be prepared to recite the serenity prayer. Over, and over, and over again.
8. Turn thirty.

There you have it, folks. If there is anything I have learned over the past two years, it's that you have no idea where life is going to take you, and that is okay! When life throws you for a loop, grab some chardonnay (or maybe apple juice, for you under-agers) and watch some Grey's. Or Boy Meets World. Then take a nap, wake up, and start over. Or at least that's worked pretty well for me. 

Ta-ta for now! 

baaaaby Alli!