This year, I decided to reflect on a lesson I learned each year of my life leading up to my 29th birthday.

These are the cats I have now, but some of my earliest memories feature the two cats I knew first: Pippin and Tigger, my mom's cats. Apparently, I was found with a face and mouthful of hair once after I'd tried to join in a grooming session, which is when my mom kicked them out of the house for good.

As a baby, I almost died after being given penicillin for an ear infection. Adventure!

My sister Madison was born when I was two and a half, and being a big sister turned out to be pretty cool.

My mom started teaching me to read before I began kindergarten, and I loved it (and still do, though I could afford to do it for recreation more often).

I'm pretty sure I was around 5 when I started learning to swim, and the ocean (and just being in water in general) became something that would always be important to me going forward.

Kindergarten was the first time I remember really interacting with people who looked different than I did. I remember being a little confused, and impressed, and wishing I could wear lots of pretty beads and barrettes in my hair, too. (That's not me in the picture, but I thought the photo was spot-on!)

I know "have fun" sounds pretty standard for a seven year old, but this was the age I remember learning to try to let it roll off of me if people teased me, and to keep enjoying my life - even if other people thought I was silly.

Oh, the guinea pig. What a lesson she was.

When I was 9, I had a teacher who really didn't like me, and I was a bit obsessed with what other kids thought about my appearances, too. (It's all laid out in the journal I kept that year.) It took a toll on my self esteem, and in order to keep my chin up, I really needed to be easier on myself.

This was the age I remember learning that other kids wouldn't always come out and say what their problems were immediately. Sometimes, others would be struggling with a variety of concerns that would manifest themselves in the ways they acted, the things they said to others, and they ways they reacted - and that sometimes, even the mean or annoying kids just needed someone to listen to them for a change.

11 was when I learned (at summer camp) that just because someone's grown up doesn't mean they don't have things they're struggling with or insecure about.

At 12, I had some friends I was really close to who also did some crappy stuff from time to time. My mom, who tends to hold grudges, disallowed me from ever speaking to them again and stayed angry at them for months - even though I was over it and just wanted my friends back. That was the age at which I decided that forgiveness was (in most cases) a healthier alternative.

At 13, I started watching new shows, listening to new types of music, reading new types of literature - and realizing just how much is out there waiting for me to discover it.

When I was 14, my parents filed bankruptcy, and our family of six spent a little over a year living in various challenging places - in the back room in a warehouse (where we ran our family business), in a tent at a state campsite, and in a smallish fifth wheel trailer. I'll admit that it sucked in a lot of ways - but it also taught me a lot about myself, and if I could go back and do it again, I wouldn't change a thing.

While I first encountered the internet at 14, 15 was when I really had access to it on a computer we got from my uncle. And I've not been without it since.

At 16, I had a weekend gig that I did poorly because I wanted to hang out with my friends instead, and I learned how disappointing it was when that didn't really pan out the way I'd hoped. Going forward, I vowed to always do the best I could at any job I took on, and to try not to disappoint the people who gave me a chance to work for them.

I spent a while (as many teens do) pretty depressed, and a lot of that had to do with some of the people I surrounded myself with. I learned that if someone persistently made me feel crappy about myself, it was time to move on.

Fresh into college, I cut off my hair. From butt-length to shoulder length to boy-short length in a matter of weeks, it was quite an adventure.

If there's one thing I can learn looking back on being 19, it's to go out and meet new people. Having a few comfortable, wonderful friends is great - but so is meeting new people to share those friends with.

I took this photo during my safe, comfortable, friendly, unconcerned trip to Syria. It's a weird feeling now, seeing photos in the media of places I visited that have been bombed recently and that will never exist as they did when I visited in early 2006.

Yeah, I learned to drive at 22. And it was rad.

23 was when the eating habits I had during college started catching up with me. I didn't know it yet, but I was developing insulin resistance, and while I made a few attempts to start exercising, it wasn't enough to compensate for how much sugar I typically consumed.

24 was when I started losing touch with some of my friends from college. I pretty much let everything slide when I moved out to the east coast after graduating, and a lot of friendships I'd had (some really great ones) dissolved.

25 was when I started making plans and getting ready to move out to Seattle, a place I'd never even visited.

Shortly after my 26th birthday, the second month I lived in Seattle, I totaled my car - the brakes failed while I was coming off the highway on a curved offramp, and the car fishtailed, hit a sign, and rolled two and a half times, landing upside down. I came out with a few little scratches (from climbing out of the broken window) and a concussion from busting out my side window with my head. It really woke me up and made me realize just how precious every moment I have here is.

At 27, I'd just ended a 7-year relationship after moving someplace brand new, totaled my car, spent all of my money getting my own place, dated someone new who caused a lot of drama, ended that relationship, took a chance with a room mate I'd never known before, had a few minutes of fame for an animation I'd made, almost got a new job at a company I REALLY wanted to work for but didn't end up getting it, and met someone who has changed my life forever. 27 was a crazy year.

28 was a magical year. :)

I'm excited to see what 29 has to offer.