Jessica Crum

A Lifestyle and Fashion Blog

Lifestyle ·

25 Things I’ve learned in my 25 Years


Hi guys! Sorry I’ve been a little MIA the past couple of weeks. February has been absolutely crazy, but so much fun. First we celebrated Clayton’s birthday in Vail, Colorado, which was a blast! Then I went to Dominican Republic for my girlfriend’s bachelorette party, had my birthday, celebrated Valentine’s Day, have been crazy busy with work and am now in Orlando all week working. So I’m finally finding time to sit down and write. Man, I wish I could blog full time… It’s tough juggling everything. But hey, that’s life! 🙂














top (old – similar here, here, here and here) // jeans // necklace (similar here) // shoes (similar here)

So like I said, I celebrated my twenty-fifth birthday on February 10th. Thank you to everyone for your sweet messages and kind words. It truly means more to me than you know. I got the idea for this blog post from one of my girlfriends, Courtney (shout out @CurratedbyCourtney). I can’t believe I’ve already reached a quarter of my life. As I sure as heck don’t believe I know it all, I’d like to share 25 things I’ve learned in my 25 years.



1. Marriage is hard work. You have to persistently work at it every single day. But man, is it the best thing ever. Never stop fighting for your marriage.
2. You can’t do everything. You can’t please everyone. I am definitely a people-pleaser and a perfectionist, and have struggled with this my entire life. But I am slowly learning that you will drive yourself crazy if you try to please everyone. You can’t be the BEST friend to EVERYONE, the best colleague, the best wife, the best sister, the best daughter, etc. You have to learn when it’s okay to put yourself first, ask for help or just say no.
3. You aren’t going to remain friends with everyone. (This is something I really struggle with). Similar to marriage, friendship takes work on BOTH ends. You can’t make excuses… everyone is busy. Everyone works and has stuff going on in their life. Bottom line, you make time for the people you care about. And forget about the people who don’t.
4. Family comes first.
5. The only thing that will ever completely satisfy you is the Lord. Remember to make time for Him and always trust in His plan for you.
6. Always be kind. You never know what someone is going through behind closed doors.
7. Eat the donut – don’t deprive yourself of the good things in life.
8. Be yourself. I know this is so cliché, but my goodness. God made you the way you are for a reason, so embrace it. Be different. Stand out. And always be true to yourself.
9. Pray always. Pray for your struggles, your challenges, your husband (or future husband), your “enemies”, your haters, your future children, your victories, your health. Whatever is it – PRAY.
10. Be positive. One of the main things I’ve learned in my 25 years is the power of positivity. Only YOU can change your mindset.
11. Work hard. Whether this be at your job, in your relationships, working out or whatever it is – work hard. No one is going to do the work for you. If you want to see results, you must put in the effort.
12. Live a healthy lifestyle. Take care of yourself mentally and physically. Be active, work out, eat healthy foods that nourish your body, sleep and breathe.
13. Be honest. Man, this is a big one in my book. Be honest in everything you do. Every big lie starts with little white lies, so don’t even let yourself get in that habit.
14. Get out of your comfort zone. It’s so easy for us to stick to what is comfortable in our life, but the second you step out you will realize all of the amazing things you are missing. I have been working for a technology company for the past two and a half years (technology + Jessica = ???) and I can’t even begin to tell you how much this has pushed me past my comfort zone. I’m not talking fashion or relationships or all the fun girly things I truly love. I’m talking cloud and disaster recovery and working with some of the most intelligent people I’ve ever met. But let me tell you, it’s been one of the most rewarding experiences to see how I can grow as a person and meet people who are completely different than me, but able to teach me something new each and every day. Be bold and put yourself out there. I promise you won’t regret it.
15. Let things go. This is another tough one for me. It’s hard for me to forgive people and also to just let go of things that have happened in my past. But at the end of the day, you’re only hurting yourself by holding those things in. I’m not perfect, no one is, so show grace.
16. Don’t stress. HA! Easier said than done, right? 😉 I wish I could follow my own advice on this one. But referring back to point #2, you can’t do everything. You have to learn when enough is enough. I’m not saying don’t work hard, I’m encouraging you to know how much you can handle and don’t stress the rest. Do something relaxing each day whether that be a warm bubble bath at night (my favorite!), walking your dog, working out/yoga, reading a book or just sitting outside. Whatever it is that makes you slow down, take a breath and realize everything is going to be okay.
17. Be there for people even when they aren’t there for you.
18. Save your money. Adulting is hard, and expensive. As much as I would love to go back to the days where my parents paid for everything, there’s something so rewarding about working hard and being able to take care of yourself. But don’t spend every dime you make. You never know what life is going to throw at you (now let’s take a second to pray the AC on our house never goes out).
19. Travel. Oh my goodness, my favorite part of life. There is honestly nothing better to me than traveling. Getting to experience different cultures, eating their food, seeing how they live. I think my dream job would be a professional traveler, so if anyone has the hook ups to make that happen, help a sister out 😉
20. Laugh. Be silly! Life is way too short to be serious all the time. Have fun! Make people smile.
21. Pursue your dreams and take risks. I have been wanting to start a blog for two years now, but there were about a million reasons why I kept telling myself not to. It was too time consuming, too expensive, people would be negative & judgmental, I already had a full-time job… the list goes on and on. But the day I stopped making excuses and made it happen a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders. I was happy because it was something I genuinely wanted to do. So who cares if I don’t have time to do a blog post every week or if people make fun of me (hey haters!), it’s something that makes ME happy. It’s one of my dreams, and I’m going to pursue it for as long as I want to. I encourage you to do the same no matter what your dream is or whatever risk it takes to get you there. Believe in yourself.
22. Be spontaneous/adventurous. If you didn’t already know, my job is an event planner… and I carry on that “planner mindset” in my everyday life. I struggle with this one because I don’t often have the “go with the flow” mindset, as much as I wish I did. But this is something I definitely challenge myself with every day.
23. Show Christ’s love to everyone you meet. Whether that be your clerk at the grocery store, your uber driver or even your worst enemy, find a way to make them smile.
24. Be grateful. I wish I could tattoo this on my face (not really – that would be creepy, but you know what I mean). Even on the worst days, you always have something to be grateful for. Remember those things when times get tough.
25. And last but not least – listen to your parents. Dear younger me, you’ll understand one day.

Cheers to the next 25 years, and having an excuse for any quarter-life crisis that happens this year 😉

PS: CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW FREAKING AMAZING THIS CAKE IS?! Liana made absolutely all of my cake dreams come true and totally brought my vision to life. Thank you!!!

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Comments

  3. michelle says

    happy belated birthday jessica! please share the details on whoever made you that awesome cake!

  4. Mackenzie Leivo says

    I just love reading your blog. I never realized you had one until I saw your microblading post and now I’m creeping all the way through and catching up. I think it’s so amazing you pursued your dream of blogging and have put yourself out there. I have always dreamed of making my private everyday writings public and you’ve inspired me ❤️ You’re such an amazing woman, keep it up!!! I’m a fan!

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