I just spent the last hour or so trying to decide what to give Steph as a gift at the bridal shower we are throwing in her honor this weekend. I can't decide what is more shocking, that I spent an hour shopping and didn't buy anything, or that one of my best friends who I grew up with and is the same age as me, is getting married.

I've been noticing a trend lately in some of my friends that is just showing me how different my life course is/will be than others. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, it's just that until now, I really haven't felt very different from my friends. I went to high school, graduated, went to college, had the "typical" college experience and graduated. Up until now, I was on the same road as the rest of my peers.

Suddenly I am hearing that people I went to school with, or have been close with at some point in my life, are engaged, married, or even (cringe) parents. Now I'm forced to think "Are they moving too fast, or am I just moving slow?"

I am not saying that I want to get married soon, or "settle down", but I am just wondering if it's really weird that I don't have any desire to do those things. I mean, it's not that I don't ever want to be "married with children", but I don't see it happening anytime soon... I'm just not one of those girls who has dreamed about her wedding since she was a little girl. Up until the past year or so, I never thought about dresses, or flower arrangements, but now that they are part of my friends' lives, they are haunting me. Kind of hovering over me, telling me "you're getting older by the minute... better decide what you want to do with your life, or you'll never have a wedding to plan for".

I know it's ridiculous to be thinking that I need to speed up anything in my life, I mean, I'm only 24. I just feel like the people I know that are settled in their lives (living together, married, good jobs) are just ahead of me in the game. Being the competitive person that I am, I think these feelings are surfacing because I'm feeling behind. I know that everyone grows and matures at a different pace, but until now, I had been keeping stride.

Don't get me wrong, I am really happy for Steph and everyone else I know that are "taking the plunge", maybe even slightly jealous. More that they are mature enough to commit to someone they care for than anything else. Maybe this is just my Quarter-life Crisis and it will pass. I hope so, cause no one is dragging me down the aisle anytime soon...