My friends and I do a lot of complaining about how hard our lives are (and trust me, there will be plenty more of that), but this week I just had one of those weeks where I was just happy to be me.

And it’s not even that everything went my way… I mean, I had a mental breakdown at the gym on Monday when I put my contacts in and they stung like I’d used acid as contact solution, and I wanted to cry when I was already running late for a meeting and the bruschetta board I picked up from Postino’s slid off of my backseat and became a mangled mess.

But during this same week, I Facetimed my big who I haven’t talked to in way too long, I went to the Mumford and Sons concert with a boy who came to the door to pick me up, and I got some genuine “thank you’s” from people at work.

Yes, I still had low points, but for some reason, I decided to focus on the high points instead. So here’s what this week made me re-realize.

I love the city I live in. I truly do. Phoenix is a really cool place and I feel bad for ever doubting it. When I first graduated I felt like I HAD to get out of here. I wanted to be in a New York or a Chicago, but after giving my hometown a chance in my “grown up” stage of life, I’ve started to see it in a whole new light. Phoenix made the list of top foodie cities (that in itself is enough to guarantee I made the right choice sticking around) and just today I found out that the City has plans to create a huge park above our Freeway. Think Central Park but with a beer garden. No complaints here.

I love my friends. At the risk of sounding like a total lezzie, my roommate Spencer is everything to me. If we go a day without talking, I just don’t feel like me. Someday I’ll share some of the ridiculous conversations we have so you can learn to love her as much as I do. Clarissa, Erica, and my Sarah’s are my other besties and I know even if we go months without talking, they would be there for me any day of the week. I’ve also been lucky enough to meet a handful of motivated, inspiring women through my job. Basically, cheers to all of the females in my life.

I love my family. My mom and dad are the two best people I know, and I should thank them more often for giving me the best parts of each of them. My brother, Kevin, continues to surprise me and I am so proud to be his big sister.

I love my job. The fact that I can honestly say that makes me so happy. Sure I have days that are stressful and I work with a challenging co-worker or two, but I constantly get to meet new people, plan events, and I even get paid to go shopping sometimes. Also, shout out to Amanda for being the best manager in the entire world. You are LITERAL GOALS.

The fact is, there are always going to be rough moments (and even straight in-the-gutter moments), but most of the time, I love my life.

I’d like to challenge all the other 20-somethings out there to take a step back and appreciate what YOU love about your life right now. I bet it’s more than you think…