growing up is weird for a number of reasons. one of the main ones being that it kind of comes out of nowhere. one day you're building forts and sand castles in your backyard with your best friend, then all of a sudden you're trying to figure out how to pay taxes and change the transmission on your car. you get a lot more responsibility and with that it gets easy to become overwhelmed and just want to stay in bed all day. but here's the thing: if you get out and face that scary world then you're going to learn and grow and surprise yourself in ways you never thought possible.
it's like it's easier to get sad and discouraged the older you get, but you also get to experience joys and bliss that you didn't realize existed. you get the freedom to go on road trips alone with your boyfriend (husband), eat ice cream for breakfast (realize that eating ice cream for breakfast is a bad idea), and learn those skills that you always dreamed about knowing (like design and photography). 
but i think the most important thing in growing up is remembering to stay childlike in ways. to stay curious and creative. to not become cynical and forget that life is to be enjoyed. every season of your life is to be enjoyed - not just endured (and yes that is a mash up thought from different lds general conference talks). happiness is something that you have to work for. you have to choose it everyday. in spite of whatever is bringing you down (like a massive cold sore that just erupted on your face...yes, this is a big one that's been bringing me down the last few days...). but lately i've been thinking a lot about this ted talk  by a 13-year-old home schooled boy, and how happiness is not going to be handed to you on a silver platter. if you never think about it or seek it and just ignore it, you're probably not going to enjoy much of it.
so many people describe their youth as the "best years of their life," but i don't want my life to be like that. i want every year to be better. because although i might lose skin elasticity, i'll gain experiences and knowledge. i don't want to spend my days worrying about the little things that really just don't matter. i'm with john lennon on this one: when i grow up i want to be happy.
"when i went to school, they asked me waht i wanted to be when i grew up. i wrote down 'happy'. they told me i didn't understand the assignment, and i told them they didn't understand life."