I celebrated my 22nd birthday on July 27 – a day full of friends, family and tons of love.

Tons.of.love.

Especially coming from my parents. The immense amount love they have shown me since I unpacked my boxes from Ohio State is almost too much to share. Almost.

The night before my birthday I planned to meet some of my friends at a local bar for drinks and appetizers. With everyone moving across the country for jobs, grad school and family, it had been a couple of weeks since the “big” group had been able to meet and catch-up. After I had finished getting ready I went to say goodbye to my parents.

(Be prepared to experience the love here…)

MOM:  “You off to meet the girls?”

ME: “Yup! See you guys tomorrow.”

MOM: “Jess, wait a minute. If you need a ride home or anything give me a call, ok? Seriously, anything you just call me.”

ME: “Thanks mom, but no need to worry about anything like that. Love you, see you tomorrow.”

MOM: “Ok, but really, just call me. Oh hey…who all is going? Are you only going to The Back Porch? When will you be home? Did you get enough dinner? And really Jess, you’re wearing that?”

So.much.love.

It’s hard to complain about my mom and dad caring about me and wanting to make sure I am safe – but it is so difficult to come home and live with my parents after living with roommates at Ohio State.

It’s sort of the same “love” I feel when I head out for the evening. When I tell my dad I am heading to meet Bridget after work and then we are going to hang out for a bit, but I don’t know where…I truly am not being a brat. I don’t know where we’re going. There is no secret, there is no hidden agenda, there is no desire to hide the truth.

I really don’t know where we are going.

Call it stupid or call it crazy, sometimes my friends and I make no plans besides to hang out. Isn’t that what my last summer as a “kid” is for? I graduated college and am preparing to head to Disney — so I want to see my friends, family and relax before moving down. So when my friends says let’s grab dinner it is implied we will decide on a restaurant when we meet. After my insane list-making, studying and planning in Columbus I feel so free making smaller list for the summer…no need to decide where to eat right away. Go with the flow. But my “free and flowing” summer lifestyle causes me to have no answers for my dad when he asks about my plans. And somehow fights erupt from me really not knowing.

See? The love is almost never-ending.

Living with your parents is HARD. Especially when you move all of your stuff from your own room in Columbus back to your parents’ house and try to juggle unpacking OSU things and packing for Disney.What makes the situation harder is my new-found title as an “college-graduate adult”. I feel that my parents and I are continuing to try to find a working relationship that allows me to live my life as a young adult, but continue to follow and respect their rules.

But, it’s a work in progress.