Hello, Thirty!

I've been told that this is supposed to be the hardest birthday.  This is my attempt to assure myself that it won't be.

Perhaps if I haven't loved so much, laughed so much, lived so much, and learned so much in my twenties, THIRTY may seem like a daunting age.  I'm not going to lie- it is a little bit.  I think there is a preconceived notion that someone in their thirties should have a certain amount of wisdom and experience and maturity.  I'm not so sure if I have the wisdom and maturity, but experiences- I've had a slew, and I'm so thankful for them.  

And today, on my last day of my twenties, I want to remember some them, because I am thankful for what they have taught me and how they have shaped me.    

• When I was twenty, I went to Honduras and painted murals in an orphanage.  
• I met friends at college that to this day are so precious to me.  
• When I was twenty-one, my best friend asked me to marry him.
• I watched my older sister get married to a wonderful Christian man who adores her.  
• I rode a gondola through the streets of Venice.  
• I climbed to the top of St. Peter's Basilica.  
• I stood under Michealangelo's Sistine Chapel.  
• I dipped my toes in the Mediterranean Sea.  
• At twenty-two, I graduated cum laude with an art degree from Houghton college.  (I survived 4 years in sub-arctic temperatures and became a pro at scraping snow off my car.)
• I made it through four years of a long-distance relationship (210 miles apart!)...and that's before skype and texting, people.  
• I toured Neuchwanstein Castle with my little sister.  
• I ate Bavarian chocolate in Bavaria.  
• I rode a cable car to the top of the Alps and saw a little old man in lederhosen play one of these: 

• I married my best friend.  
• I dipped my toes in the Caribbean Sea.
• We bought our first condo.  
• I got my first real job. 
• At age twenty-three, I quit my first job.  
• We got a dog and named him Lito.  
• At twenty-four, we sold our condo for a profit, and bought my dream house- in my dream town.  
• I got my dream job teaching art in a Christian school.  
• I earned my teaching certificate through New Jersey's alternate route program.  
• At twenty-five, my husband came to that Christian school to teach, and we coached basketball together.   
• We got another dog and named him Duncan. 
• I watched my little sister get married to her best friend.  
• At twenty-six I had two babies born straight to heaven.  
• I dipped my toes in the Pacific Ocean.  
• At twenty-seven I had two more babies born straight to heaven.  
• I was blessed to become Josiah's mommy.  
• I was blessed to carry a baby to full-term and became Molly's mommy.  
• At twenty-eight I was challenged to trust God with my children's future.     
• At twenty-nine, I put Josiah in God's hands and watched him find a forever home away from us.  
• I started my own small business as a portrait artist.
• I was blessed to become a mommy to another daughter, Sadie Joy.  

My heart is so full with thankfulness for everything God has enabled me to do in my twenties.  In these next ten years, I hope it will be less about what I experience, and more about the experiences I can bless my family with.  I'm excited how I will watch my love grow- for God, for my husband, for my children, for my family, and for others around me.  

Hello, 30!  Nice to meet you.