29 {again...}

Well, folks, I officially kissed my 20’s goodbye today. I’ve decided that I am not going to have any more birthdays, though. Instead I’ll be celebrating the anniversary of my 29th birthday. K? So, today is the first anniversary of my 29th birthday. ;)

Seriously, though, I woke up this morning for the first time in my 30 year old body. I immediately felt new aches & pains, craved bran muffins for breakfast, was thirsty for prune juice, felt the strong desire to buy some Blublocker sunglasses, wanted to start a bridge club, saw a new wrinkle between my brows, and searched the bedside table for my dentures.

Okay, okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic…

Kidding aside, I really had trouble with this birthday. I loved my 20's. I grew so, so much as a person and changed in ways that I never imagined that I would. Here's a little run down. An ode to my 20's, if you will:

• At 20, I enjoyed my last year at A&M with the best roommates EVER. That year with my girls at 2521 Ashford was absolutely, amazingly fun. Then (just 6 weeks shy of being 21, mind you) I got married to the sweetest man on earth.
• At 21, we lived in our first apartment and I started nursing school. I met another group of sweet friends and muddled through my toughest year of schooling yet.
• At 22, I completed nursing school and got my first "real job." Wade and I were so thrilled to be a duel income family after 2 years of being poor newlyweds.
• At 23, we bought our first house and I worked as a nurse in the PICU at Children's. It was such a hard year for me personally. Taking care of sick children was really hard on my heart. I lost my first patient that year. I questioned God in ways that I never had before. I began to rethink my whole career choice. In the end, I knew that God had put me in that job for a season. I decided to make the best of it, and to help my patients to the very best of my ability. It was very lonely at times, but I learned to vent to my co-workers. I felt like my work friends were the only ones that truly understood what I was going through.
• At 24, I found out that I was pregnant, only to realize a few weeks later that I had miscarried. That was an absolutely devastating experience that I wouldn't wish on anyone. It made me experience loss and heartache that I hadn't felt before. By God's grace, we found out just 2 months after our miscarriage that we were pregnant again. I was so thrilled to be carrying our sweet babe.
• At 25, I became a mother! I will never, ever forget the look on Wade's face when he saw Clayton for the first time. I thought that he was going to explode with pride and love at any moment. It was such an awesome experience to bring that little person into this world. I also learned what it meant to be a Mommy. There were times, in the beginning, when it was really, really hard, but I never for one moment would have traded it.
• At 26, I was still working part time as a nurse at Children's. I was juggling working, being a mother, and being a wife.
• At 27, we sold our house in Grand Prairie and moved to Sachse. It was a time of many unknowns. I didn't know what the future held for either of our jobs, and leaving a town where we had the security of lots of family was tough, too. I felt like, for the first time, it was just our little family of 3. We just had each other, and we grew even closer as a family at that time.
• At 28, I quit my job and became a stay at home Mommy. I was sad to leave the job that I loved and my work pals, but thrilled to be finished with juggling my work schedule and home life. We moved to our current house and I found out that I was pregnant again. Oh the joy that I felt after finally conceiving our second baby! I was over the moon excited! But, once again, we moved to a new town where we didn't know a soul. We worried about finding a church and meeting friends. Things still felt a little uncertain.
• At 29, we found a wonderful church and got plugged into a great Sunday school class. Through that class, we met precious friends that we adore. I also gave birth to my sweet Drew. I learned that two kids are much more work than I ever imagined and that your heart swells with more than enough love to accommodate your second born. I have struggled with managing my time and balancing my mother/wife roles. I can honestly say that I feel completely fulfilled and content at this point in my life, though. There is no where else that I would rather be.

Which brings me to today. I can't help but imagine how life will change over the next decade. We will, Lord willing, add another child to our family. In fact, all three children will be in school by my next "big" birthday. Yikes! I will probably be working as a nurse again in some form or fashion. Clayton will be 14, Drew will be 10, and we will be less than a year away from our 20th anniversary. Oh my gracious, my heart can't take any more projections about the future...

My 20's will be hard to top, but I sure do look forward to living life in my 30's. :)

Wade took me to a YUM-O dinner tonight to celebrate my birthday. We had steak and lobster for dinner and a molten Godiva chocolate lava cake for dessert.

I decided that Godiva is my love language. It was sooo good!

Thanks, babe, for a wonderful date night! I look forward to growing old with you by my side!