Birthdays

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I turn thirty-five today and I still sorta can't believe it. While benchmark birthdays usually consist of years when big things happen, like when you turn sixteen and you get your license, or when you turn eighteen and you can vote or are off to college to live independently for the first time, then you turn twenty-one and you can retire the fake ID and finally walk into a liquor store without worrying about getting rejected at checkout. When you are younger, getting older is awesome. Each year brings an exciting new element of "growing up". Then you blink and life jumps to your thirtieth birthday. This was an age I had a really hard time with. I always had put so many expectations on turning thirty, I always imagined I would have been married, I would own a home, I would have children, I would have a dog. In my early twenties I thought all of that would have been accomplished because in my mind thirty was old! How flipping crazy is that {can I hop in the DeLorean and give myself a good slap up the side of the head for thinking such things?}! Thirty was an age when I though I should have had my life together and in my mind I didn't.  I messed up big time on my that year with my out of control emotions and not giving myself a break for not having accomplished any of the above. Luckily for me my then boyfriend {now husband} set me straight and made me realize all the amazing things I did have in my life instead of counting what I didn't. Most importantly I had my entire family and I had him. I had a future of all those milestones to still look forward to, I had a decade of my twenties that was crazy fun but was thankfully over and a new decade that would be full of new surprises and adventures.

So fast forward five years and here I am writing about getting older. Except this year I welcome turning thirty-five with open arms! I am more excited then ever for what is in store for me and the years to come. I feel happy, like really happy. I have a lot of love in my life, I have awesome friends and family that are always there for me and I have the best partner in crime by my side to go through life with. For that I am most grateful. So today I am toasting to being another year older and maybe even a little bit wiser because I no longer will allow an age determine how I feel about life or myself!

Here is to this being the best year yet!