I am 29????!

Yesterday was my birthday! I turned 29! I can't believe I am entering the last year of my twenties. I had a wonderful day at work. My BFF Ali made me homemade cupcakes and I only had about three one of them! I was treated to a pizza lunch and received beautiful flowers. Last evening we went out to dinner with the family. It was Italian food and it was delicious. I received so many nice and thoughtful gifts but honestly, the best gift was being surrounded by my family and laughing so hard my stomach hurt. Nothing beats it.

Homemade Funfetti Cupcakes from the BFF Ali - SO DELISH!

My favorite people in the world (missing a couple though)

I remember when I was younger and thinking that thirty sounded so old. I also thought by now I would have everything I ever wanted in life. I thought I would be done having children by the time I am thirty. Nope. Not even close. I mean, Tom and I only want two or three kids but still...I am not even knocked up yet so being finished having children by thirty is completely out of the question. Yes, I graduated college, own a home (well sorta...does having a giant mortgage count??), own my car (same thing...almost done paying that thing off), am married to a good man, have a good paying job, have two dogs, etc. To most it would seem that I have a lot going for me. I was able to check off a lot of the boxes that some people think are necessary to check in order to be considered an adult or successful. But there are definitely many other boxes that I haven't checked yet. I have never been to Europe. I don't know how to drive stick shift. I need to get myself in shape and healthy.  I want to see the west coast of the U.S. I want to be one of those people that can let loose and just be OK with where they are in life.  There is so many more things that I want to do with my life. Most importantly, I want to have a child. I know that growing up, you have all of these great plans for your life in your head. What you will be like, where you will work, the person you will fall madly in love with, the house you will buy, etc. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with dreaming or having high expectations for your life. In fact, I encourage it. Dream big. Set high goals. Be ambitious. But most of all, be realistic and be open. Don't be hard on yourself if things don't pan out the way you thought they would. This is something I have learned in the past year. It is also something I struggle with accepting everyday. I am getting better at it, but I am not fully there yet.

They say everything happens for a reason. I truly believe that to be the case. The hard part is that sometimes, we never get to know the reason. We don't get to know why things happened the way they did or when they did. Just know that it is for a reason and be OK with that.

Something I am working on every single second of my life...

Can't wait to see what 29 has in store for me!