[Insert Adjective That Rhymes With] Thirty

You're not the same woman you were a decade ago. If you're lucky, you're not the same woman you were last year. The whole point of aging, as I see it, is change.  If we let them, our experiences can keep teaching us about ourselves.

--Oprah--

I'm 30 today! Leaving one decade behind. Entering another. I started putting together a mostly-wordy post about what I've learned in not only the past 10 years, but the past 30.  Ambitious, right? And also BORING. You don't care what I've learned! I barely even care what I've learned because I know that all the theories I have about how to do life right and how to love people will continue to be debunked for as long as I'm alive. What's more exciting than a list of lessons is looking back at some of my favorite memories over the past decade!  A trillion warm and smiley feelings filled my heart putting together these collages of  photos showing some of my favorite experiences in life thus far.  My 20s were: curious, eye-opening, FUN, care-free (at least more care-free than this very moment), sometimes confusing and sad, filled with a lot of self-doubt and naturally a lot of self-discovery.  



COLLEGE

Our first inauguration! 

My roommates. We had some GREAT times living in D.C.

Then some of us got married...

Including me...remember?

In my 20s, I started traveling without my family, a lot.

Ben's and my trip to Maui was our very first vacation together alone! 

Our trip to Greece was our first European vacation together alone. 

And as of today, my 30th birthday, Ben and I have been together for 11 years and 8 months!!

And as of today, my 30th birthday, I'll have been a big sister for 24 years and a daughter for....30 years. 

OK now for a short list of things I would tell my 20 year-old-self, or in this case, my youngest sister Danyelle because she actually listens to me:

You don’t have to be healthy to be happy.

Never trust someone who thinks they’re too good to eat at McDonalds sometimes.

And never trust ANYONE who thinks having a piece of dark chocolate for dessert is actually BETTER than eating a bowl of ice cream.

You've always wanted a lot of friends, you are too introverted and need too much alone time to be refreshed. So you will NEVER be the type of person who wants to be around people all the damn time.

You will find a job you love, so much. But you will still look forward to weekends, holidays and vacations.  

You're a liberal! And that's OK. You're pro-choice and you also think everyone should have health insurance, and it should be free or cheap.  

You don’t have to believe everything that someone says about you, positive or negative.

A little bit of recklessness keeps life fun.