Thoughts on 30.

This afternoon while my children were napping, I wasted time and ignored my messy house by browsing Pinterest and scrolling through various websites. While entering yet another contest to win random baby items, I paused at the box that asked me to type in my age.  In case you weren't already aware, last week was my birthday.  My 30th birthday.  I reluctantly hit the backspace button, erasing "29" from the box to enter my new, older age.  I'm not old enough to be 30. 30 feels like full blown adult, and I'm fairly certain that I've yet to possess the maturity and experience to call myself a real adult.  I may or may not currently be in denial.  

Realistically speaking, I'm exactly where I'd hoped to be at this age. I'm married, I have a dog, a house, and I'm raising 2 kids in the big city.  This is what the high school version of myself envisioned my life would be like... minus the stay at home mom part. I was going to have a promising career and make an impressive salary, but life had other plans.  Regardless, I'm happy with where I'm at at this phase of my life and though I joke about not wanting to turn 30, I'm actually excited for all that is to come in this next decade. I'll watch my daughters grow and become their own people. They'll start school, and we will have so many adventures as a family. Maybe I'll go back to work. Maybe we'll move somewhere new. I don't know what lies in store, but that's what makes it all the more exciting.  I'm looking forward to embracing the future as it comes, but it is bittersweet to say goodbye to my 20s... because even though I still have so much to look forward to, they just may have been the best years of my life.  My early 20s were entirely about myself, and the more recent years have revolved around my family.  

In the beginning, I lived with some of my best friends... friends that I still love to this day.  First there was Carley, and then there was Rosie, and finally Kimmy and my cousin Chantelle.  We lived on takeout food and our homes were the central gathering location for all of our friends. 

I worked multiple jobs and saved the majority of my income to fund a trip to Australia. I had my heart set on breaking out of my hometown. 2 of my friends set out on the adventure first, and I promised to meet them there once I could afford the flights. They ran out of money and returned home before I made it there, and it was then that I made the life changing decision to travel solo.  I was so shy, so introverted, and so scared of new situations.  When you move to a foreign country all by yourself, you're forced to break out of your shell a bit. I will forever be thankful that I did just that.   I traveled to Thailand and Singapore with my mom, and then onwards to Australia where she left me as she returned home. I made amazing friends, saw beautiful places, and finally had the opportunity for real self discovery. I even went skydiving.  

Once my visa was up and my bank account drained, I returned home. It was then that I started spending a lot of time with Ryan. We'd been friends for a few years, but we finally lived in the same city. We started going to the gym together and it gradually progressed to movies, dinners, karaoke nights... and finally becoming an official couple.  I was so happy when we were together.

I couldn't imagine being away from my boyfriend, until one evening my phone rang and I was offered my dream job. With Ryan's support and encouragement, I packed up and moved to Dubai to work as a flight attendant for Emirates airline.  I ventured to over 30 countries and worked onboard the biggest passenger jet in the world, the Airbus A380. 

It was exhausting and amazing and through it all, Ryan and I persevered through a long distance relationship.  We went on vacation together at the end of 2010 and he asked me to marry him.  

I returned to Dubai, worked for 6 more months, and then resigned and returned to Canada. Ryan and I took a month long road trip through the States, and then began our new jobs. I was now a Canadian flight attendant, and Ryan accepted a job in Edmonton. That fall, we bought our first home! 

We got married on April 12, 2012, and adopted our puppy Niko in the summer. 

We celebrated our first anniversary with a trip to Japan.  Our beautiful daughter Aaralee was born in 2013! I was a mom! Some days I still can't believe it. 

9 days prior to turning 29, we welcomed Briley into our family.   Life had changed immensely, but I loved it.  

As my 30th birthday loomed on the horizon, I flew away with my mom, my husband and our daughters to celebrate it in Maui.  10 years of amazing friends, unforgettable adventures, and more love than I knew I was capable of deserves to be celebrated.  

30, you have big shoes to fill and I'm not sure that you're up to the challenge, but I'll embrace you regardless. (I also don't really have a choice in the matter.) It's time to set new goals and new dreams, though I have a sneaking suspicion that most of these will involve my daughters.  My selfish days are over and I'm okay with that, but boy am I glad that I took advantage of them! So, here's to 30. Here's to it being acceptable to go to bed at 9 pm, to being a stay at home mom, to real, lasting friendships and to a family that fills me with pride.