Thirty is the new twenty

This weekend I turned thirty years old.  Years ago, thirty seemed so old to me.  It seemed like an age where you sat at home, didn't do anything, didn't have any social life, and were basically boring.  This was probably during my stay-out-until-4 a.m-every-night phase where I couldn't imagine life without booze or dancing with random boys or my girlfriends.

Things change.  They change so quickly.  They change so wonderfully.

Ashley got me a card for my birthday and sent it to me in the mail.  In it (I'm at school, so I don't have it right next to me), she wrote something to the effect of...

"I would make fun of you for being old, but honestly I've never seen you so content and happy with life before."

And if that's not true, I don't know what is. 

If you asked me at 21 what my life would be like when I turned 30, I would have jumped in with an answer...my answer would have looked like this:

"When I am thirty, I will be living in Chicago. I will be married (depending on the moment I may have even said to Randy).  I will be working at a law firm and possibly thinking about children in the next 2-3 years.  I will be vacationing often, spending time with my friends, and generally having a great time."

Where am I though?  Where did I really end up?  I ended up doing a lot of things that I didn't think I'd do, and I am so glad that I did.  I am not a lawyer, and thank God for that.  I am not living in the city, and thank God for that.  I am not vacationing often, and I am not spending a ton of time with my friends, but I am still have a great time. 

Life is so much better than what I imagined it to be.  If you told me that staying home, playing dinosaurs, being a monster, and playing hide-and-seek with anywhere from 1-6 kids is what I would love when I turned thirty, I would have looked you straight in the face and laughed.  It just shows you, that no matter what you think you know at 21, you are going to change.  It might not be in such an extreme way, but things change, priorities changes, expectations change.   

I'm not saying that everyone will want to stay home with their kids, and I'm not saying that my decisions are right for everyone.  What I'm saying is that my decisions were right for me.  My family, my beautiful little family, is right where I belong right now. 

So, am I sad to turn thirty?  Not at all. Not even one little bit.  Thirty is going to be amazing.  This is the year that I get to meet my second son.  This is the year that Finn turns 2, and he gets even more amazing than last year.  I'm pretty damn excited about it.