31

Thirty-one. It's the seventeen or the twenty-two of birthdays. The somewhat anticlimactic year following a "big one." I used to think that turning 30 was some sort of milestone in the sense that I thought I would have to have accomplished certain things by the time I was 30 or … well, basically I think I thought I'd be too old to get anything done by the time I hit 31. 

My bones are rather creaky, actually...

I've quite liked getting older. Despite not hitting all the checkmarks on the list my 20 year old self made for me to accomplish before the prior decade was over, I feel pretty good about where I'm at. (And besides, did I really think I wanted to OWN A GYM? Bad idea, 20 year old Megs, bad idea.) 

I'm happier and more comfortable in my skin at 30 than I ever imagined I could be. (20 year old me could have been a little more rigorous in her sunscreen application, but whatevs.) I have clearer priorities and boundaries. I'm more comfortable saying no and less worried about people pleasing. I have a smaller circle of friends, but they are deeper and more meaningful friendships. I have a whole lot less clarity about my career goals than I did a decade ago, but a much greater level of comfort with uncertainty. I have a deep faith, a lovely relationship with my God and an overwhelming sense of gratitude for my life - something that I was barely scratching the surface with in my 20's.

I always thought 30 was going to feel like "the end of my 20's." Turns out it feels more like the start of my 30's. And I'm rather optimistic that if things got this much better over a decade, my 40 year old self will be wincing at how wizened my 30 year old self thought she was. Actually, I pretty much hope so. 

My oh so anticlimactic birthday was celebrated with lovely, wonderful friends and family. And of course, wherever I go, my 20 pound little buddy goes too - so I really was never alone on my birthday! Bo and I visited Matt at work for lunch (a rarity to see his "office"), and then my parents FaceTimed with me while I opened presents from them. The next day Pam came through town on her way south for a wedding, and we had lunch at Mary's. A wino visit for my birthday! That night, Katie & Dylan and Mike all came into town and we had a really yummy dinner at Mozelle's. The next night, they stayed and the Forseys, Glenns and McCurry's came for a cookout. I even got to prolong the celebration into the next week when Teri and Anna met me at Camino for a birthday drink. I just kept looking around at the great people in my life who were there just to celebrate my creaky bones getting another year older and just feeling so, so richly blessed. Ready for what the next 9 years of this decade have in store for me...