10 hopes for my 30s

So, 30. Here we are! I wish I could tell you that I’m only feeling joy as I enter a new decade, but the truth is that my feelings are more on the sweet side of bittersweet. I have NO regrets over my 20s, and I want to think that if I wrung as many bits of joy as I could out of each year, I should have no sadness about moving forward.

But that’s just it – my 20s have held such sweetness, so many life events that only happen once – that of course there is a bit of sadness in acknowledging that. Overall, though, I am grateful. And with the love of my life and my precious baby girl at my side, I am believing that the best is yet to come. Besides, my spirit age is 36, so existentially speaking, I’m still a spring chicken :)

One photo from each of the last 10 years – last one below!

10 things I’m proud of from my 20s:
1. Spending the summer in New York City and interning at a wedding magazine
2. Starting Em for Marvelous, fostering the community that has grown here, and using my powers for good :)
3. Writing a book of poetry for my college senior thesis
4. Being hired at my dream job (and still working there eight years later)
5. Adjusting to life in North Carolina
6. Marrying my high school sweetheart
7. Making trade-offs to pay off our student and car loans, save an emergency fund and a car fund, and give sacrificially to our church and others
8. Helping to start a new worshiping community at our church
9. Being a marvelous mama to the sweetest one-year-old
10. Carrying peace and confidence through the ups and downs, which was only possible through an identity firmly rooted in Christ

10 hopes for my 30s:
1. That we will complete our family
2. That we will own our home outright
3. That we will be content in our home, whether it’s the one we have now or not
4. That we will celebrate ten years of marriage with great joy
5. That we will see the family culture we envision being lived out on a daily basis
6. That I will find joy in my work, know the right balance of hours, and have the freedom to live that out
7. That we will continue to value experiences over possessions, exploring new and beautiful places as a family, both down the road and around the world
8. That I will be more fit at 40 than I am now
9. That as much of our family as possible will get to spend more than one week on the Island each summer
10. That I will have the discipline to see continued growth in all areas of my life, especially in my faith, becoming more like Jesus every day

I have wanted to chat about this on EFM forever, so please tell me: what is your actual age, and what is your spirit age? (You can go read Joanna’s post, but basically, your spirit age is how old you think you’ll always feel inside, whether you’re 8 or 80.)