Something to Celebrate!

I went back and forth a little bit on how to deal with turning 30...should I mourn the loss of my twenties or celebrate surviving them? I’m always up for a “party”, so of course the celebration won out! Here is a little recap of some great things that I experienced during the last decade:

At 20, I was loving life, spending long days at the beach and working on my B.A. in Public Relations. My parents and I traveled to Kansas City where I colored (and we dined) at the Crayola Café and we toured the Hallmark Corporation headquarters.

21: I interned at PLT and had tons of fun as “Miss Fun Tickets”, I graduated with my B.A., danced to “Paradise City” on the bar at Coyote Ugly (I do not, nor have I ever drank alcohol, but the movie had popularized this bar and so yes, I entered, I danced and ok, so maybe it was more than one song) in New Orleans. This year wrapped up with some really exciting firsts…my first trip to New York City during Christmastime included my first real snow, seeing the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, having my breath taken away by St. Patrick’s Cathedral delicately covered with freshly fallen snow, shopping at Saks on 5th Avenue, riding in a limo, dining at the exquisite Tavern on the Green (sadly it has now closed), seeing Les Miz on Broadway, eating Dunkin Donuts in Times Square (this was long before my gluten-free days).

22: Began my first career path in the fast-paced world of advertising, welcomed my beautiful sister-in-law into the family, our lives were forever changed when my mom and I brought two little Maltese puppies home on Christmas Eve. Cole and Chloe have been in charge ever since!

23: This must not have been too eventful of a year! I settled into my career and spent time with friends, oh yes and we adjusted to life with two puppies in the house.

24: Mom and I nearly caused dad to have a heart attack when we almost missed our flight to New York. This time we went during July and it was more than HOT. We had a fun time with more NYC firsts: dessert at Carnegie Deli, two Broadway shows: Movin’ Out and Sweet Charity (starring Christina Applegate), Veniero’s Pastry where we had our first cannoli’s (yum!), appearing on Good Morning America hosted by Barbara Walters and Charlie Gibson.

25: Celebrated my Mama Mae’s 80th birthday, began career #2 in interior design (extremely fun!), celebrated the birth of my nephew Deacon which forever changed all of our lives for the better!

26: Missed our flight (for real this time) to Washington D.C. (dad handled it much better than before…really, who knew you had to be there 45 minutes before the plane was scheduled to leave?!), had my picture taken in front of the White House with George W. Bush as President, started back to school to try my hand at accounting.

27: Continued my “detour” through school and continued to study God’s word and seek more of His plans for my life.

28: Led in the preschool department at church and acquired numerous hilarious and precious stories related to toddlers and potty training…fun times! Experienced the miracle of life as I stood by in the delivery room while my niece Layla entered the world. Learned about gluten and eliminated it from my diet. Finished school with a degree in accounting.

29: Worked full-time in accounting, left behind that career path. Vacationed in Savannah where we toured the squares with a true southern gentleman, Savannah Dan; dined at Paula Deen’s Restaurant, Lady and Sons and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. Spent time resting, reflecting and seeing God’s grace, mercy and goodness.

The 20’s were certainly a time to be celebrated and filled with laughter, love, heartache, pain, and everything in between. Reflecting, I see God’s hand, His divine purpose and blessing. I pray for the next year, 10 years, lifetime that I will step aside and let God do all that He had in mind when He created me. I’m excited to see where He leads.

You crown the year with your bounty, your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. – Psalm 65:11