thirty… plus one

This year I hit my Plus One.

Today, I turn 31 years old.

Thirty.  Plus one.

My most difficult birthday was 27.  That was the year that I felt old.  I was no longer “cute young thang” just out of college.  I wasn’t the newly married, fresh-faced and optimistic young teacher.  I was on the later end of my twenties.  I was rounding 30.  I felt old.

But then I got over it.

I loved being 28.

And then, inevitably, I turned 29.  I never really wanted to be 29.  It felt like this waiting room where you no longer sit in your twenties: young and cute and wide-eyed about the possibilities of life… but you’re not quite 30: established, your life path figured out.  So I didn’t claim 29.

My year of 29, I said 30.  When people asked how old I was, I claimed 30 with pride.

I felt 30.  I was ready for 30.  I had been married for 8 years at that point, was about to have my second baby, we knew the life trajectory we wanted to be on, I had settled into a reassuring confidence in who I am and what I want to be about.  I was ready for 30.  Sitting in your 30’s feels like the time of life that things start to fall into place.

20’s is a lot of soul-searching and learning and moving and shaping and growing.  30’s… you kind of have your act together.  Or so it seemed.  It feels like you should have your act together.  I liked hitting 30.

So I was 30 for two years.

And now, I’m no longer 30.  I’m 30 Plus One.

I’m not just 30-year-old Sarah.  I’m 30-plus-one year old-Sarah.

That’s a formula I’m going to latch onto.

Something is being added to my life.  A new year of maturing.  A new year of experiences and growth.  A new year of life with my babies and my husband.  A new year of wonder, a new year to step in to others lives, to feel God step into my own.  A year of possibilities, new beginnings, new paths, new hopes, new lessons, new dreams, new challenges.

I’m not losing anything in this equation.

I’m Thirty PLUS One.

I am accumulating years, gathering stories, remembering moments, connecting to friends, expanding my horizons, adding memories.  We are taking steps to follow a new career, I am running my first 10k, we are loving the ages and stages of our kids, we solidify our bond as a team and a partnership in our marriage, we are spending time in the mountains, we are making memories with our friends and family, I am adding life to my life.

I am adding in good this year.

Cheers to a GOOD year.  What are you going to add into your life this year?

 

xoxoxo

~Sarah