Today: Let the countdown begin.
[tweetmeme source=”elizabethev” only_single=false]In a mere thirty days, I will be thirty. It’s been nine years since my last milestone birthday, and man, what a difference those years make. I spent my twenty-first birthday in Montreal, drinking buckets of Labatt Blue and speaking French (specifically, C’est mon anniversaire. Je vais vomir.) with the lovely people of the Quebec province.
The twenties have spanned quite the spectrum for me. I have lived in two college dorms, my parents’ home (where quarters were not required for laundry and my roommates, better known as Mom and Dad, were totally cool), an apartment in Coolidge Corner, and our condo in South Boston. I’ve worked at two organizations (despite hearing at my high school graduation that our generation would switch jobs five hundred times during our first ten years out of college), been promoted three times, and had precisely one feral cat die under my car during the span of a workday.
While in my twenties, I’ve been single, single, single, not single, and engaged. I met a couple of non-ones during my twenties, before meeting the one weeks before turning 25. Somehow I tricked Nick into falling in love with me, finding me a French bulldog, and agreeing to spend the rest of his life with me. As a twenty-something, I’ve seen my older brother graduate from law school and my younger sister and brother graduate from college and enter law school and graduate school, respectively. During my twenties, the four of us landed in Boston. We are but a bridge away from one another. I’ve watched in awe as all of my siblings turned into real live adults, following the example our parents set so well for us.
The twenties had its ups and its downs. All of the worry about finding a job, and then finding the right job, and then finding a job that paid more than $13,000 (you’ve got to start somewhere… and, um, that’s where I started), finding roommates that wouldn’t kill me in my sleep, finding a non-hideous outfit for my 10 year reunion, finding my better half, and finding myself? It was all worth it. It was worth it because I get to enter the next decade of my life more confident, more accomplished, and more interesting than I was ten years ago. I get to spend my thirties with a stronger body, a stronger brain, and a more full heart.
Let the countdown begin.
Also On Tap for Today:
- Why didn’t I think of this? (don’t answer that)
- Want to fall in love with running? Check out my guest post at A Healthier, Happier Bear 🙂
- I could stare at these photos all day long
What was the best part of your twenties? Or thirties? Or whatever-ies?
Comments (10)
Janel
January 31, 2012 at 5:57 pm
1) There better be a pinata at this milestone birthday and
2) I think I took the words from our HS graduation about having 500 jobs a little too literally. I haven’t switched jobs 500 times, just taken new jobs 500 times while simultaneously keeping the old 499 jobs. Thanks FHS for the mixed message.
Emily @ A Cambridge Story
January 31, 2012 at 7:47 pm
Happy almost birthday! I really enjoyed this post – it’s amazing how far we come in our 20s. Having about a half-year of 30 behind me, I can assure you it’s fabulous!
Cynthia (It All Changes)
January 31, 2012 at 9:39 pm
This was a fun recap. It’s amazing to see how much people change in our 20’s. Bring on the 30’s…it’s been fun for these 19 days so far 🙂
funandfearlessinbeantown
February 1, 2012 at 10:20 am
What a fabulous post! The twenties were filled with a lot of milestones for me too – living on my own for the first time, starting and graduating law school, and meeting B (and somehow tricking him to fall in love and spend the rest of his life with me too!). I’m still working on the puppy though. 🙂 The two weeks of being 30 has been wonderful so far and I’m really looking forward to a big milestone this year – getting married!
Halley (Blunder Construction)
February 1, 2012 at 10:49 am
you are going to be the best 30 yr old ever! my twenties so far have been monumental compared to other decades (okay i guess a lot happened going from 0 to 10 but I remember none of it) i have accomplished a lot!
liverunloveyoga
February 1, 2012 at 12:20 pm
I love this post! Being 25…I feel like it is so challenging and hard to find yourself and do everything else too! You reminded me that it will all be worth it! Happy Almost Birthday!
Michelle
February 1, 2012 at 7:49 pm
You’re going to love your 30s! I had a hard time with turning 30… I stayed up drinking Sombreros and playing video games until the wee hours the night before, willing myself to stay young? But I have to say, almost 3 1/2 years into them (omg) I am happier and more aware of myself than I’ve ever been… and I assume that’s going to get better.
The beginning of my 20s was very FUN and as my best friend and I say… we can’t say we haven’t lived! And the end of my 20s was so happy, because that’s when I met my husband.
Let the birthday month commence!
Elina (Healthy and Sane)
February 1, 2012 at 9:56 pm
I’m turning 30 in a few months too. I think I’m ready. Age is just a number 😉
CJ
February 1, 2012 at 10:00 pm
My twenties began very rocky, with a breakup from my one and only love since I was 16 and ended better than I could have ever imagined. I met a great guy around 22 and married him at 25. Then gave birth to my twins at 28. I’ll be 39 this year and I have to admit so far my 30’s have been even more exciting than the 20’s. Enjoy each and every day. You’ll grow and learn so much 10 years from now you’ll look back and wonder where the time went.
Today: Hello, thirty. «
March 1, 2012 at 12:27 pm
[…] am very excited about everything the thirties have in store, and while the twenties were pretty great, I think this decade will be even better. Incidentally, my parents were 30 when I was born. I […]