Goodbye to a Decade

     So this is it.  The last day in my 20s.  It's weird.  Thirty seems really grown up.  I'm used to my twenties.  I've been here a while.  A lot has happened.  I've gotten married, graduated college, moved six times (once across the country), had two wonderful babies, made lots of friends, lost touch with some friends, made great memories, had some bad things happen, laughed a ton, loved a lot.  It's been a great decade. 
     As I have been looking back over the past month, knowing this day was coming, I keep wondering if my 19 year old self would recognize my 29 year old self.  I hope so, but I'm not sure.  I'm not who I thought I would be.  But, I'm not sad about that.  I'm glad.  At 19, I loved Jesus and hanging out with old friends and making new ones.  I enjoyed reading non-fiction books.  I loved the man that is now my husband.  I was thrilled to spend time with my family.  All of those things are still true today.  
      I also wanted to be a powerful business woman living in New York jetting around the world.  Maybe married, but for sure no kids.  I wanted things to always be fair and wanted people to have to pay whatever consequences they deserved.  I wasn't mean (I don't think so anyway), but mercy just wasn't a huge priority for me.  I did not really exercise.  I liked to sit around and talk about ideas. 
     Now I am married with the best kiddos ever.  I live in the Pacific Northwest and I run...outside...in the rain.  Anyone who has known me for a couple of years knows that is weird.  The first time I realized I was a runner, I was in shock.  I have been geocaching... a lot.  (Look it up if you have never heard of it.  It's super fun!  Treasure hunting.)  I text.  I like to read fiction sometimes now.  Not all the time, but sometimes.  I am not as worried about if something is "fair."  I want to give out mercy and grace in spades.  I still like to talk about ideas, but I know now that at some point you have to get off of your butt and do something, not just talk about things.  I have traveled internationally some, just not all the time.  Now my dream job (besides being a momma) is to help people figure out what they want and how they can get it.  Instead of jetting around the world, I am driving around town in my minivan.
     I love it!  This life that is mine.  I'm glad to be living it.  Yes, there are things that I wish I could go back and tell my 19 year-old self.  That I can relax a little more, be more gracious to others, perfection really is not the goal.  But we can't go back.  We can only go forward.  At least I have learned those things in the last decade.  It makes me think about what my 39 year old self will be like.  What other things will I have learned?  What other friends will I have?  What other adventures will I go on?  I don't know what the next decade holds, but as I say good-bye to this one and hello to the next, I can't wait to see what is in store!  Thanks for reading.  :-)