Twenty-Ten

On my birthday this year, I turned 30 years old!  Just a few years ago that seemed so old and distant and now here I am but I am not feeling so old after all.  It is amazing where my life has come to this point and I look forward to see where it goes.  I must admit that I was not so thrilled about reaching this age in my life (as a single person) but now that I am here, it really is not all that bad and I am excited to see what this coming year brings.  A lot of changes occurred in my life over the past 6 months with my brother-in-law remarrying and me no longer taking care of nieces and nephew which is what I had done for the past 2 and half years.  It was so wonderful being with them and taking care of them it has been a bit of an adjustment to no longer be doing that.  I also have been considering a pretty big change in my career choice which has also been a little difficult to decide on but I know everything will come together in time.  I keep reminding myself to have a plan and take one day at a time!!

During my 29 year of life, I had put together a 30 before 30 list which proved to be extremely enjoyable and challenging at the same time.  I did not completely finish the list but I sure enjoyed working on it all year long.  You may recall some of my goals were - hike 30 miles on the AT, run a 1/2 marathon, get 30 park stamps in my National Parks Passport Book, complete my walling hanging house quilt, attend a Durham Bulls baseball game, read the Christmas Carol, visit an exotic island, hike Mt. Rogers, learn to make Danish, watch a sunrise over the ocean, go to a symphony, read fifteen books, read the entire Book of Mormon, memorize a dulcimer song, bike the Tobacco Trail to Apex, start a cross stitch project, and have a dinner party.  These are not all of the goals but a lot of them.

Over the course of the year, I discovered a few things about myself.  I love to cross stitch.  My mom helped teach me the basics and off I went.  Once I started, I had the hardest time putting it down! This will be a life long activity that I think I will always enjoy!  I loved working on my wall hanging with my mom - she came to Durham a couple times and I went to Bristol a couple times to have her help me step by step to compete the project.  I may have some sewing genes hidden somewhere inside of me.  I remembered how much I love backpacking.  It had been since high school that I was able to go on an actual backpacking trip - a couple friends of mine planned a trip and went with me to do my first section of the AT - we ended up doing 70 miles. It was great fun and I love the outdoors, such calm and peace come from being in those beautiful places. Even with the bugs, cold, and rain, it was still a great trip!! For my Book of Mormon goal, I really wanted to read the whole book because it had been a while since I had read it from cover to cover.  This proved to be one of the challenges because I was not as diligent throughout the year like I should have been. With about 3 weeks to my birthday, I still had about 120 pages to read.  Those last three weeks were wonderful, it helped me put my mind to setting aside time each day to read and hopefully I will keep up the routine that I was able to establish those last three weeks.  I may not understand everything in the Book of Mormon or understand some of the prophecies that are spoken of but I do understand the Spirit I feel when I read it and I am grateful for the knowledge of Jesus Christ as our Savior and of the love Heavenly Father has for us!

So, 30 has come and is here to stay! I would have never envisioned my life as it is right now five years ago but I am thankful to be here in North Carolina surrounded by friends that love me and family that is only a quick drive away.  I look forward to figuring out my career goals and to just keep living every day the best I can!!

Here is the wall hanging my Mom helped me complete!

 Birthday cake from Nantucket Grill

 My parents spent the weekend with me to celebrate and my mom surprised me by getting Andrew, Marianne, Lucy, Tanner, Steve, Annie, David, Kate, Mary, Christian, Sarah, and Jamie (flew in from Utah as an additional surprise) together in Apex on Saturday to be part of the celebration! (Love you guys!)

 The cross stitch that hooked me! Love it!