Reflecting on my Twenties & My Finding Community

Happy Thursday, you all!

Yesterday we celebrated my 29th birthday (eeek, last year of my twenties!!) in a pretty low-key way, since it was a Wednesday, but this weekend we will have a combined birthday/housewarming brunch at our house to celebrate both my and Lilly’s birthdays and our new home! I think it’s hilarious that our birthdays are only two days apart…Poor hubby might have ALL of his girls’ birthdays in the same month! Can we say, birthday month??

Reflecting on my Twenties

I can’t believe I am beginning the last year of my twenties…so much has taken place in the last several years! And if I’m being totally honest, I’m actually excited about turning thirty, next year! Thirty sounds so distinguished, like I should have everything in my life put together and I will be more sure of myself. When I entered my 20s, I thought that this short decade was the time that I would have myself figured out, get a job, marry, buy a home and settle down, have a couple kids, and then life would become boring once I turned 30.

I don’t know about you, but I spent the better part of this decade trying to navigate adulthood and really figure myself out. The best way to describe my twenties is I had the highest highs and lowest lows I have every experienced. There were lots intense moments of upheaval and heartache interspersed in amongst the best moments of my life, so far!

I got married, graduated from college, moved to a new state (Lexington, KY), spent two years substitute teaching, started the blog, went to New York, met some incredible lifelong friends through Instagram and blogging, diagnosed with depression and anxiety, got a teaching job, bought my “big-girl” car, got pregnant and had a miscarriage, lost my cousin to a very aggressive form of cancer, made several trips to Germany, spent three Christmases in Germany, got pregnant with Lilly, lost my teaching job, parents divorced, Lilly was born two weeks after, moved to Cincinnati a month after Lilly was born, met and made some lifelong friends in Cinci, grandmother passed away, moved back to Lexington (permanently!!), bought our first house, and now we are looking at the birth of our second little girl.

PHEW, that’s a lot to take place in one decade! And a lot I have never talked about on the blog, before, not because I don’t feel comfortable with sharing, but because I’m not quite sure how to broach the topics. The biggest reason I would want to share about some of my experiences is that it has been helpful for me to read about other people who have gone through the same things. There’s something so important about community, sharing with others, and knowing you aren’t alone!

Finding My Community

Which brings me to my next point about my twenties–I found my community. The ones who I can call on at a moment’s notice; the ones who can go weeks or months without talking and pick up right where we left off as if no time had passed.

The girlfriends who have had similar upbringings and life situations as mine and have taken comfort in that; the friends who have also become mothers at roughly the same time as me and can laugh and cry about our babies not sleeping or our toddlers throwing temper tantrums. The older mom-friends who have been there, done that, and reassure me I am not crazy, and that this phase is just that, a phase. Coworkers who took me under their wing and helped me not only survive my first two years of teaching, but thrive and know that teaching was exactly where I was meant to be. My fellow working-turned-SAHM besties who have been supportive and encouraged me that staying home is also where I am meant to be. Friends who will bring soup and crackers, when the whole family comes down with the worst stomach bug of the century (no joke, it was baaaaad!).

And so many, MANY more people that God has really blessed me with. People I didn’t know I needed in my life, but can’t imagine life without them! Some live five minutes away, and some are across the ocean in a different time zone…and some, I have never met in person, but have stayed in contact through social media and Facebook, that it feels like we’ve known each other for years.

Community. #findyourtribe. Mom-friends, work-friends, best friends from high school, siblings, in-laws, etc. Whoever and wherever they may be, they make up my community, and I am so thankful to have discovered them over the last several years.

Shop the post:

Olive tunic: Target (comes in 7 colors!) | Blanket scarf: on sale here! | Pants: my well-worn pair from H&M | Ankle booties: Nordstrom | Handbag: Louis Vuitton Neverfull MM

Stay Classy!