29

Today’s my 29th birthday! I love birthdays. It’s a great day for looking forward and looking back, for feeling surrounded by love, and for doing whatever you want for a whole day. My coworkers surprised me with a little cake and candles this morning, my friend Emilija made me a cross stitched wall hanging of a butterfly, I ate kebapi toast and drank a delicious Belgian beer, followed by dinner with my host family, a glass of good red wine, and a HUGE cake (with candles, my host mom is the best). I oohed and awwed over the cutest, tiniest kittens I’ve ever seen. I spent most of the afternoon sitting around watching TV with Kyle, and I was in bed before 8.

It was a pretty great day.

Since it’s my last year in this decade, this birthday feels like both a letting go and a leap forward. So much has happened since I turned 20; I traveled the world, graduated from college and grad school, had some awesome jobs and quite a few bad ones, made some amazing friends, got married, moved more times than I can count, and found my footing as an adult. I know the 30’s are going to be big in their own way, but for now I’m enjoying reminiscing about all of the stuff I’ve crammed into the last 9 years. And looking ahead to everything I’ve got going on in my life right now, I think the universe has been saving the best year of my 20’s for last.