today is my half birthday. and accordingly, i’m one step closer to hitting the big three-oh. now i don’t normally celebrate half birthdays (i take the entire month to celebrate the real thing so that would just be greedy), but in a year where so much has already transpired, i figured it might be fun to reflect on said changes from the previous six months.

i started the tradition when i turned 27 to list out the corresponding number of things i enjoyed about being that age. in case you forgot all of the reasons why 28 was a really good year, here’s a refresher. i just reread it myself and honestly got a bit teary eyed in reflecting on how full my life has become and how truly blessed i am to have had such amazing experiences, opportunities, and memories in my tenure as a twenty-something. but emotions aside, i was most struck by the final paragraph:

i’m in a really good place. for the first time in a long while, i’m really enjoying the season i’m in. there’s a lightness about me, as if the weight of insecurity i have been carrying around for the past nine years has finally been lifted. so even with all of the awesome things that transpired over these past 365 days (yes, even australia), i think that has been the best gift of all -this intangible realization that i kind of love who i am. so with that inner confidence finally in tact, i’m really ready to take full advantage of this final year in my 20’s.

bring it on 29. you’ve got some big shoes to fill.

i truly believe that the only reason my life looks the way it does now six months later is the fact that i was in a place to receive the adventures that lay before me (and of course, for the fact that God is rad and His timing is perfect). i was open. ready. willing. waiting. and then everything happened.

literally

all

at

once.

i became a studio barre instructor and met the love of my life within a week of each other and my life hasn’t been the same since. i’ll be honest, these past few months haven’t been met without some frustrations, fears, or the occasional resurgence of buried insecurities -the inevitable byproducts of navigating drastic changes in my life and schedule. but i think i’ve settled into a rhythm. and this once foreign season has become my new normal; offering a stability and a confidence that i can finally take a deep breath and simply relish in life just as it is today. perhaps i should be anxious about being that much closer to the daunting dawning of a new decade (how’s that for alliteration?), but if these past six months are any indication, the older i get, the better my life seems to become. so i’m genuinely excited for what new adventures await me on the latter side of 29. and i’m also really grateful to have someone by my side to experience them with me.

image via birthday-kid