30 at 30


I have now be 30 for 30 days.  As my 30th birthday was approaching, I thought it would be fun to do a little “30 Things About Me at 30”.  I’ve been reflecting a lot on my life and on life, in general.  I’ve grown a lot in my first 30 years, and I look forward to what life has to teach me in the next 30.  I like the person I’ve become.  The good.  The bad.  The funny.  The serious.  These are just a few things that make me who I am:

  1. I love going to the dentist.  Maybe I’m strange.  But there is nothing better than that feeling after a nice ole’ tooth polish.
  2. I try to be optimistic.  Some people may find me annoyingly optimistic.  My husband thinks that is hilarious and completely untrue.
  3. I have a major sweet-tooth.  Not just at this moment.  Always.
  4. I have a small number of best friends, but also very few people I dislike.  And I want people to like me.  I know very few people who don’t and I think I’m really quite easy to get along with.
  5. I am a genetic counselor.  It has been a long journey to find this career, but I finally love what I do. 
  6. I have been dreading my 30th birthday for approximately 18 years thanks to memories of my mom’s 30th birthday party.  In my child-mind, 30 was old.  30 meant having 3 kids… 30 meant having a 12 year old kid!  30 meant mom jeans and weird clothes.  The closer I got to 30 the more I have been reflecting on my short life so far and how young I truly am.  I may not have any children yet, and may not always feel as “accomplished” as my kid-self thought I would be, but I have a lot of other things to be proud of and to be thankful for.  30 hasn’t started off half as bad as I imagined all those years!  
  7. I like writing in short choppy sentences.  Just for fun.  But when it comes to real writing…for school, for work, anything more formal…I’m actually very particular.  I have excellent attention to grammar, punctuation, word choice and flow.  Writing has always been one of my strengths.
  8. I really want to be a mom.  I have been ready for a long time.  And Chance has been ready even longer.  Delaying our family-- in order for me to quit my job and bulk up my resume for a year, to get into grad school and not fail out of grad school, for both of us to start new jobs (for him, multiple times!) and buy a home, and for me to (fingers crossed!) pass my boards in the fall—has been harder than people realize.  I get really tired of people asking why we don’t have kids yet or when we are going to start.  I am so excited for all of our friends and family who are pregnant or who have a baby.  Or two.  Or three.  But it’s also really difficult.  It’s hard to not compare.  It’s hard to not be a little jealous.  It’s hard not to wonder “where did I go wrong?”  or “why you and not me?”  We are definitely the minority.  We have been married for almost 6 years.  We’ve been together for about 11.  We’ve been through ups and downs and everywhere in between.  Our life is good.  And I can’t wait to share our life with a child.
  9. I am a master list-maker.  It helps me with stress management.  And sometimes it’s just a distraction from other things I should be doing.  It is not uncommon for me to have 3 or 4 scraps of paper in my purse with various lists on them…perhaps with some overlap...which is really just an excuse to condense them and make a new list.  Maybe even a subdivided list with multiple sections and categories!  As soon as I publish this blog post, I can check it off one of my to-do lists.
  10. I love reading.  I don’t make time for it very often, but I wish that I would.
  11. I am creative, but I usually take on more than I can handle, so I have many unfinished projects and more ideas than I know what to do with.
  12. I have 8 nieces and nephews, and one on the way.  This usually confuses people, so let me clarify: My sister has a son and a daughter.  My brother has a daughter and another still cooking.  Chance’s oldest brother has 2 sons.  One of Chances’ step-brothers has a step-daughter and a set of twins-a boy and a girl.  We adore them all and think they are just about the coolest, funnies, cutest kids ever!!!
  13. I was born in Millington, Tennessee...just outside of Memphis…which is where Justin Timberlake was born just 15 months prior.  We didn’t live there very long, and I have no memories of this.  But I do like to pull this out as a fun getting-to-know-you trivia fact.
  14. When I was really little we lived on an island in the Puget Sound, off the coast of Washington.  Some of my very first memories (although few and faint) are from here.  I remember going to the Seattle Fish Market and getting to buy candy that you could eat with the wrapper still on.  And I remember many times since then, getting candy and asking, “Can I eat the wrapper too?” 
  15. One of my favorite places I’ve ever lived was Boston, Massachusetts.  I was only there for about 4 months, but I fell in love with the city, and really wish I could have stayed longer.  I rented a room from an artist and his pug in one of the neatest little neighborhoods called Jamaica Plain.  Our street practically split the neighborhood between the very gay-friendly half, full of cool little shops and some of the most delicious restaurants I’ve ever discovered, and the Hispanic half, with a wonderful Cuban restaurant on the corner and a Latin grocery store full of exotic ingredients I had never seen before.  I spent endless hours walking the entire city, exploring all the neighborhoods, trying tons of great food, visiting all the historical sites, and ultimately blending in as a local, who could help tourists navigate the subway and give directions to Harvard or Boston Common.  I could go on forever.  I would love to live there again, but I don’t think I could talk Chance into it in a million years.  I guess I’ll have to settle for a vacation visit every now and then.
  16. I have always loved “arts and crafts”, and it’s pretty exciting that it’s the new “cool” hobby for my demographic. 
  17. I like who I am.  I think there are many people who don’t feel that way about themselves, and I’m sad for them.  I’ve been mistreated.  I’ve been cheated on.  I’ve been taken advantage of.  I’ve had friends say they wanted nothing to do with me anymore.  I dated A LOT…good boys, bad boys, nerds, jocks.  I’ve lost friends who thought I dated too much and didn’t take relationships serious enough.  I’ve been dumped on Valentine’s Day.  I had my biology teacher help me ask a boy to a school dance and earned the nickname “bacteria girl”.  I don’t hold grudges.  I live in the present.  I have no regrets.  I often feel nostalgic.  I tend to only remember the positive things from my past.  And I try to learn from the negatives.  Some people don’t like me, and I’m okay with that because I like me.  And that’s really all that matters.
  18. I wish I was more adventurous with fashion.  I love flipping through fashion magazines and blog-hopping to find new ideas.  I am really loving the retro look that seems to be so popular right now, but when I’m out shopping I tend to stick with the basics...I find myself thinking, that is so cute…but it would look weird on me. 
  19. I love the X-games and any alternative sports.  I love punk music, and am a total skater/BMXer/snowboarder wannabe.  I think in an alternate life I must have been a bad-ass little rocker chick….which is so far from what my life really is now.
  20. I wish I could sing.  For all I know, I may have an amazing voice.  But I am way too shy and have zero singing confidence to ever find out.  The last time I was in choir was middle school, and sometimes I would lip-sync just in case I sounded bad.  What a shame.  I wish I would have just given it my all.  And it’s funny because I don’t mind being in front of a crowd.  Public speaking doesn’t bother me.  In fact, sometimes I think it’s fun.  And I think I’m good at it.  But put my voice with music and I’d freeze. 
  21. Chance and I prove that sometimes opposites really do attract.  He is really not my type, nor I his.  It’s funny how love works like that.  I never imagined I would be married to the guy who was Mr. Popular, a football player, the guy who hosted the best parties in high school, the guy who likes the athletic, cheerleader type.  And he never thought he’d end up with me.  The quiet, strong-willed, smart girl who “doesn’t need a man’s help.”  It must have been fate (or frat parties and plenty of beer) that brought us together and a pure mix of his charm and sensitivity combined with my wit and sarcasm that keeps us together.
  22. I get bored easily.  I can’t stand to sit around and do nothing.  It’s hard for me to just relax.  I need to always be up doing something, being productive, moving around. 
  23. I am bad at keeping in touch.  This is probably one reason I have so few best friends.  I have tons of friends, but I find it so hard to keep up with everyone in order to maintain strong bonds.  I think about people all the time and wonder how they are doing, hope that they are well.  But taking that step to call and say hi…I’m just terrible.  I hate talking on the phone.  Even with my own family.  My mom and my sister are just about the only two people I talk to on the phone…and generally only once a month or so.  Usually for a particular reason. 
  24. I’m getting sick of Facebook.  I mean real sick.  I want to spend about 5 minutes a day max, catching up on old friends, seeing new photos, hearing about big things going on in your life, maybe reading a funny post or two.  I do not want to trudge through crap like your daily horoscope or your latest score in some stupid online game.  I don’t want to hear about your relationship drama every 30 minutes or your child’s bathroom habits.  I don’t want to decipher your cryptic status updates, and I will not ask you what’s going on…put what you mean or shut up.   I’m tired of religious quotes bombarding my news feed and the political rants that prove how close-minded you really are.  And if you post a story, make sure it’s one we can all read.  Nothing irritates me more than wasting my precious 5 minutes on a link or story that catches my eye, but then requires me to sign up for some stupid membership to read it.  What is this, secret society of random news stories?  No thanks.  If I care that much, I’ll Google it.
  25. I have allergies.  I mean major, nasty, the-world-must-be-out-to-get-me kind of allergies.  I was tested when we were living in Kansas and I was allergic to about 95% of the test allergens…grasses, molds, pollens, dust, feathers, cats, dogs, you name it.  The treatment involved injections….THREE shots each time.  They also recommended hypoallergenic bedding, never opening the windows, driving with the A/C on and never rolling the windows down, avoiding the outdoors, avoiding house-cleaning, never having pets…especially in the bedroom.  Just call me bubble-boy.  And excuse me while I go hug my cats and dog.
  26. I love music.  Here’s where I get all hippy-trippy on you.  I really feel music.  It’s like it speaks to my soul.  Music can transport you anywhere.  I just can’t imagine my life without music.
  27. Animals love me.  Even when I don’t care for them, it seems.  Chance sometimes calls me the animal whisperer.  I can’t explain it, but they say animals can tell a lot about people and they know a good soul when they meet one.
  28. I can’t swim.  I mean I can, but probably not to save my life.  You ask if I want to swim laps and I will laugh.  You tip me out of a boat or throw me in a pool I will hate you.  You want to sit on the beach with a cold cerveza, I’m down.  Take a dip in the pool just to cool off and relax, call me.  Take a boat ride or go kayaking, why not.  But swim?  Just to swim.  No thanks.
  29. I love wrapping gifts.  I love buying gifts for people and I love giving gifts.  But the best part is really wrapping them.  Christmas is one of my favorite times of year because of all the gift wrapping I can do!   It’s a personal challenge to wrap every item and not use any bags.  Plus, it’s so much more fun to rip open a nicely wrapped package, tied up perfectly just for you, than to simply pluck an item out of a bag that has been used 5 times before.
  30. I have been told by multiple people that I am intimidating.  I think this is hilarious.  All 5 foot, 125 pounds of me.  Intimidating?   Once you get to know me, I’m very easy to get along with.  I hate drama and avoid it whenever possible.  I really love people, and I value each person’s uniqueness.  In fact, my Strengths Finder tells me I am excellent at “individualization,” meaning that I am “impatient with generalizations or ‘types’ because you don’t want to obscure what is special and distinct about each person.” It makes the world a beautiful place.  But before you get to know me, I am more reserved.  I am going to sit back and observe a new situation before just jumping in.  I am quiet.  I may be serious.  I want to learn more about you.  I always thought people just considered me shy.  I’m really not shy.  I’m not afraid to be in a crowd, or in front of a crowd.  I enjoy meeting new people. But I am a people-watcher.  I’m a good judge of character.  I can tell a lot about people just by observing their interactions with others. Apparently, that comes across intimidating.  I’m trying to be more aware of this.  I don’t want people to be afraid of me.  I promise, I’m really very nice J


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