Today I celebrate the first day of my last year as a "twenty-something". Next year I will enter into my thirties and you know what...I'm kind of excited about it! Sure, there have been some tough times lately, but I can honestly say that I'm more comfortable in my skin now that ever before and I can only hope that as the years have proven good to me thus far, they will continue to do so.

For years I was certain that I would have 4 children, all before the age of 32. I wanted to be a younger mother and felt confident that my plan would work out just fine. Now my dream of a family of 6 is just that...a dream, more importantly, a naive dream. It's amazing how I've gone from being so certain of wanting a large family to contemplating life with an only child. I've mentioned this before, but if it weren't for my husbands strong desire for another child, I may just be able to find contentment in the one we have. Of course, knowing that we have made the decision to have another child (God willing), I yearn for the things that a pregnancy brings and if I'm being totally honest, I get more excited about the pregnancy part than the child part. Not that I don't want another child, but I LOVED being pregnant. I was never too uncomfortable, never too miserable, and actually sad when I went into labor 4 days before my due date. I would have been perfectly content to have stayed pregnant for another 9 months at that point.

So, with another year under my belt, I will continue on in my journey. This morning I thanked God for giving me another year to enjoy the many blessings he has given to me on earth. I know they pale in comparison to what it will be like when I spend eternity with him, but until I am there I want to live a life full of joy and thankfulness.

A joyful heart and a thankful spirit...my goals for my 29th year of life!