A Tribute to the '20's

Today is my birthday. I say this, NOT to have a big deal made about it, I say it more as a "I have come to terms with the fact that it is in fact my birthday" kind of attitude! Today, I turn the BIG 3-0. I don't quite know how this happened! I mean where in the world did the time go? I remember (and it doesn't seem like that long ago) that someone "in their 30's" was really getting up there!
I will admit, I've kind of been dreading today for a few months now. However, I was talking to my sister a few weeks ago and telling her how kind of sad I was that I was going to be 30 years old. And she said "April, you OWN your 30 years! You've accomplished so much. You have served a mission, gotten married, graduated from college, help your husband almost finish his Doctorate degree, and you have 2 beautiful kids. How on earth can you be sad about being 30?" At first, I thought--yeah, easy for you to say Kristin! You're only 22. You have 8 years left in your 20's! But then after a while, I thought, you know she's right! If I want to stay 25 or even 29 forever, I won't accomplish anything else in my life. And I am proud of what I have done in the last 10 years!

And so, I have decided to have a little "Tribute to my 20's" post..mostly for me, but I hope you all enjoy as well!

Here is goes:

20 years old: I left home for the first time after completing 2 years of college in California and went to Rexburg to attend BYU-Idaho. It was that first semester that I actually met Bryant! (Though there was nothing romantic there until after our missions, we became pretty good friends!)

21 years old: I left on a full time 18 month mission to Belgium, France and the Netherlands! It was a scary yet very exciting time in my life, and to this day, one of the best, most life changing choices I have ever made!

22 years old: Still on my mission for most of my 22 year, I learned French fluently (mostly because I lived with native french speaking sisters for quite a while who were very patient with me and help me perfect the language!), I met some of my best friends during this time (my missionary sister soul mates, I got to be companions with some of the best girls in the world, and I still love them all to pieces!, My testimony of my Savior grew more than anytime before and possibly since during this time as I learned to rely 100% on him for guidance and peace. I got to live in 2 of the most beautiful countries in the world (Belgium and France--and I realize I may be a little biased!) Yes, 22 was a good year!

*As a side note, I will also add that Bryant was also on his mission at the same time as I was and we wrote back and forth to each other (just as friends) the entire time. I would say through our letters and shared experiences, we became very very good, almost best friends during this time as well!

23 years old: I started school again at BYU-Idaho, but most importantly, Bryant and I got married! At this point, we truly were best friends! BEST DECISION I'VE EVER MADE! I hope he feels the same!

24 years old: I graduated from BYU-Idaho with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Management/Finance!

25 years old: Nothing extraordinary happened this year except I worked full time to get Bryant through school so he didn't have to work. We knew graduate school was in our future and I wanted to do everything I could to help Bryant do as well as he could in his undergrad so he would have his choice of grad schools! And he did! This meant working at Melaleuca, which I HATED, but it paid decently enough and I learned A LOT about what I do and do not want to do! I also appreciated the job I got working for the City of Rexburg after that a lot more!

26 years old: I continued working full time and being Bryant's "sugar mama" as it's called! Bryant graduated from BYU-Idaho himself with a very high GPA (which I will let myself take some credit for since I tried very hard to make sure he didn't have to support us during this time!) We also went through a period of infertility, which was difficult, but in the end, made us stronger as a couple and made me more compassionate towards others. And, I did in fact find out when I was 26 that I was pregnant and motherhood was soon going to be upon me!

27 years old: I (finally) became a Mother! My little Gracie girl was born, and she is still such a joy in my life! Bryant also started his Physical Therapy program and we moved from little Rexburg to Spokane!

28 years old: I survived my first year of motherhood/single-parenthood (since poor Bryant was so so so busy with school all the time), that being said, I also survived our first year of grad school! Oh, and I was still 28 when I found out baby #2 was on her way!

29 years old: Honestly, this was a difficult year in many ways. I was so very sick with my pregnancy. My sister left on a mission to Virginia, my parents received a mission call to Mongolia, we had to move to Oregon and then to Boise all within a few months of each other, my sister got very ill and had to come home from her mission, and my Dad also got life threateningly ill and they also had to return home from their mission where he spent 9 weeks in the hospital. Not fun!
However, I learned how to look for the positive in everything. I made a journal or letters for my parents that I was going to give them when they got home from their mission (little did I know they'd be home so soon!) and I wanted to stay really positive in them. So, I was constantly finding the good in something every week so I would have a good uplifting entry to put in this book I made them! I learned A LOT from this!
Most importantly, my sweet beautiful Baby Kate was born, and she has proven to be such a blessing! I LOVE LOVE LOVE how much my two girls love each other! It's a privilege to be their Mother!

Bryant and I had a good time traveling and hitting up lots of baseball games during this time as well! We went to Seattle, Denver, Phoenix, San Francisco, (of course So. Cali where my parents lived several times), to hit new baseball stadiums! We enjoyed our time together before the kiddos came along. But we're enjoying our time together with 4 of us instead of just 2 even more!

And so, I can see, the 20's were good to me! I accomplished a lot, I learned a lot, I worked hard, I played even harder, and life is just darn good! I'm looking forward to what the 30's have in store for me!