Love where you are at.

I thought I was doing so well with not being an emotional basket case about Norah turning one soon by distracting myself with planning her birthday party, but I started looking at pictures on my phone of Norah when she was born when I was laying in bed the other night, and I lost it. It was a good thing. It's healthy to think back and remember.

Overall, I feel so good about Norah turning one. Yes, I am sad to look back and see that her baby days are fleeting and she isn't so tiny like a newborn anymore, but she is still as cute as ever and I am so excited that I get to be her mom forever. This year she will walk and begin to talk, and that's amazing! I can't wait to have conversations with her and watch her continue to explore the world.

It really made me think about where we are in life and how I am so happy about our current stage, and also about how great every stage has been. I feel like the ideal "dream" of what I wanted my life to look like as a grown up has/is coming true. When I was younger, I dreamed about getting married, teaching, what our home would be like, and having kids. I now have all of those things. I wouldn't call my life "dreamy," because nothing is perfect until Heaven, but it's really good. I am so thankful for the life God has given me and blessed me with here on earth.

It can be far too easy to be wishing for the next stage in your young 20s, I feel. It's so easy to wish that you could find your dream job, meet a wonderful man, get engaged, get married, find an apartment, look for a house, wish for a baby, etc. Whatever it is, there's always something else to want or dream about.

That's true for all of life, but I think it's especially true in your young 20s, when you are beginning to establish yourself as an adult. As I look back on those years, they were so amazing and formative. But, far too often, I fell into the trap of always wishing for the next thing.

So, I know I'm not old, but that would be my biggest piece of advice to college graduates or people in their young 20s. Try to enjoy where you are at! As I look back on our engagement, first years of marriage, first apartments, first jobs, first house, and first pregnancy/baby, it's all so fun to look back on and they were such great years. The years of "firsts" are just that, your firsts, so enjoy the memories being made and try your best to be content.

I feel like Kley and I spent years dreaming about what was to come and working towards where we are at now, and sometimes it's hard to even believe we are here! It felt like forever at the time while Kley was getting through school, but looking back it wasn't forever at all. But it's been a wonderful road. Our years of firsts are over, but it's fun to look back on, and I can't wait to see what God has for us in these next years to come!