Brooke!!!!

Ladie's I want you to meet Brooke. She is thirty in Septemeber. I met her a few years ago when I got the awesome chance to meet her darling family for a photo shoot. I also asked her to do this because when I first posted about being thirty she responded back with a big YUCK! I am so glad that she was willing to help me out with this. One thing I love about Brooke it that she is brimming with confidence (as you can see.) Taking her picture was easy. Even better she brought her two beautiful kids along with her. Enough on what I love about Brooke, I will let you all read her wonderful words....

Turning 30. Wow. First of all, is this really happening?

Second of all, yes. It is. Let’s face it.

I tend to have mini panic attacks when I consider being thirty. Rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, tears shooting from my eyes and hitting strangers in the face…that kind of thing. Is this something I should be HAPPY about? Is it something I should embrace? Well, I’m trying. I’m really trying. Thirty just seems so mature to me, so established…so old! I feel immature and totally not established at all! I guess I’ve just looked at it in the past like thirty year olds have it so together, and I thought I’d be further along by now than I am. I just recently started a new career, I still don’t have all the kids that I would like to have (and thirty was my deadline!), and sometimes I totally still act like I’m 15. Let’s be honest, I’ve been known to have a bit of Bieber Fever in the past. I mean, does this not make me a bit of a pedophile? Is that not something to be a bit depressed about? And this permanent scowl mark in between in my eyebrows that no longer goes away when I’m not even scowling is not helping matters AT ALL!

When I stop to think about it and really put it in perspective, there’s so much that I’d still like to do, but there are so many things that I’ve done already that are dreams come true for me, that I really can’t complain. I’ve been married for 11 years to my high school sweetheart and have experienced love like I always imagined I would. I’ve had two beautiful kids who make me so happy (and frustrated) on a daily basis that I just can’t imagine my life without them. We are all healthy, we are all happy, and we are all living and making beautiful memories together.

At the end of the day, when you consider the alternative, thirty isn’t so bad. I feel like I’m entering a chapter in my life where I will be taken more seriously, will be able to use some of the life lessons I’ve learned so far to better myself in the future, and am finally realizing how fast time really does go by and that I need to slow down and enjoy it a little bit more.

Thirty. I think I can do thirty. Forty though… now that’s a whole other story.