.thirty.

As I write this post, it's my last night in my twenties. Tomorrow I will officially turn thirty and enter into a new decade of life.

I can't help but be a bit nostalgic as I look back over my twenties. It was a FULL decade. I accomplished a lot and so many of my dreams came true.

I grew up a lot, matured in ways I never could have imagined, experienced the highest of highs as well as a lot of heartache and mourning. 

My twenties were a lot of transition and new life experiences and I finally feel like we are a little more settled, a little more established and I am kind of looking forward to a comfortable routine that comes with the seasons of life we are moving into.

At 21, I got engaged to Nick on a friday night and then graduated college the next morning!! Then did long distance for 6 months and got married in December of that year at 22.

I moved from Orange County to Sacramento in August and then Sacramento to Seattle in December after we got married.

At 23 I started my first "big girl" career job working in corporate america. I spent 5 years working in sales 40 hours a week/5 days a week. I also ran my first half marathon in Kirkland, WA.

We bought our first house when I was 24 and moved to Bothell, WA to settle down and hopefully start a family soon.

At 24 I got pregnant and at 25 I had my first baby, Parker Derek Dietzen. And that same year Parker was diagnosed with Joubert Syndrome and Nick discovered he had a 12 inch long blood clot, later diagnosing him with a rare genetic blood clotting disorder. 

At 26 I got pregnant again and at 27 had our second son, Lane Nicholas Dietzen. Shortly after he was born I quit my sales job and we packed up and moved to Spokane, WA. I also ran my second half marathon in Couer D'Alene, ID.

At 28 Lane was diagnosed with Joubert Syndrome and a few months after that I found out I was pregnant again.

At 29 we completed our family with a beautiful baby girl, Elyse Frances Dietzen, sold our first home in Bothell, bought a home in Spokane, became debt free (bye bye student loans!!), ran my third half marathon in Spokane, WA and we have settled into a new routine with our family of 5.

We've lived a lot of life in the past 10 years and looking back it seems like it was way longer than just 10 years!

All of the life experiences that happened in my twenties have made me who I am today. I started my twenties in a bit of an identity crisis-not sure exactly who I was, not sure what I wanted to do with my life or who I wanted to become. And I end my twenties as a confident, strong, and brave woman of God who has faced some really tough stuff and been able to see the beauty in it all.

I feel so lucky that Nick and I have been able to essentially "grow up" together. To get to figure out what it means to be a grown up, to start our first jobs, buy a house, start our family, etc. And do it all as a team. I look back and can't believe how young and naive we were when we got married, but I love that we have chosen each other over and over through all of these experiences and have such a richer and deeper love now.

I love that my dreams of becoming a college graduate, a career woman, a wife, a homeowner, and a mom, and a stay at home mom- all came true. That I was blessed to have three beautiful babies to raise and be responsible for. 

We've probably had to grow up faster than most with the boys' syndrome and face a lot of tough situations as a result, but I've become such a better person as a result. I never would have imagined that I could be so strong, so brave and so resilient until I was faced head on with Joubert Syndrome and all that meant for our family.

I'm excited for what 30 will bring. 

What I'll look back and have learned in 10 years. 

What life experiences I will have and how those will shape me.

I'm excited to watch my kids grow and develop and have their own life experiences.

I'm excited for my marriage to grow deeper roots and evolve as we phase out of the newborn stage and into the elementary years with our kids, to the more established years in our careers, the more comfort of the rooted relationship.

So here's to my twenties, you've been great to me. 

Bring it on 30!