I AM THIRTY. I repeat: I AM THIRTY. I never thought I would have a single ounce of excitement or happiness when I turned thirty but y’all, I’m ready to say goodbye to my twenties.

Last year on my birthday I shared my first personal and vulnerable post about how much I was dreading being twenty-nine [you can read more about it here]. My twenties were a time of trial and error, discovering not only what I liked and didn’t like, but who I was as a person and what life meant to me. It was tough, I’m not going to lie. I had some really dark times in my twenties that I’d like to forget but I learned a lot of life lessons; they are all part of the puzzle that has created who I am today.

I always thought I would have life figured out by the time I turned thirty but that most certainly is not the case. I’ve learned that we are always figuring life out, wandering through each day. There is no prize for figuring out life fast and having all your ducks in a row the best; it’s about enjoying the journey and learning from each and every up and down life brings.

From time to time I will go back and read that post from last year as a reminder to myself of how far I’ve come as a person in a year, sometimes even just the last few months in certain instances. Life has thrown me a lot of curve balls lately and for once in my life I’m okay with that. All these bumps in the road have taught me even more how important it is to enjoy the little things in life. They’ve taught me how important family and friends are. They’ve taught me to advocate for myself and to never stop trying. They’ve taught me that life is short and can change in the blink of an eye.

Dating and relationships was something I wrote about a lot in my post last year. To be honest, not much has changed but I only have myself to blame for that. I put absolutely no effort into dating so that makes the whole being in a relationship thing basically impossible. Lately the struggle in my head is that I have so many unknowns going on that I feel every guy would run the other way. I don’t want my life sounding like a pity party because it’s just life and the cards I’ve been dealt. But I won’t know until I try and what better time than now! So…dating app recommendations, single guy friends…send them my way! :)

Off of this, friendships are something that at thirty I feel are so crucial in life and for our happiness. I’ll be completely honest, I have not been the greatest friend. I’m an extreme introvert, love my alone time, get overwhelmed easily, and at the same time feel like my life is in shambles and not where everyone else’s life is. So one thing I’m putting ample effort into starting now is my friendships. Actually meeting up with friends for coffee or drinks instead of just saying it. Checking in with friends to say hi or catch up on the latest life gossip or to ask for advice. Really diving in and bringing life back into those friendships that I’ve let slide over time. Saying you’ve been a bad friend is not something that is easy to admit but thirty feels like the right time to step up and take ownership for my actions - or lack there of - because every girl needs her girlfriends by her side!

I feel deep in my soul that thirty is going to be the year of many new beginnings. Some of these are personal goals for 2019 so I’m going to keep those to myself for now but as always, stay tuned! Even with all the unknowns and uncertainty going on in my life right now I’m ready for new challenges and new beginnings. Life is too damn short to be stuck in the same mundane routine and I’m ready to get out there and take life by the wheel and shine!

So here’s to thirty and goodbye to my twenties. Here’s to being flirty & thriving and goodbye to being shy and holding back. Thirty, flirty and thriving - the year of new beginnings and the year of me!