31. 🎂

31. 🎂

 

08.14.26

I almost don’t know where to start, so I’ll start with thank you.

Thank you, God, for every season — the easy ones and the ones that stretched me in ways I didn’t ask for, but needed. For a husband who shows up for me in the big moments and the boring Tuesdays. For a community that found me here in the Central Coast when I least expected it. For my cookie business that’s taught me more about faith and grit than I could’ve imagined. For every student who’s shown up to sweat and laugh with me. For the version of me the previous year who kept going even when she was tired.

31 feels like the year I stop explaining myself and just keep building.

So here’s 31 lessons this year taught me 🤍

1. Some battles don’t need to be fought. Do right by God, and let Him do the rest.

2. God’s timing has never once been late, even when it felt like it.

3. Provision isn’t always abundance. Sometimes it’s just enough, right when I needed it.

4. I don’t have to understand the whole plan to trust the One writing it.

5. Rest is not the opposite of ambition.

6. Every time I tried to rush a season, it just took longer to teach me what I needed to learn.

7. You don’t have to shrink to make room for someone else’s comfort.

8. Confidence isn’t loud. It’s steady.

9. Boundaries aren’t walls. They’re just doors with locks, and I decide who gets a key.

10. Comparison is the fastest way to forget what’s actually yours to build.

11. Growth doesn’t always feel good while it’s happening. Sometimes it just feels hard, on purpose.

12. You can outgrow a version of yourself without apologizing for who you used to be.

13. Peace is available even in seasons that make no sense.

14. You don’t have to explain yourself to people who already decided who you are.

15. You can be soft and still be strong. They were never opposites. 

16. Becoming is more honest than arriving. You’re never “done.”

17. My worth was never up for debate, even on days I forgot that. 

18. Marriage isn’t about being on the same page everyday, it’s choosing each other on the hard days. 

19. Partnership looks like showing up for the mundane Tuesdays, not just the big moments.

20. You can miss a place and still choose to be fully present where you are.

21. The uncertainty of this life taught me to hold plans loosely and people tightly.

22. Starting messy beats waiting for perfect every time. 

23. Some seasons are for building quietly before anyone’s watching.

24. Charge for your time like you know what it’s worth, because you do. 

25. Not every no is a rejection, sometimes it’s a redirection

26. Community finds you fastest when you let people in. 

27. Showing up for other people’s confidence will build your own.

28. Some of the best support systems weren’t built, they were found, one honest conversation at a time. 

29. Strength looks different on everybody. 

30. You’ll never regret being the person who made someone feel like they belonged. 

31. Some people are for a season. Some are for the whole story. Both are gifts.

31 years, 31 lessons. 🎂

Some of these took me one hard season to learn. Others I’m still learning in real time. But every single one of them got me here — grateful, growing, and so full because of the people who’ve walked through it with me.

Thank you for celebrating another year of life with me. Here’s to whatever 31 has for me. 🥂