In my next 30 years

So… a blog. I have tried to start this practice a few times, but it never stuck. I’m sure I have a few random blogs out there that, if someone were to stumble upon them, they would find one entry, it says “wow, I’m falling into the blogging trend!” and that is all. No pictures, no designs, no further blogs. We shall see if this one becomes victim to that pattern.

As the title of this blog suggests, I am turning 30 this year! I am actually excited about this turning point in my life… I do not expect to be excited about 31, however. Turning 30 as a single Mormon female comes with quite a few unknowns. First of all, I am a Mormon, implying that I should be married by now. Most Mormon women pity me (the married ones of course, which is the majority). The question here is: will I ever find someone I WANT to spend forever with? Second, if I don’t, what happens at 31?

I have been frequenting the Sunday schools for young single LDS adults… at 31, you are no longer considered young and single… I will be booted from my young single adult (YSA) Sunday schools and will be asked to attend the dreaded family wards… [dun dun dunnnnnn – scary music]. The perception of those in YSA about to be “evicted” as we call it, is that we will be forever stuck in nursery or primary (teaching or watching young children) in one of these said “family” wards and will never make any friends. We will be left to grow hair on our chins and gain weight from eating too many kiddy snacks… multiple cats isn’t so bad, right?



Rather than dwell on these insecurities us aging YSA face, I thought I would stick to the more positive aspects of turning 30.

Truth be told, I am excited to be 30! There are so many things to be happy about! For one, 30 seems to be when life really starts. I have already done a lot of stupid things and learned quite a few great lessons. I am still young and my body is still capable of many things and I will be able to try those things with more wisdom than I had in my 20s, with hopefully more money to play with!

Second, I am excited to at least be 30 when/if I get married. Along with having gained more knowledge by the time I get married (vs. when many Mormon women get married), future YSA will believe in my intelligence and decision making skills because, well, I’ve been there. None of us YSA really listen to couples that got married super young and claim to know all about dating – um, you were young and stupid. Sorry ‘bout-cha. You definitely know about landing a spouse, but there is soo much more to dating as an aging YSA that an 18-year-old just doesn’t realize. Not to mention the differences in goals as a YSA vs. YMA (single vs. married). -This is definately not to say that YMA goals are not important, they are just different than YSA.-

Third, I am old enough to really understand my likes and dislikes. For example, I enjoy hiking and I know exactly why. I don’t like the physical exertion that can sometimes be a pain in the butt for my asthma, but I LOVE nature. When I am on a hike, I like to take my time. I will endure the aches and pains to enjoy the scenery of the beautiful trees and whatever the end of the hike holds for me – sometimes fern coves, other times water falls coming out of rocks, or even “glacier” lakes!

There are so many more things to be happy about, but that’s what future blog posts are for (if I get there).