30 Highs & Lows of My First 30 Years

Today is my 30th birthday.  I’m not very excited about it.  Of course not turning 30 would be devastating…  Still, I’m having a shallow not-happy-about-this-birthday moment.

To mark this occasion I’ve put together a little “get to know Rebekah” list for you.  Below is a list of 30 highs and lows of my first 30 years.  I’ll leave it up to you to determine whether each item is a high or a low.   😉

1. Playing with puppies and cabbage patch dolls.

2. Holding hands with a boy for the first time.  It was at a basketball game with my first boyfriend when I was in the 8th grade.

3. When the creepy guy broke into my bedroom in middle school.  Yes, this sounds scary and dramatic.  It was, but thankfully it was just scary and I wasn’t hurt.

4. Attending Mennonite Youth Conventions in high school and as a videographer in college.

5. The endless drama of my 6th grade year.  Am I the only one who constantly had friends fighting in middle school?  It must have been the hormone changes or something.

6. Slumber Parties.  The ones with my drama filled friends were always entertaining, but I also cherish the low key ones I had with my neighbor.

7. My very first kiss.  It was in Honduras.  He didn’t speak English.  Oo-la-la!

8. Being in the High School band and going to band camp each year.

9. Falling in love in High School and then the break up that seemed to last forever.

10. Swimming in my grandparent’s pond.

11. Participating in competitive theater in High School.  Being part of the speech team sounds totally lame, but it was amazing.  I even went to State all 3 years I competed.  Go me!

12. Being part of the 8th grade track team.  All my friends were doing it.  My husband still jokes with me about my long lasting athletic career.  (Hint: This was 100% a low!)

13. Hitting things with my car.  Hitting way too many things with my car.  Things that weren’t even moving.  Ugh.

14. Being active in theater in High School and college.  My two favorite shows were The Curious Savage and one that was a fun collection of monologues.   😉

15. Growing up being able to go to the best county fair in the state!

16. Experiencing the death of those so young.  The first was Shaun and he died in a car accident.  We were in youth group together.  The second was Conner.  He was only 5 and had cancer.  Of course saying goodbye to 3 of my grandparents was also sad, but on a completely different level.

17. College.  Oh the wonders of living with friends.  *sigh*

18. Traveling to 14 countries.  I could easily list 30 highlights just from those trips.

19. Meeting Nate and falling for him soooooo hard, but then we were separated by international long distance for so long.  It felt like my heart was breaking daily.

20. Creating art in my photography, video, and general art classes.

21. Those sad, sad months after college when I was having a hard time adjusting to life away from my friends and in the “real world.”

22. Marrying the man of my dreams.

23. Standing with my pastor and assisting in the baptism of my husband.

24. Being part of an amazing small group at my church for several years and all the deep friendships that came out of that.

25. Changeover.  I used to work in theater professionally.  Changeover is a special kind of awful.

26. The birth of my amazing daughter.

27. Buying our first house.

28. Being able to see Grace’s personality come through as she has been learning to talk more and more.

29. Blogging at Simply Rebekah.  Yes, I really do love it!

30. Being blessed with my 2nd pregnancy.  Nate felt the baby move for the first time this past week!

Please Note: This list is in no particular order and is not necessarily complete.  I’m pretty sure that as soon as I hit “publish” I’m going to think of 5 things that I should have included!

I’m extremely thankful for the experiences I’ve been blessed with and I can’t wait to see what else God has in store for me.  Happy Birthday to ME!