Recapping My 30th - Meredith Rines

Can you believe another birthday is around the corner? I feel like I just celebrated my 30th weeks ago and yet here I am, turning another year older. I don’t mind aging, which I think comes from being pretty confident in myself and knowing God has a plan designed just for me. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not too crazy about the wrinkles I’ve been noticing around my eyes for the past few months or the fact I can’t stay up passed 9:30 without feeling like I’m hungover the next morning. But I can accept all of that because I know everything else is good. This past year has been pretty amazing. Being a Mom sure has a lot to do with it. Waking up every morning to my little boy singing from his crib and three dogs who can’t wait to start the day is pretty special.

This past year has been full of some great moments. Our son took his first steps, I’ve advanced in my career, I continue to peck away at this little blog of mine trying to grow it and help you with your budgeting and financial needs, and I created my very first budget template to share with you and guide you on creating a sustainable budget. It’s been good.

Since turning 30 we’ve been able to do so much as a family. So I had way too much fun going through pictures for this post. It was so neat to see how much our little guy has changed in just a year and to remember the crazy first-time Mom that I was. Always making sure we had everything we could possible imagine when we left the house. Now I’m lucky if I even remember a diaper most days. I have come full circle that’s for sure! This past year has brought a lot of changes to our family and to me. I’ve mellowed out and have learned to rely on my inner strength. It’s been a good year. Here are a few of my favorite memories from this past year:

Beautiful beach vacation with J’s family when our little guy was just a few months old. At this point our little guy had been to the beach twice before he was 3 months old. We went again more recently on a beach vacation just the three of us, which was so much fun. We played in the sand, toured the Daytona Speedway and just spent time together.

I finally bit the bullet and hired someone local to take family pictures and birthday pictures for our little guy. If you’re in Southeast Missouri and looking to get some pictures taken, take a look at Josh DeFord Photography.