If I knew then.

Today marks 31 years since I was born. 

I honestly am the happiest and most content I’ve ever been. I’m more fulfilled, more at peace, and more confident than I could have hoped. I wish I could rewind 10 years and tell 21-year-old Kristen how amazing things would be one day… because it hasn’t always been like that. 

10 years ago, I was sure that I would never find “true love”… I had decided I just needed to settle for good enough. I had resigned myself to bad relationships with lots of arguing and controlling and hiding things and anxiety. 

I didn’t know someone like Jordan would come along and be that safe and steady place for me. That a man would see me for who I am – the good, the bad and the ugly – and still choose to love me unconditionally. And 31-year-old Kristen has now been with such a man for almost eight years, each one better than before. I had stopped believing in my one true love, and then I found him. 

6 years ago, most of my friends were married, getting married, or having their first/second child. I was 25, in love, and ready to be married with a family. I was impatient and resentful every time someone else got engaged or announced a pregnancy. 

I didn’t know I would be married at 27 and pregnant at 29. I had no clue that by 30, I would have a perfect baby boy in my arms. 

Now I’m 31, and I can honestly say that I have everything I’ve ever wanted. If life stayed exactly like this forever (which it won’t, of course), I wouldn’t want to change a thing. So now at 31, I am praying for future me to always remember this peace and contentment, no matter what life brings.