In just a little over a week, I will be turning the big 3-0. I wouldn’t say that I’m totally stoked about it, but I’m also not freaked out either. I guess I would say that I’m rather anxious and ready to get this next decade started!

I’ve often heard that your 30s are so much better than your 20s. Your 20s are wild and crazy, filled with lots of questions and uncertainties. I hear that when you’re in your 30s, you finally come into your own - making big life decisions, finally getting established in your career, and becoming more self-aware. All of this is exciting news to me and something I look forward to experiencing, but it’s all very bittersweet for me too.

Looking back at my 20s, I have to say that I will miss them. The people I met, the jobs I loved (and hated), the friendships that were made and the relationships that were started in my 20s will always be some of my most cherished memories.

I don’t have a huge list of things to conquer in my 30s, but I’d like to think that those relationships only continue to grow stronger and that the memories from my 30s are just as joyous and memorable as the ones from my 20s.

Here are some memories I hope to make in my 30s:

1. See the most beautiful sea creatures I’ve ever seen as I snorkel in the waters of Mexico (with a beer in hand).

2. Wearing some legit camping attire, I successfully shimmy across a big rock as I hike the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

3. Pet stingrays at the Virginia Aquarium and blabber to my niece or nephew (who have yet to be conceived) about how I used to volunteer there and bonded with a horseshoe crab and he/she says to me, “You’re so cool!”

4. Hike to a waterfall and swim underneath it all day long.

5. Get a bigger home and be able to afford to decorate every room exactly how I want to. Then, take lots of pictures; create a lookbook and then decorate someone else’s home and get paid for it! (Interior design could be my second career.)

6. Secretly become really good at salsa dancing and then surprise everyone at my debut performance.

7. Finally have my Free Willy moment and come close enough to touch a wild dolphin, specifically the ones who tease me every summer in Virginia Beach.

8. Begrudgingly take my new, sweet black lab puppy for a walk on a cold Sunday in December. Then, spend the rest of the day cuddled beside him by a fireplace, staring at my gorgeous Christmas tree, with Christmas music playing in the background.

9. Go on a legit camping trip or at least stay in cabins in the woods and get really freaked out while my friends tell me ghost stories.

10. Take a family vacation with my parents and my brother. Doesn’t matter where, just as long as they are with me and happy.

As you can see, these aren’t big dreams, goals or aspirations. These are cool, fun, exciting, adventurous memories with my friends and family - small things that would put a smile on my face. I’m not going to lock myself into this, “Now that I’m 30, I have to do big things” type of mindset.

My hope for my 30s is to create lasting memories with the ones I love and be thankful for the life that I get to live everyday.

Happy (early) birthday Jennifer.