Today is my 29th birthday, here is all my infinite wisdom:

1. My mom was right, the older I get the less I know.

2. Life never goes as I plan, but if I stay the course, I often look around and realize I’m exactly where I was meant to be… somewhere more glorious than I’d planned.

3. Baking with almond flour makes every dessert a health food. Game-changer.

4. Regret is always worse than failure.

5. Courage doesn’t look like sky diving or saving people from a burning building to me, courage is being willing to show up as authentically, vulnerably, and presently as possible even when I’m scared of being hurt, rejected, or unseen.

6. Courage also looks like boundaries.

7.  You can’t make new, old friends.

8. Making time to play, create, explore, and laugh is imperative.

9. Hospitality is creating a place people can come and rest, let down their guard, and breathe in home.

10. Dreams seem to come true in the most roundabout, didn’t-see-it-coming, almost unrecognizable ways.

11. If you’re running a tight budget vacation–Costco rum and a mini blender in your suitcase, pineapple and mango from a roadside stand, and ice from the hotel can make dreams come true.

12. When I acknowledge and receive God’s love before I act, it allows me to love, dream, and work from a place of total freedom.

13. When fear creeps up on me when I’m pursuing something new, big, and exciting. I do it scared.

14. Owning my story, facing my darkness, and inviting God into all the dusty corners of my life was the hardest, scariest, most gloriously wonderful thing I’ve ever done.

15. Some people may not understand why we got married in Italy, but we did it anyway and you should too (whatever that unreasonable thing is you want to do).

16.Trusting people is a lot easier than being suspicious all the time.

17. You have to put your own air mask on first before assisting someone else put on theirs.

18. Celebrating even tiny successes (or courageous fails) with champagne is never a bad idea.

19. Dreams more often than not look like hard work, breathless wonder, and anxiety all mixed together.

20. Life’s too short to take ourselves too seriously. It’s okay to step back and laugh at yourself when you’re being ridiculous.

21. Sometimes Pop Tarts on dusty chairs around a campfire are more romantic than filet mignon and candlelight.

22. There’s nothing more valuable to a marriage than learning the intricacies that make my spouse completely unique and amazing, and celebrating him for his differences.

23. Snail mail makes people feel warm, fuzzy, and so cared for in this digital age.

24. My friends are a fierce group of women locked arm in arm around my life and I know for certain I can never fall with them in my midst.

25. One must believe the best is truly yet to come. Glory to glory.

26. “What if…” is one of the most powerful questions in the English language. Said in fear it can shatter a life. Said in hope it can start a revolution.

27. If the career I desire doesn’t exist, I can go out and create it.

28. Being deep, highly sensitive, and empathic do make life feel harder, but they are also the best gifts I’ve ever been given.

29. Personal responsibility is the cornerstone of a healthy life. Knowing what I can control and what I can’t, and taking full responsibility for my life, story, and decisions is the best thing I can do in the pursuit of happiness and holiness.