Happy Birthday!

Welcome to Gilded Frontier! We are starting the blog off right with a milestone celebration - my 30th birthday!

I might be the only person in the world to say this, but I am really excited about turning thirty! My twenties were a rough time. Facing the reality of life after college, living on my own, getting my first job, buying my first home, a global pandemic, personal financial struggles, and numerous other life events made my twenties what I hope will be the most difficult period of my life. I started out after college with such big plans for my life, but then reality hit and I spent so much time trying to fix past errors that I was never able to plan for future success. I learned a lot - and I mean A LOT - so I wouldn't say it was a complete fail, but I am more than ready to leave that era of my life behind.

My twenties was defined by a cycle of paycheck-to-paycheck, crisis-to-crisis, damage control, reactionary type of living that I just hated, but also felt unable to get out of. After a large loss in October of 2023 when I was 28 years old, I made a promise to myself that I would free myself from the cage I was living in. I would find a way to leave the cycle I felt so trapped in and create the life for myself that I have always dreamed of. Since then I have been making some tough decisions financially, professionally, and personally in the hope that one day I will no longer feel trapped in a life I have no control of - my life. It has not been easy. I have shed more tears in the past year and a half since I made myself this promise than I thought possible, but for the first time in almost ten years I can honestly say I have some hope in my future.

It seems strange to feel so hopeful right now. As of this moment on my thirtieth birthday I am unemployed, living in my parents garage, and days away from signing the closing paperwork to sell the house I have spent the last seven years of my life in - but I am so happy! I have goals for the future, a genuine and feasible plan for how to achieve those goals, and I am more excited about what those goals will bring to my life than ever before! They say its not about if you get knocked down, but if you get back up. My twenties sure as heck knocked me down, and even though its taken me ten years I am proud to say I am finally standing up again - and I am ready to go forward.

I will explain all about my plans and how I am going to achieve them in a future post, but for now I just wanted to say hello and thank you for being here to celebrate my birthday with me! I will be spending the day with my family, we are going to go to some thrift stores to shop and then have dinner and cake. It's not going to be anything fancy, but it is going to be a perfect start to my thirties! I hope whatever you are doing today is just as enjoyable!

Happy birthday to me - and welcome to Gilded Frontier!