turning 29

Tomorrow I will turn 29.

29!

I cannot believe I will be entering into the last year of my twenties.  In some ways I feel older than 29, and in lots of other ways I feel younger.  Even though this birthday is not a special milestone, I feel so excited for it.  I am giddy.  Like a child! Maybe having children is contributing to my giddiness.  I have been talking to Hunter for weeks about his 3rd birthday that is coming up.  We have been reading "Carl's Birthday" almost every night at bedtime for the past week or so.  I have been telling him all about the birthday cake he will have and balloons.  I am so excited to celebrate with him in a few weeks.  But now, it is my turn.

Thinking back, this is the first birthday in a long time that I have been free to do what I want.  Last year, I was pregnant and Josh was gone to his Army Training.  I had a wonderful party with my friends at a mexican restaurant but I had so much morning sickness I couldn't eat the yumminess in front of me.  My friends helped me to feel so loved.  But I was lonely for Josh.  The year before that I was actually traveling on my birthday.  I got to wake up to a lovely breakfast with my mom, brother and lots of family and then spend the day with both Josh & Hunter but it was in airports and on airplanes.  The year before that I was ginormously pregnant with Hunter.  I thought he would arrive on my birthday, which I really didn't want.  I celebrated with Josh at the Texas Roadhouse.

All of those birthdays have been special in their own ways, but I wasn't particularly excited about any of them.  I haven't been this excited about a birthday since my 24th... which was the birthday I was engaged to be married and Josh went over the top to celebrate with me.  He surprised me with pearls to wear on our wedding day.

A lot of my giddiness this year comes from what this birthday represents for me.  I worked hard to lose weight this Spring, and though I didn't meet my goal for my birthday, I came close and I did lose all the baby weight. Also, today marks the beginning of my last year of my graduate program.  As of today, I am officially an intern, which means I will be seeing clients as part of my studies this year.  This means a lot of things to me, but most significantly it means I am following my calling and I get the chance to live in my giftedness.  I view this birthday as a fresh start.  A new beginning.  I have been tasting a new level of freedom in my life in the recent weeks that has enabled me to enjoy being myself.  I have rekindled my love of crafting, decorating, and putting together outfits.  I am truly enjoying life and I long to get the most out of it as I can.

So this birthday means a lot of things to me.  I am so thankful for all that God has done to shape me to make me into who I am today.  I am so humbled as I think of all this next year has in store for me.  I am beyond grateful for my husband, my son, and my daughter.  I am abundantly blessed.