birthday

Thoughts on the Last Year of my 20s | Personal

Thoughts on the Last Year of my 20s | Personal

Well, it’s finally happening. I’m staring down the last year of my 20s, fairly unsure of how exactly I got here and what comes next. The first few years of this decade in my life held more than I could have imagined - it started with a wedding over 9 years ago, moved into a several-year tenure of working for a non-profit, then changed drastically when we lost Joel and I quit my full-time job to pursue wedding photography.

The worst birthday of my life was when I turned 25. I was still deep in the midst of grief from losing our first adopted child, and I had had dreams of being a mom by this point in life…dreams that were made very real when Joel’s mom chose us to be his parents. All of that was gone, and I had no idea where I would go next. I woke up that morning and cried in bed for awhile before I stood up to face the world. Then I walked into the place I had worked for 5 years, a place I had loved for the first few years until so much had changed, and I turned in my two weeks’ notice. It was a strange and awful day with a tremor of excitement beneath. I’ve never felt so sure of a decision in my life while being completely unsure of what would come in the future…

Thoughts As I Turn 26 | Personal

Thoughts As I Turn 26 | Personal

This past Tuesday was my birthday, and I turned 26 years old. This year I couldn't help but remember how un-gracefully I turned 25 last year. It was the first birthday I hadn't looked forward to my entire life. I think in hindsight I thought both since I had been married and for the past few months that I would be a mother by the time my birthday rolled around, and when I wasn't that hard fact made me dread turning one year older. I have always loved my birthday beyond reason and didn't want what happened last year to become a trend.

Thankfully, it didn't. I have been looking forward to 2017 for so many reasons, not the least of which is putting 2016 behind me. Of course I had wonderful things happen last year and I don't want to discount that, but it was also the hardest year I've lived. I'm not someone who generally picks a 'word of the year' but as I was praying leading up to New Years Eve, the word peace popped into my mind.

This year, the year I turned 26, I will seek peace...

Happy Birthday, Nathan! | Personal

Happy Birthday, Nathan! | Personal

Dear Nathan,
It's your birthday today, and you're one year closer to 30! I know you probably won't be thrilled that one of my blogging days just happened to be on your birthday but I'm going to take it as a sign to write an open letter to you.

These past few months have been the best and worst of our whole marriage. In the last year I quit my job, you changed your job, we lost a child, went to Africa, sold our house, and moved to a new city. We always joke that we do everything at once and I have to laugh at how true that is. We are a lot of things but we will never be bored.

But with so many serious life changes I thought I'd keep today a little more on the lighthearted side. So for those of you who thought you knew Nathan...I'm about to prove you all wrong ;) Without further ado, here are some of my favorite stores from this past year...