a very special 27th one.

i’ve finally settled in seattle and life is good. i mean it when i say that. and i also say it as a reminder to me when things out of my control- things wrapped up in the process of moving across the country- get to be too much to handle at times. life is good when dreams are followed. when sought after adventures become daily realities. when love in all spectrums floods your daily life. when there’s three different types of peanut butter in a pretty much otherwise bare food cabinet. and when the pacific northwest sun shows its face on your birthday. and when your birthday is on a friday. good sauce.
it’s my 27th one. and i think it’s truly the first birthday that i feel older. it’s the first one that i think crept up on me a bit.

it’s crept up on me along with its many adult-isms. for instance, i actually love using a crockpot. i buy magazines like cooking light & real simple instead of glamour and allure. bills are every where and credit cards are for purchasing gas & groceries, and always paid off on time. thoughts of tax returns and decorating my home keep me up at night.  all of this- just happened it seems.

i used to complain that no one prepares you for adulthood. i used to shout into the sky begging for answers on how to get used to adult life. but the truth is, it’ll come. you kinda just start to realize that life has handed you experiences and trials and joys and journeys for you to learn along with it as it passes, year after year. and when life throws you adulthood, you’re ready for it. not before you were supposed to be, but all in your own time. and when it comes, it’s the most fulfilling.

i know 27 comes with a list of daily “to do’s.” i know that budgets and dishes and oil changes and gritting of the teeth are part of the deal. but i can’t help but be thankful for the freedom to blaze my own trail. to take pride in the choices i’ve made/will continue to make. and to claim my adult life as my own. i’m thankful for the peace & grace that comes with each new morning. i’m thankful for a brand spanking new adventure. and sure, it can be hard and has been hard. but it’s been so so very good. good for me as an individual, as a business woman, as a girlfriend, as a friend, a daughter, a sister.

twentyseven- not what or where i expected to be. but nothing ever is, i’ve found. no, there’s so much more good to be had that wasn’t in the plans i had for myself, and would have remained undiscovered had i been stubborn in my ways. for only He knows the plans He has for me. plans to prosper. plans for hope and a future. [jer 29:11] i feel a year of boldness coming on. a year of fresh new undertakings. a year of renewal. a year of huge change.

welcome, 27. you’re lookin good.