Another Year Older....

Well, today is my 35th Birthday! Honestly, I have been dreading this birthday all year. I'm not really sure why...maybe it's that I am now officially mid-30's...maybe it's that I am 5 years from 40...maybe it's, maybe it's, maybe it's....I'm not really sure???

About a month ago, I gave Tony and the kids the list of things I wanted to do for my birthday. No presents necessary, just a fun, family day together. I told them that I wanted to go to Jo's Pizza for lunch, go see Marley and Me at the movies and get a wonderful cake from Johnnie's. Well, if you remember my recent post a few days back, you'll recall that I am "ALL IN" with my diet now....so there's the wrench to the birthday plans...I had re-think what I really wanted and do some tweaking to my birthday fun request. Instead of Jo's Pizza, I think we will eat at some where I can get a salad and some chicken or steak. We'll still do the movie...I'll just have to sit far from the popcorn. Now about that cake....if you know me, you know that I absolutely love Johnnie's cakes. Their cakes are really moist and they make the best butter cream frosting....but I know that I will never survive with a whole cake in our house...so instead, I have asked for a cake bite. They are small balls of cake with icing drizzled on top. See...I get my cake AND I get to eat it too!!!

So, now at 35 I have learned a lot of things. Some things I learned early on in life...(like, when you wet your pants at school, don't sit down in the sand to try and hide it, that just makes it worse), others, I have learned as I have grown older...(like no matter how hard I try, those grey roots keep coming back between hair appointments).

But seriously, I have learned some very important things too, so I thought I would list a few of them for you:
1. My husband truly is my best friend. My favorite thing to do with him is to just sit and talk. We have never run out of topics. The nights when he is the fire station are lonely for me and the kids. It isn't until he is home with us the next morning that we feel complete.
2. My kids are my legacy. I only get a few crucial years with them to help mold them into responsible, spiritual people, so I better do it now, while I still have the energy. The way I treat my kids will determine how they will treat the relationships in their lives.
3. It isn't the quantity of friends that I have that makes me special. It's the quality of friends. God has given me some amazing women to share in my dreams, fears, laughter and tears. My friends keep me grounded.
4. No matter how hard I try to have the perfect marriage, perfect family, perfect body, or perfect whatever, the only way to get anything to that level is to put God smack in the middle. I've tried pretty hard to do things on my own and have learned that I MUST have God with me. I can do all through Him who strengthens me.
5. No matter how tragic events in my life may seem, God will carry me through it. And when I make it out on the other side, I will be stronger for it.

The past 35 years have had it's ups and downs, but without those lows to offset the highs, the horizon would look pretty flat and pretty boring. I can't wait to see what the next 35 years has to offer.