36 years FULL !

Ok, so it seems a bit to odd to blog about myself. Not to mention putting my picture on there. Which by the way, Sage did a fabulous job of taking. However, I am going to anyway :-). Really what I wanted to Blog about originally was how full and complete I honestly think my life is. So what better a day to do it then my 36th birthday! I honestly have no problem with getting older at all, I am actually enjoying it, because of how complete & FULL my life is. Now please don't get me wrong, there are times it definatley is a struggle and just seems too hard. Anyone who has had a converstaion with me just this week, knows my life is not perfect- there is a difference between FULL and perfect. I am convinced perfect is only for heaven. I really planned nothing special today, which I feel as if the Lord is saying to me "Finally, Thank you, you are going to let Me orchestrate your day." 4 days ago , I was able to email a dear friend, Amber Detwiler, I have known since 6th grade. I had found out through her in-laws that she was coming in town to visit, so of course I wanted to see her. It had been 2 years since we had seen eachother. The last time being at my dad's funeral. Amber emailed back and said she could meet, how about Thursday or Friday. Thursday worked better for me, so we settled on 6:00am Thursday (today)not really intending it to be a "birthday" thing. As I woke up this morning, I could hear the birds chirping/singing out my window. I just laid in bed for a bit to listen to them. I am honestly convinced they were singing "Happy Birthday" to me! No really I do believe it, God put them there just for me this morning :-) as a small reminder of the little things in my life that are so wonderful. The Lord brought my friend to me ON my birthday as another birthday gift, I could not have planned it better if I had tried. I even recieved my favorite cake a day early hand decorated and beautifully frosted. Thank you SO much Jaynee, you are one of the most amazing people I know ! I loved eating birthday cake early. I not only started eating birthday cake early, but I started celebrating early (hee hee, don't be jealous) My sweet friends Jen and Emily surprised me last week and took me on a (much needed by all) night out, with gifts and hugs and loves- thank you so much girls! I have no idea what the rest of my day looks like, Arthur won't tell me ( he did tell me that I would want to be clean, hint- take a shower wife.) To be honest, I feel so full and blessed right now that he wouldn't have to do a thing, don't tell him that though, I am excited to see what it is.These are just a few things that are reminding me what a full good life I have. I can get so caught up in the "seemingly big" things in my life that they completely cloud my vision to all of the good things. I so desperately want to start focusing on what is good. So, I made a list to remind me.

~ I love it that my husband is still crazy in love with me and plays with my lips (weird I know), even though I can't see the TV show we are watching when he does it :-)

~ even though academics are not for Joshua (as we all know :-) He knows when to come up to hug me and show compassion, when he sees defeat weighing on my shoulders ~ thanks Bubba.

~ I am thankful for the opportunity to have not missed watching Caleb run and win his 800m race, and hug me at the finish line.

~ I appreciate the moments when Seth see's Caleb needs help with a Science project, no one has to ask him, but Seth just starts right into help .

~ I am thankful when Sage took the time to have me close my eyes, grab my by the hand and lead me outside to show me the first blossoms on our tree, even though I "thought" I didn't have time.

~ I love it when we actually laugh at the dinner table, not at eachother but with eachother.

~I love falling asleep every night with my hand touching Arthur.

~ I love the safe, wonderful place we have as family everytime we go to church!

~ I am extrememly thankful for the amount of people God has given us to pour into the lives of my children outside of Arthur & I.

I think that scratches the surface. I am going to try to focus more on the goodness in my life that the Lord gives me everyday. Hope all of your days are full as well!