one year older

I turned 33 last Monday.

As far as birthdays are concerned, it wasn't high on the scale in terms of celebratory themes. Truthfully, ever since my 30th birthday, I had sort of decided not to make much of birthdays. Though I do look forward to doing something that I want to do on that particular day, planning parties and stuff like that has just been thrown out of the water. What I have found is that parties  - and all the work it takes to plan them - aren't really all that much fun when you have to prep for them and clean up after them. I LOVE hosting and the food part, but the older I get, the less I enjoy the overall experience, especially with two very small children to try to care for in the process. 

So this birthday was meant to be very low key. I wanted to go to the mountains, go on a long, exhausting hike (either the Gahuti Backcountry Trail or the James E. Edmonds Backcountry Trail) and eat a good meal. That's it. But with the passing of my Uncle Clyde, our plans changed. We rescheduled the family birthday dinner to the night of my birthday. My hopes of a quiet date night with my honey were dashed and though we still got the chance to go on a hike, we didn't make it to the mountains. It was okay though. The hike was great... we did the full loop at Gold Branch which was about 3.5 or so miles... the majority of it was along Bull Sluice Lake which is the reservoir created by Morgan Falls Dam on the Chattahoochee River. There is plentiful wildlife viewing and serenity to be found. We enjoyed it. Afterwards, we had lunch at the Fickle Pickle where I had a pimiento cheese/bacon/pepper jelly grilled cheese. HELLO!? Amazing.

For my birthday, in case you were wondering... I got a subscription to Mother Earth News, a chicken raising guide, three CD-ROMs containing almost (together) 60,000 pages of early 20th century farm/field/livestock/survival guides, a camp kitchen, new grey wool blend Toms, Ken Burns' documentary, "The War" DVDs, and a Target and Starbucks gift card. :) Oh and some clothes from my mother-in-law.

This past year has been full of challenges. Personally, spiritually, financially, emotionally. I see more wrinkles and lines than ever. The important thing is that I am learning in this season. Things are changing. There is hope of Spring. I am not sure where I will be this time next year. My hope is for some dreams to have become reality. My prayers are for simple things... a yard for my children to run in and for a garden, to be able to be the wife and mother that I need to be for my family, to be more available for these roles... the things I hope for and aspire to are simple. I just want to be content, available, and present. 

Spiritually, I feel impressed by the Lord to practice more grace towards others and to operate out of that place more instead of a place of fear which results in judgment. Everyone is messed up in some way. No one is perfect. Everyone needs the Love of Jesus that looks beyond EVERYTHING into the depths of their hearts and embraces the core of who they are. The Love that gives a million second chances. So much peace to be found in this, for sure. 

Anyway, I don't have all day to blog. I gotta go change a poopy diaper and go to Target. 

Here are some photos from our hike last Monday.

Bless y'all,

Brooke