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| another day.its officially the very beginning of the 24th of August.
I turned 24 yesterday. I thought 22 seemed old and now I am 24. (where did 23 go?)
My clients all ask me, "How old are you turning?" When I break the news that I am young enough to be a daughter to most of them, they respond with a, "Oh! You are just a baby!"
22 sounded old because in my head, I had set such big goals to be accomplished by certain times in my life and with each "mile marker" I noticed where I was in the process of seeing those goals lived out. Now I look in the mirror, down at my left hand, and back at the mirror and I feel young.
Ricky came in to the kitchen the other night after we had spent many conversations through out the day discussing life plans -- i.e. house, children, jobs, businesses, etc -- and he said, "I just look at myself and feel really young sometimes, ya know?" (I told him that it might be because he looks much younger than he is - and thats not just in his head)
It's funny that when we set our own standards to hold the more panic-y we tend to get when we find ourselves not measuring up to our own expectations. When God sets the vision, the goals, and the dreams, there is a level of trust and peace in the time line. The stumbling block is no longer about falling behind the schedule, but often times an insecurity and fear that I am not prepared for all that HE has for me to do.
And, I know I do have it all - HE never asks me to do more than I can handle.
So. I am 24.
-I use the same password for a lot of my internet accounts.
-When I checked one of my email accounts tonight I had 57 new emails and most of them were from facebook. So many people left a note on my wall wishing me a happy birthday.
-Ricky arranged for Kevin, Liz, Addison and Gabriel to join us on a trip to Ottawa today. Ricky is the sweetest, Kevin and Liz never cease to amaze me, challenge us, and encourage. And what can I say? Addison and Gabriel are just adorable and the best infants ever!
-I quit coffee but today was a "splurge". The guy at the Blackbird gave me a latte for free since it was my birthday. That was a good first-present-of-the-day.
-It always seems to be good weather on my birthday.
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| ::just some things.::today I ate Graham Crackers with milk for breakfast. The cool breeze floated through the window and all I wanted to do was get back under the covers. I had this split second of de ja vue and it felt as though it was "back to school" and I was, as I did often, avoid actually getting the day started. Mom would serve us Graham Crackers and milk for breakfast quite often and we use to fight over how many crackers we would get to try to stuff into our bowls. Afterall, when they would get wet they use to "boil down to nothing". ;)
::The mornings do smell like fall and I am reminded daily of that with all of the client calls I daily get for back-to-school-hair-cuts. It is kind of a sad reminder, but honestly, since it was not a very hot and sunny summer, I don't feel terribly disappointed. We aren't losing anything that I was enjoying anyways.
::A decision was made yesterday for a wedding date in December. I will admit to smiling and I very much enjoy knowing what the specific date is so that I can plan accordingly, but after a two and half page list was made during a few free moments yesterday, I think my heart picked up speed. ;) Eloping might sound good! Just kidding. Planning a party is something I love to do -- there is just a lot of pressure on this event being "right". So, the list will be followed and undoubtedly, more will be added as we go, but I am excited. It will be a busy few months and I am already praying for God's peace and wisdom to be ever-present in our lives.
::I kept waking up last night with a drippy nose and a scratch throat. I scolded myself at some point as I woke up too easily to a noise outside my room for not taking an allergy medicine earlier. It was too late to take something at that point for fear that my alarm would never disturb my deep, medicine-induced slumber. Oh well. Tonight I will take some earlier.
::Working has been a little bit of a battle for me this week. My allergies have successfully worn me down to an exhausted, energyless, unambitious individual. I love my job dearly but I feel as tired at 2pm as I do first thing in the morning and it never goes away. Next year I am going to investigate some herbal medicines -- I hear eating local honey is good for allergies. I might start doing that this winter to build my immunity up.
::On that note... off to work I go!
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| vacation to the island.aaahhhhhh. You know those kinds of vacations that feel like they actually did the trick? This one did the trick. I felt rested but not bored and although my sleeping was done on a couch in the middle of the morning-time chaos, it was sufficient.
Rarely does the family all get together. We missed two siblings who were home busy practicing for their upcoming band gigs all over the north-east, but that happens. Goodness knows how many times I have missed out due to prior commitments. It happens.
So, there was some NYC wandering that was done on Thursday afternoon. Ricky, Louissa, and I joined them during the afternoon. I slipped over to try on wedding dresses at a large bridal gown salon in NYC and the rest of the family did some browsing.
the tall and not-so tall
the view from the brooklyn bridge.
in Greenwich Village area.
the cute family NYC day.
A walk across the bridge.
so precious.
We spent most of our time on Long Island in Aunt Judy's home. It is a beautiful home and so inviting. She and Huck are so hospitable. Especially considering the number of people that crashed her peaceful home!
Our beautiful Aunt:
We had some parties. The first party was a surprise for me and Ricky. All day long I had been promoting the evening celebration of Bronwyn's fourth birthday. I was told that Saturday night was her night. We ate, Ricky and I picked up plates, cleared the food off the tables, re-set up the porch for a family gathering. I offered to bring the cake in and Aunt Judy hurried me off to go sit while she took care of everything. We were all set when my Dad told Ricky and I to go sit on the couch and announced that a surprise engagement party was planned. It was a surprise and I shed a few tears at the kindness of my family. A basket of a goodies was presented and Rick and I took turns opening the gifts.
Candlestick holders, place mats, a beautiful mustard and blue pitcher, a serving dish to match, and a crystal vase... wow. We are blessed.
Soon to be Bro-In-Laws
Then there was a Bronwyn party the next night. Aunt Beanz and Uncle Ricky got to bring the three oldest Paladin children out to the grocery store to pick out the birthday cake. Everyone else stayed home to clean a bit. (I told you we are a messy crowd)
The party hats were my idea! ;)
Just some fun Candids.
Baby Leah
a beautiful mom.
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| it's august.my allergies are such that I was woken up at 3am Monday morning with hay fever that was uncomfortable enough to drive me to the medicine box in the kitchen. I grabbed some Tylonal for Allergy Relief in my groggy state, found a granola bar to go down with them, and headed back to bed. I underestimated the drowsy power of this medication and re-awoke at 11:15 later that morning. Apparently, Ricky had knocked on my door several times when he arrived back from work at the golf course and sine I was in a close-to-comatose state, I never heard anything. Wow. I will be more careful about taking drowsy medicine at 3am.
I ended up awake 3 hours before I had to work today. I should be out running or something active, but I dislike doing much first thing in the morning. Instead, I hope to come home at a decent time tonight and get out running and then start laundry.
Dad, Mom, Liana, Camilla, and Merrick and everyone from the little yellow house left for family vacation today. I couldn't take a whole week off, but Louissa, Ricky, and I will be following them on Thursday down to Long Island. Off to AUNT JUDY'S house!!!!!! We will do some "city time" and some beach time, shopping... etc. ;) Very fun!
In the meantime, the house needs to be cleaned some before we leave... although, Jamie and Julia will be here the whole weekend and I am assuming that they will maintain some tidiness around here so not all the pressure is on us before we leave.
Can you believe it's August?
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