My 39th Birthday During Home Isolation

At the age of 19 I was a freshman in college, I had just switched from a nursing major to business. If you would have asked me what my life would look like in 20 years, I would have said with complete confidence, "I either have worked my way up the corporate ladder or I own my own my business, I wear fancy clothes to work everyday, I drive a small little sports car, my paycheck is six figures!" If you would have told me that in 20 years, my boss would be three years old, that I'd be lucky to get out of my pajamas somedays, all of our stuff would never fit in a sports car, and my paycheck is actually one zero, I would have laughed in your face. Birthdays always make me reminisce. Never in my life have I ever felt so strongly that I'm right where I'm supposed to be, doing what God put me on this earth to do. Being Ryan's wife & Magnolia's mother is the greatest gift of my life. There is so much peace in my heart that I never felt before I met Ryan, so much happiness in the life we have made together. And of course we have big dreams for our future too, but each day is cherished like never before. Before I always felt like I was chasing something else, and now I am thanking God every moment for the life we have been blessed to call ours. I grew up admiring my grandma. She was the best homemaker I'll ever know, and now I get to take care of Magnolia the way she took care of my sister & me while our mom worked. I'm grateful for the years passed that I was able to work for a big corporation & own my own business. I'm grateful because now I know that all of that would never ever bring me the happiness that I have now. So there is that, my reflection on life at 39, and how crazy different it is than what I would have thought 20 years ago.


And that brings me to my birthday during a world pandemic & home isolation! Ryan actually started to apologize to me a few times because he couldn't get out to buy me a gift or take me to dinner, and I cut him off mid-sentence because we are so freakin' blessed. I didn't want an apology or wishful thinking for something else, I was feeling so happy to be at home + safe with them. My birthday at home was all that it could be and so much more. Ryan & Magnolia sang me Happy Birthday before I even poured a cup of coffee. Our sweet girl drew me pictures and told me happy birthday all day long. They baked me a magical confetti birthday cake. Ryan coordinated a birthday parade with my family & truly that was the hardest part of all. It was an equal combination of sweet + sad. I just wanted to spend time with all of them & hug them & just be near them. I couldn't even hug my mom on my birthday. Now that I am a mom, I was thinking about how hard it would be to see Magnolia on her birthday and not be able to hug her. BUT, I did get to see her & that is a blessing I cannot take for granted, especially during this time. After the parade, our Maggie girl took a nap while Ryan & I cooked vegan enchiladas & shared a beer. Ohhhh, and he wrote me a letter since he couldn't get me a card, and it was one million times better than a card. I cried happy tears. Once our girl woke up we had birthday cake. We ended the night at the dining room table putting a jigsaw puzzle together. Oh my goodness, I forgot how hard they were to do! This was one to remember, a good one, a simple blessed one!

I tickle-attacked my girl so we could get some cute selfies. Notice her matching lipstick & red fingernails. She is my little twinkie, all that I do, she has to do.







My gift was all new bed linens, organic linen, and if you've never slept in linen sheets before I just have to say they are AMAZING! Perfect for the summer months ahead, they aren't as soft as cotton but it's breathable material and much cooler for hot nights.






xo