25 Time

A few days ago I turned 25. 

As I spoke to a good friend after many many months, it seemed we had switched lives. She was doing all the things I thought I'd be doing, and I was doing all the things she anticipated for herself. 

 My life is nothing like I thought it would have been.

It is better.

I am grateful to be living a life perfectly designed with me in mind. I think I am just as happy as my Heavenly Father means for me to be.

Among my generation is a spreading desire to do "something next." We're supposed to be constantly changing our every circumstance. When you don't have a big, new move to make, people look at you as thought you're sadly stagnant. When we see friends after a lengthy separation, the question that always follows our greeting is, "What are your plans?" or "What are you doing next?" 

Living. 

We're living.  

We live our lives today. We will live our lives tomorrow. We make goals. We grow. We change. All that is part of living. I don't want to wake up one day and realize that my plans for the future have overtaken my enjoyment and appreciation of the present. For now, we're just living a life that we love.

River time, people.

Peter teaches me that better than anyone. He changes so much in an hour. Yesterday he was trying to pull himself up. He was so frustrated when he'd get his bum off the ground and collapse, tired. An hour later, he stood up onto his feet four times in a row. Today he's climbing on my sofa and chairs. He's getting big so quickly. If I don't pay attention, I will miss it. 

After all, a collection of "firsts" is what constitutes our lives, and I want to be there for as many "firsts" as I can. I can't plan most of them. I'm learning to slow down so I don't miss them.

I had a wonderful birthday. Thank you to my friends who sent their love. Scott and I were able to go to a session in the Temple, which is all I've really wanted to do for the last eight months. We had some very special experiences, and felt so much love and gratitude for the life we are blessed to live. After a delicious dinner, we picked up Peter from my parents' house.

And then we went home.

And lived.

We had dinner time, tub time, jammie time, story time, bottle time, and bedtime. Scott and I tiptoed around the house for the rest of the night, read in our bed, and went to sleep.

The secret behind those seemingly-ordinary lives is that they're the most sublime of all our experiences. At least mine is. I've spent 4 birthdays on the river (one of which was the Grand Canyon). I've had surprise parties, elaborate cabin schemes, camping trips, and perfect presents. 

But this was the best birthday yet because I didn't feel like I needed to take a break from my life to feel special. I love my life, and I feel pretty special to be living it. 

 I wouldn't complain, however, if I could eat chocolate-covered-strawberries every morning for breakfast, like I do during birthday week. But that could be part of every-day life, right?