Yesterday was my 25th birthday. I feel. . .old (everyone over the age of 30 has permission to slap me.) I'll admit I have some anxiety about growing older (even as a 20-something!) because I'm nervous I will run out of time to accomplish some of my dreams while I'm still young. It's a feeling that sort of ties into this post from the other week; it's easy to envision some future time when I'll be living just the way I think my heart was hard-wired to, and that can make me feel like every year that ticks by is a waste of precious time. But that's not really true. The journey there is of equal importance, and all of the things I learn on my way are necessary and important. Plus, these are still the days I will look back on fondly some day. And those guys up above are just so darn cute, at least I've got a couple babies under my belt! How could I not be grateful that they're here to celebrate my birthday with me?

Alan (and the rest of the family) showered me with wonderful gifts, including a massage from our dear friend Mary, during which Alan baked a double layer yellow einkorn cake with key lime frosting. Um. Yum. It helped keep the quarter life crisis feelings to a minimum ;)

(The snow pictures are pre-Thanksgiving, but they were so pretty I had to share them!)

(Clearly we need some new advent candles. . .)

We got some Christmas decorating done the other day. We purchased some greenery and got the rest (and the pine cones) from the pine tree in our front yard. It just makes my heart so happy to see everything so wintry and sparkling. Today we're going to cut down our Christmas tree and I can't wait! I'll be sure to share some pictures in a couple of days.