One Year Older and Wiser Too

As of yesterday, I am another year older, although in some ways I feel like the past year has aged me a decade or two. Mental state notwithstanding, I really am older one year further along my road of life. We didn’t have a big celebration or anything, but Kev and I did go out to dinner. It was nice since eating out has been a rarity in the past year. I decided I wanted cheesecake for my birthday treat and while Kev offered to buy it for me, I opted to make my own. That is the only way Matthew and Malia can have cheesecake and I have been feeling in need of a new focus for my tendency towards recipe experimentation, so it seemed like a perfect solution. I did, however, make two cheesecakes-one small dairy free one and one full sized, full dairy version. I considered a variety of flavors and finally settled on strawberry lemonade. Yum! I baked the cakes on Friday to give them plenty of time to set up and for the flavors to blend so I wouldn’t spend the entirety of my birthday standing in the kitchen. In fact, I don’t think I spent any time standing in the kitchen. It was a nice break!

Early yesterday morning, Kev snuck out and had some beautiful roses and a balloon bouquet for me when I got up. Nathan went to work yesterday morning, leaving before the first balloons arrived, so he got another bunch. I ended up with a big mass of balloons and it was so great! After our dinner, Kev and I went home to share cheesecake with the kids. It was tasty and pretty too. 😉
 

 

I mentioned previously that I feel like I’ve aged more than a year in the past circuit of the sun. It’s not my body that feels older, although the body warranty definitely lapses at forty. I feel like I’ve aged a lot in experience and knowledge. The past year has been a wild ride for all of us and in that time, I think I’ve learned a lot. In general, I feel calmer and more at peace despite the chaos in the world around us. We are always taught that joy and peace come through living the gospel and I have seen that blessing in my life in the past year. As my understanding has increased and I have become more fully converted, I have been blessed with a greater sense of calm. So the long as the short of it is the fact that I’m older and wiser. I hope that in the coming year I can continue to progress in faith and knowledge, although not having a world in chaos as a catalyst would be a most welcome boon.