Officially Fabulous {and 40!}

It’s official: I’m fabulous.

That’s what happens when you turn 40, right?

I’m low-key when it comes to celebrations, and I prefer a smaller group of family and friends rather than a big party. It’s the introvert in me. Even though this is a “big” birthday, I’ve celebrated the same way I celebrate just about all of my birthdays: hanging out at home with my family and enjoying homemade birthday cards from my kids, and then “doing tea.”

Lunch at my favorite tea room is a tradition I started on my 30th birthday. Though some of the faces around the table change from year to year, it’s always a small group of the women dearest to me. My mom has been the only constant every year since the beginning. Now my daughters join me every year, too. (Scout will have to wait til next year, but I got to have Diane there for the first time this year!) And always, a few of my closest friends. Though I have had more heartache than usual this year, I am blessed to be loved by some very special people.

Though big parties are not my thing, I absolutely believe birthdays are worth celebrating because life is worth celebrating. Each candle on the cake means another year God has given us on this earth – and if we’re still here, He still has plans for us.

Last year, I made a list of 39 things to celebrate my last year of thirty-something.

Let’s see how I did…

The ones I accomplished:

• Birthday lunch at my favorite tea room. (Of course!)
• Witnessed and celebrated our son’s marriage. (June 2012)
• Went on a family vacation to the beach. (two in one!)
• Got comfy furniture for the back porch.
• Went to SavvyBlogging.
• Passed the Certified Photographer Exam.
• Now call my daughter-in-law “friend.”
• Traveled somewhere I’d never been. (For the 2:1 Conference)
• Texted often with my dad.
• Still hang out often with my mom.
• Made progress on our yard.
• I’m going to say I did go on a mission trip because I sent Ken and Lindsey to Peru while I stayed home with the brand new kids in the mission field of our house.
• Which also means we certainly did add to our family!
• Did pretty well with making dates with Ken before the new kiddos arrived. We hope to return to that again when obtaining babysitters requires fewer hoops to jump through (when they are adopted this fall).
• Doing my best to have one-on-one time with each of the kids.

Things I did NOT accomplish:

• The apple tree did not produce enough to make a pie.
• We had friends over a few times but not every month as I’d hoped.
• Still haven’t re-established a workout routine.
• Didn’t get a weekend away with Ken and haven’t done a mountain getaway.
• No from-scratch bread making.
• No progress in learning to play piano.
• Still haven’t finished that doggone needlepoint rose!
• Didn’t hire a photographer but did get a good family photo at Brandon and Diane’s wedding. (Even though we were the photographers!)
• Weekly family nights have flopped due to crazy schedules.
• Still haven’t made curtains for the sunroom/office.
• Have not yet made a large print of my elephant.

All in all, I did accomplish more than I did not accomplish — and I can keep working on my list during this year of fabulousness!

Do you make a big deal of birthdays?

What’s your favorite way to celebrate for yourself and/or for your family?