The good life

On a recent escape with my best friend

Aaron and I met when we were juniors in college.  The first conversation we had was about how we both longed to live a simple life. We had similar ideas of ideal priorities. Little did we know that 13 years later we would be doing life together with some of the same ideas. In some ways my life has turned out very much the way we envisioned, however, I would have never thought it would look quite like this.  But, really, how do we ever know nor would we want to know exactly what life will look like.

I just had a birthday and for some reason birthdays always bring reflection and evaluation of the year past as well hopes and desires for the year to come. I am so thankful for my life.  We live in a beautiful place, doing something that God has placed on our hearts.  We have supportive family and friends and healthy children. For now I stay mostly at home taking care of my kids and our home, indulging in soap operas and bon bons (haha...only kidding). I love telling people that we live in co-housing. It is easy to get annoyed and wish for more space and privacy, but at the end of the day, I love sharing life with my neighbors. It reminds me a bit of our team in East Asia, minus the common spiritual purpose.

I feel fortunate that most of my stress comes from having too many wonderful people in our lives and not having enough time or energy to give as much as I wish.  I also miss my family often and wish I could call my sister and go for a walk with our kids.

My birthday hike with a great neighbor and friend. I can't believe we live here

Life is good.  Life is full. I appreciate the things I have and the things I don't have and don't need. I don't want to take this season of life for granted. I am grateful and I want to embrace each day fully, even if it is just doing laundry, hanging out with my kids and neighbors, and cleaning the kitchen (again). I have an amazing partner and the older I get, the more I realize that we have something special.

So here's to the good life. When I am feeling crappy and overwhelmed, I somehow need to remind myself to come to this post and read it again and remember.