Today is my thirty-fifth birthday.  It’s my first birthday living abroad, it’s my first birthday as a mom of two kids.  It’s been a great year (at least in part because I consider both of those major changes to be positive).  I’m really grateful to be here — to have this opportunity to live in Austria, to be the mom to two really wonderful kids, and to be alive in general.  Life is good.

I’m not sure if 35 feels old, but it certainly feels grown up.  (How many times in my life am I going to feel like *now* it’s time to be a grown up?  Does that ever stop happening?)  I feel like, as a thirty-five year old, I ought to be a little more put together — like maybe I ought to own more than one pair of pants that isn’t made of denim and that I ought to stop wearing athletic socks with absolutely every outfit.  I’ll work on that.  I have two kids, so that feels like I’ll get at least partial credit in the “grown up” category.

I really miss everyone at home, today in particular.  I miss seeing everyone for my birthday and getting to share the things that are the special way my family celebrates birthdays (like birthday soda and jell-o cake).  Days like this make me realize how great it was to live just an hour from my family, and how much I took that for granted when I had it.

I’ve really had a great day.  Dan and the boys helped me celebrate and feel festive (cake and ice cream and a great present), and my friend, Krishana, gave me the opportunity to go out and have dinner with Dan, just the two of us (the first time we’ve done that since we’ve been here).  It’s been a great day, and I’m so glad to be celebrating another birthday.