this is a tree in our backyard. Its a tulip tree.
It blooms at the beginning of spring & then all the flowers fall and the leaves stay.
It only last a few weeks. But its beautiful.
River would stop every time he was oustide and just smell all the flowers. over & over.
That boy .. he teaches you things when you pay attention.
this month I will officially turn 30.
Im actually excited. I was talking about it the other day and I feel like since I dont 'feel' 30 years old and because I genuinely am happy with where the Lord has us & can see him moving in our lives .. there really isnt anything that bothers me about turning the big 3-0.
Its nice to have a 'monumental' birthday. I find Im reflecting a lot more than I would with another birthday any other year.
I made a goal in April to go through the house & fill up 30 bags of things we could give away. So far Ive filled up 25 bags. Since we had a huge garage sale last year and cleaned out everything when we moved it was actually hard at first .. but I find the more I start getting rid of and giving away .. the easier it is and the more I want to give away. I think I could definitely fill up more than 30 bags! ;)
And wouldn't you know the week I started going through the house someone in our bible study was in need of half the things I had already started setting aside. Then the next week I found out a friend was putting together a garage sale to raise money for an organization that works with sex trafficking. Praise the Lord! He put something on my heart .. and right at the same time he was opening doors to meet needs. He is awesome.
And with turning 30 I feel like Im finally deciding to get some discipline in my life. (bout time)
Freeland & I have been eating 100 times healthier this year. We've been cooking about 3 Paleo meals a week and making better decisions since February. (although we've still enjoyed our share of oreos, cookies, ice cream and a whole lotta pie!) Even from slowly incorporating it into our lives I feel like Ive already learned a ton! So, June 1st we've decided to go at it full force and try it out. Originally I was just wanting to lose some of this baby weight(x3) if Im being honest. But after reading some books from the library Im actually excited to see if it helps with some other areas of our lives too.
My friend Elizabeth just did the 'whole 30' challenge. And Camille has embarked on a 30 day paleo challenge over the last few weeks. She's written some wonderful post.. you can read them here!
There are some other areas of my life Im eager to become more disciplined in and SO thankful for the areas the Lord is growing me in. Like, growing in his word .. being eager to rise in the morning .. reading more. Its truly been a blessing.
So here's to turning 30! Im thankful for reflecting and seeing areas I want to grow in and change. And I am so thankful that Im actually excited to turn 30.. I never would have thought that I would have felt this way if you asked me at 20!
