turning thirty

Last weekend, we celebrated my 30th birthday. (I can remember when thirty seemed so grown up to me; I'm still waiting to feel like a grown up...) Matt put together a big ol' bash in my honor. Our home was filled with friends and family, bearing delicious food and lovely gifts. There was so much warmth and love that it was just about too much for this gal to handle.

We grilled and ate and then ate some more, enjoyed the beautiful weather and the pleasure of introducing so many of our friends to our home, our gardens, our chickens and all the things that make this place so special for us. Having everyone here to share it with us made it all mean that much more.

Our home is filled with beautiful flowers brought by friends, pleasant reminders of the day everywhere I look.

There were so many generous gifts, thoughtful and fitting in ways that astounded me. Collections of recipes and ingredients for new foods to enjoy, the means to put in our permanent clothesline, beautiful dishes, giftcards and books, handmade treasures and more.

a yummy homemade bath scrub


a beautiful paper cutting made by a dear friend. i am drawn to the detail of the children playing.

a sculpture that I am so in love with

As I drifted off to sleep that night, I felt so contented. I thought of all the people who made the effort to come by and help celebrate these thirty years of living. Friends came from out of state, family went out of their way to fill the tables and run the show. I was surrounded by people from every stage of my life, from the family that has known me since before I was born and those who have joined along the way, the friends from gradeschool and high school who have grown up alongside me, college friends, mothering friends, friends from the farm. It's hard to put words to the warmth that filled me that evening.

But it sure was a wonderful way to usher in this next decade and bid farewell to the last.