Happy New Year (to me)

So I turned 35 yesterday. 35. 35. Really? 35??? I don't feel as grown-up as I sound. Yes, I've been married for 12 years. Yes, I have 4 children. Yes, I have made 4 major moves (even across the ocean) since I graduated high school. Maybe I really am 35. For some reason the sound of 35 is years older than 34.

This birthday felt like a big one for me. It's not just another year like any other birthday. It's a 5 birthday. Those 0's and 5's are big ones, you know. And my next 0 is the big 4-0 (yikes!). haha! I really am entering a new chapter in my life. I'm done having babies (sniff sniff). I'm even done nursing (as of the day before my birthday). No longer will I be growing or feeding any mini humans. Now it's time to raise this beautiful family God has gifted us with. I love just looking at them and smiling, remembering the days when I used to wonder what my family would look like when I grew up. And now I'm looking at their sweet faces and they're mine! Such treasures they are.

Seeing as how this birthday felt like New Years Eve to me, I thought I should make some resolutions:

1) Lose 36 pounds by my 36th birthday. This will require actually getting out of the house and exercising from time to time, so I realize this is a big goal, but I'm gonna go for it. I used some of my birthday money (funny how at 35 bday money is still a thrill) to buy a heart rate monitor to help motivate me to burn some calories!

2) Let the creative juices flow. Yes, I am a creative person. I didn't used to believe this since I can't draw or paint to save my life, but I do love to create and make things, to touch beautiful fabrics, soft yarns and sticky Mod-Podge. I feel like I never have time to spend on hobbies anymore, but I must find a way! My husband did buy me a new sewing machine for my birthday, so this is definitely a step in the right direction.

3) Start a business. Just what we need around here, right? Another business? Well, my husband isn't the only entrepreneur in this family. I really do want to start a business that works with my life as a mom and a wife. Ideally, it will have something to do with resolution #2.

Well, there are several other areas of life I could make resolutions in, but I don't want get carried away to the point where I won't be able to achieve any or all of these things. I'm going to start with these three things and see how we do. So here we are, 35. I'm excited to see how we have shaped up a year from now.

"We can only be said to be ALIVE in those moments when our HEARTS are CONSCIOUS of our TREASURES". - Thorton Wilder

Funky Foods

One thing I am loving about living in Hawaii is the endless array of new foods to enjoy. Dragonfruit, starfruit, rambutan, lychee, longan, lilikoi and the list goes on.



I try to eat as healthy as we can afford to and it really helps when good food like this grows on trees where we can get it for free! Or, like last night, when sweet friends bring some to share. This photo on the left is of longan (pronounced like long-gone). I don't know what family of fruits this falls under, but it reminds me very much of lychee and rambutan, which is pictured on the right.



Who would ever guess that such things were edible? Both of these fruits have a hard outer shell and a soft fruit inside with a pit. This photo below is of the inside of a longan fruit.


To compare it to any other food I'm familiar with, I'd say it's most like a grape on the inside. Someday when we own our own home (hopefully in Hawaii, but who knows), I look forward to planting as many fruit-bearing trees as possible. I've never had much of a green thumb, but if I can't learn in Hawaii I don't know where I ever would!