7 more days...

until the big day (my birthday,not something else:)

life took a turn for the "busy" this past month including illnesses and just work and holiday regularities. so now i find myself with only 7 days until i'm 30 and 24 more things to write about. all of a sudden i feel quite a bit of pressure so...here i go...

7. trials. most will either think that i am insane or attempting to be uber righteous/religiously cheesy. but with all the honesty in my heart i can say that i am grateful for the hardships i have faced. granted, there have been few (which also makes me grateful!)but i know without a doubt that i am becoming the person i need to be through them. i have to be compelled to be humble. i have to have my heart broken so that i am also contrite in spirit and willing to let others help me. it is not something i am proud of, but i am grateful that those less than pleasant moments come, so that i can change in the necessary ways.

8. health. also very cliche, this i know, but i cannot imagine what it would be like to live a life with burdened with disease. i see the struggles and amazing strength of those around me who have to fight constant illness or pains that are out of their control-it is humbling. i get an occasional cold/flu etc., but am overall healthy. all my limbs are accounted for. i see. i hear. i feel. i speak. i think and process. i take all of these for granted much too much and so here, today, i remember how lucky i am for physical well-being.

9. great writings. this is nothing new. i appreciate great lyrics, books, articles, essays, poems, you name it. from emerson and thoreau to hugo, rand, and foer. their words have become a part of who i am.

10-laughter. i adore silliness. laughter is the route i choose to travel on when life gets a little too tough. i have been blessed with family members and friends who have fantastic senses of humor and who i believe are some of the funniest people i will ever know. there is nothing like the laughter of little children or laughing so hard that you are crying and gasping for breath.

11. beauty. i may be too broad with some of these and definitely feel as if i am repeating items from past blog entries. oh well...i have been given the gift of seeing beauty in everything. i have to be careful when i drive because i'll notice the way the sun shines through the clouds or the random flowers growing on the side of the road. art, leaves, faces, buildings, scenery: i am fond of them all.