Monday, August 23, 2010

25 Wonderful Things

Today, I'm twenty-six.

And though you might like to see a list of twenty-six things
I'll be doing this year, what I'm going to show you
instead is twenty-five things that made last year wonderful.
In no particular order:

1. Tilly's arrival into the world


2. Adopting Bella, the world's most beautiful mutt


3. Working at the college Writing Centre,
and being surrounded again by people who love language and writing.

4. Monday lunch breaks


5. Learning to quilt, though this first one for my Mum got waylaid
somewhere on its way to China


6. Knitting, and the satisfaction of hand making all my Christmas presents last year (my family have all the fingerless gloves they need now...)

7. Getting to eat IKEA Meatballs. Twice!


8. Moving into our lovely home.

9. Taking photos, photos, and more photos. I'll remember this year better than any other year so far!

10. Sharing those photos every day with the amazing people in the 365 Flickr group.


11. Having my family here for a glorious two weeks.


12. Discovered the joy of stuffing rabbits.

13. Discovering the joy of UGG boots.

14. Discovering the joy of stuffing rabbits into UGG boots.


15. Sausage Saturdays, care of my Texan BBQer


16. Getting to shop at HEB, the world's finest supermarket,
(with the exception, perhaps, of Waitrose)

17. The Unraveling course, which helped me see myself (especially my feet) in a whole new way, and created a wonderful community of new friends.


18. Reading the book "Love and Respect" with a great group of friends, which helped Justin and me to understand each other a bit better!

19. Reading "The Bradley Method", which prepared me (sort of) for the type of birth I wanted Tilly to have.

20. Justin, the most wonderful husband, and now the most wonderful father, too, who makes me feel happy and loved every day.


21. Discovering new ways to connect with my Mum, and really
relishing how much we inspire each other.

22. Being reminded constantly by brilliant friends all around the world
that they continue to support me despite time and distance.

23. Chats and emails with Loreal, who keeps me sane.

24. Getting to watch Tilly grow.


25. Planning for Christmas this year, when we'll fly to England for three whole weeks, and will introduce Tilly to her great-grandparents, her great Aunt Jenni, and her Uncle Jesper and Auntie Gem.
(This one is sort of cheating, I know... but the planning is so much fun!)


It's been a wonderful day so far, and Tilly even woke me up
at exactly 12.15 am (the time I was born)
so we could spend that moment together!

5 comments:

Jadyn said...

Happy birthday dear Astrid!! Hope you had a wonderful day! What a great list of things, it looks like your year was filled with many blessings. xoxo

Unknown said...

What a great way to look back and enjoy the year gone by. Love reading about all that brought you joy and hope your 26th year is full of many more fantastic moments. I x

Unknown said...

I bet it was hard to choose just 25, made lovely reading. As a Mum, I could have said you will never know how much comfort it will be to your Mum to read of your contentment, and you might not quite have understood fully, but since the arrival of that beautiful little girl, you now understand wholeheartedly, and as you are discovering, that feeling just gets deeper and deeper. Hope to meet you when you are in UK. xx

Kristin said...

Happy Birthday Astrid! Looks like you've had a wonderful year and several more to come. Enjoy!

Loreal said...

I think it's a lovely idea to think of all the wonderful things that happened in your 25th year, rather than planning what you'll do in your 26th year! And I'm honored to be included on your list!! I'm so happy that the internet has made it possible for us to stay in touch!