27.

I like birthdays.  I often joke about not wanting to get older but I'm actually really okay with it.  I like to celebrate the past year's accomplishments and triumphs and to reflect on failures and hard times.  And I really, really like cake.

This year was a little different (though my love of cake hasn't changed).  27 has felt more...official.  Like I'm really an adult and the time has come to make decisions about what I should be doing with my life.  This year I watched friends graduate from law school and med school. I've watched my friends climb the corporate ladder and become high powered career people.  And then I started to feel left behind.  Because being a stay at home mom doesn't really feel that glamorous.  

I'm the kind of person who likes to feel successful.  I like to work hard at something and see the fruits of my labour.  I like to be told when I'm doing a good job and I like the satisfaction that comes with completing tasks.  I started to feel like I was getting none of those things from my current profession.

I work hard but it can be hard to see the results of that work.   I've been teaching my kids to say "pardon me" instead of "what" for almost seven years.  We still average a 25% success rate on a good day. I don't get a lot of positive feedback.  I make three meals and one snack, from scratch, every day.  And every day, at least one person proclaims that the food is "disgusting" and refuses to eat it.  I do 3 loads of laundry and just as we get close to the bottom of the basket (which I honestly haven't seen in months), someone covers their clothes and their siblings in paint.  I started to get bogged down in these kinds of details.  And when I start to focus on the negative, I completely lose sight of the positive.  Its so easy to get stuck in a rut like that. 

So...I spent the day leading up to my 27th birthday thinking about all the things I haven't accomplished in my life.  

Then...my husband stayed up until midnight so he could be the first to wish me a happy birthday.  

My kids woke up extra early because they were so excited to give me 27 kisses.  

I got phone calls and text messages from people who love me all day! 

These things helped to shift my perspective and when I took a step back, I was able to see all that I have accomplished.  

I have been married for 5 and a half years to the most amazing man I know.  And I haven't scared him off yet!

I have carried and birthed four beautiful children.  I have kept them alive and watched them grow into compassionate, intelligent, funny little people (who remember to say "pardon me" 25% of the time!!).

I have bought a house and filled it with love and laughter. 

I have made the kinds of friends who don't get mad when I don't call for months and who love me even though I can't discuss current events with them because I'm so hopelessly out of touch.  

I have made it 27 years without ever wearing a pair of crocs.  

Those are some accomplishments to be proud of! 

So yes.  I have not finished the degree I started so long ago.  And even though it's been seven years, that still stings a little for me.  But I can't let that be the definition of who I am.  And I can't let other people's successes set the standard for my own.  I am called to be right here, raising my kids.  And that comes with its own long list of accomplishments that I have every right to be proud of.  

I may go back and finish my degree one day.  And I may not.  Either way, I will have lived a successful, happy, full life.  

So here's to living in the moment and being proud of who I am and what I do.  Here's to making changes if I'm feeling unhappy and to learning to accept those things I can't change.  

Here's to 27 wonderful years!