31 Years

In honor of my 31st birthday here are the top 31 things I love about my life:

I love my relationship with God. I'm not trying to get preachy or push my faith, but I have many, many blessings in my life and it would not be right to not give this #1.

I love my husband. He is truly my best friend and I really enjoy spending time with him. We have many things in common, and yet also have our own interests and individuality in the relationship.

I love my baby boy. He is so wonderful, I can not even begin to describe my love for him, or how I feel when he smiles at me. I love his baby scent and wish that I could bottle it up so that I can pour it on him when he is a smelly teenager.

I love my Mom. My Mom is such a strong person, she has come through such adversity in her life and yet has such a positive outlook and deep faith.

I love my siblings. Being that they are all quite a bit older than me they have all looked after me and at times were more like parents. I miss that we don't still live closer so that we can all get together to see each other more often.

I love my nephews and nieces. They are all great kids and because their parents allowed me to practice with them I am a better mother to my son.

I love my health. At times I think we all really take this for granted until we get sick. My heart breaks for those who have chronic or terminal illness and know that they will never again enjoy a day of good health.

I love to garden. I am very proud that I was able to put in a garden this year and provide home grown vegetables for my sons first foods.

I love that I have been able to breast feed my son for 8 and a half months and still going. I think that breast feeding is such a great gift for a mother to give her child and encourage every mother to give it a try.

I love that having a baby actually helped me lose weight. I don't mean to offend anyone who has battled the pregnancy weight, but I was about 168 pre-pregnancy. I think I was 197 at my largest official weigh in during pregnancy. I came home from the hospital at about my pre-pregnancy weight and now 8 and a half months later I am 142 and I haven't really actually tried to lose weight.

I love to walk and hike. We live in a really beautiful area of the country and there are a lot of nice places to explore, and we typically have perfect weather.

I love to go on Facebook. I shouldn't spend so much time, but it is such a great way to stay in touch with old friends and family who are far away.

I love that I finished my engineering degree. It wasn't easy and I almost changed majors, but stuck it through and will always have that accomplishment.

I love to travel. Although lately it is more of a challenge with the baby. I have been to thirty four states, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean. I hope to continue to travel and introduce my son to the world.

I love to cook. I like to think I'm a pretty good cook and like to try new recipes.

I love to decorate cakes. I think a homemade cake is so much better than a store bought cake and I have enjoyed crafting many cakes for special occasions.

I love to take pictures. I have always enjoyed photography of many different subjects. I just need to have more motivation to catch up on preserving my work in albums instead of throwing them in my picture box.

I love to quilt. I made a quilt for each of my nieces and nephews and am currently working on one for Austin. I have not been very good at making time for quilting, but am hoping now that Austin is becoming more independant that I will have more time.

I love to follow football. I was a football manager/trainer from 8th grade through high school. I love both college and the pros. I am always sad after the superbowl and wish that football was played year round.

I love my job. It has really given me the chance to learn and use my knowledge to develop the program from scratch. I really enjoy the people I work with and for.

I love chocolate. Enough said!

I love to enjoy a glass of wine. My favorite is Pinot Noir.

I love that I have a few really good friends that I can count on.

I love working with children. My new career goal is to get my teaching certificate someday.

I love hosting parties. Both at home and planning large events at work, I'm really good at details.

I love eating crab legs. Definitely my favorite food and would eat them all the time if they were available and less expensive.

I love competition. I am very competitive and love playing any and all games.

I love rock music. I can't really pick a favorite singer, band, or song, but I love most rock.

I loved being a volunteer firefighter. I resigned when I got pregnant, but I was able to cut the door off of a wrecked car so the EMTs could get the victim out. It was a pretty incredible experience.

I love to swim. I was on swim team in high school and love to splash around with Austin now.

I love my home. We have a pretty nice house, it's fun to have the freedom to personalize it, and it is great to not have all the headaches of being a renter.

As you can see, I REALLY LOVE MY LIFE!!! I am definitely living the life that I always dreamed about when I was young.