birthday

i'm 22 today. (strange. when did that happen?) some things i've done in the last year:

moved into a rental house
learned about paying bills
worked with adults with developmental disabilities
kept going to early church
taught some super cool kids to play Settlers of Catan
read a bunch of theology texts
learned more math
visited friends at camp hebron
heard Julia Kasdorf speak, twice
went to a Josh Garrels concert in D.C.
wrote a bunch of poetry
started writing fiction
learned how to ice skate
cooked red lentil coconut curry
learned how to bake really awesome sourdough bread
celebrated a 5th birthday in a trailer
kept in touch with friends in china, guatemala, lancaster, and oregon
wrote some letters
made a bunch of mistakes
laughed at myself
failed to laugh at myself
watched many sunrises over massanutten
biked through many cold mornings to school
biked through rain
biked through snow
bought some cacti


today i walked through the world wearing my black boots, my owl shirt, with twin french braids. i felt strong & beautiful & happy to be alive. i went to the little grill for breakfast with thia, and had chocolate pancakes and orange juice, and i was telling stories about my life, and the world felt almost unbearably lovely.

it is, isn't it? we live in a world where there are 22nd birthdays that have chocolate pancakes and friends to eat with. where there are days and days of sunrises, made more beautiful by the days of snow and rain.

yes. it's a lovely world. & i'm happy to be here.