Twenty-four

We celebrated my twenty-fourth birthday on Tuesday this week. The last few years, I've had a difficult time remembering how old I am (twenty-two? twenty-three?) I'm embarrassed to admit that sometimes I need to count the years since my birthdate in my head! Call it a muddled early-twenty-something syndrome. Does anyone else experience this selective forgetfulness? Anyway, for some reason or another, twenty-four seems like a year that will have more permanence for me. It was a wonderful birthday, thank you to all my sweet family and friends who made me feel so loved.

We celebrated with some super wonderful neapolitan pizza from a tiny, delightful restaurant. The pizza is baked in a brick oven they shipped from Italy, plus, they make their own mozzarella in-house!

I made this gluten-free almond cake for my birthday cake. So. Good. I loved that it wasn't super sweet, but more versatile (like you could eat it for breakfast the next day—I did).

Nicholas surprised me with a new sewing machine! :) I'm keeping the cool, vintage one I have (from my mom), but this will be nice for a variety of projects, too. I'm excited to do some more sewing soon.

And I bought myself really nice coffee. We've been savoring it every morning.

Also, my sweet friend, Maeve, knitted this necklace for me! (I'm wearing it in the first photo). I love it.

Apart from birthday logistics, I wanted to record a few things about our life right now. What is my life like as a newly twenty-four-year-old?

• Austin is our home now
• It was 91 degrees on my birthday (I wore a blue silk wrap skirt from my mom, a tank top, and brown leather sandals and felt completely seasonally-appropriate)
• We're striving to live a bit more minimally—buying fewer non-essentials, paying off student loans, saving, and using what money we do spend on good food, experiences, travel, and items that we need/love/find beautiful and/or useful.
• Just starting my new hospital RN job (I'll be transitioning to nights soon!)
• I've finally decorated our apartment in a way that we love/feel comfortable with/reflects who we are
• I still need to make daily lists if I want to remember anything—I think I'll be like this for life
• I'm currently taking my time reading and digesting the book of Mark for my bible study
• I've been confronted again and again with my need to trust Jesus with every inch of my life (any fears, doubts, and also things/people I hold dear)
• I love cooking (and my time in the kitchen) more than ever before
• I'm gaining confidence in gluten-free baking
• I crave fruits and vegetables (that never used to be the case!)
• It's easier to say no to overly-processed foods than it used to be
• I'm drinking more water daily
• Our favorite meals include PB baked oatmeal, lentil and coconut curry stew, grass-fed beef tacos with roasted sweet potatoes, roasted salmon, eggs of any kind with sprouted wheat toast, chocolate chip muffins, and these gluten-free brownies.
• We're fully equipped for camping trips now—we've explored two state parks on camping trips in Texas so far (Inks Lake and Mother Neff).
• I'm currently knitting a hitchhiker shawl (so close to being done!)
• I'm gaining some sewing confidence, but I'm ready to try something a bit more challenging than pillows (maybe a dress?)
• Lately, I'm enjoying listening to Alt-J (thanks, Fleet and Molly for the recommendation), The Oh Hellos, Andrew Belle, Ben Howard, Josh Garrels, Nickel Creek, and Sufjan Stevens
• Nicholas and I have been married for over a year! We love mellow evenings at home, good coffee, walks, camping, robust breakfasts, and playing euchre all the time. I want to remember how he holds my hand at the breakfast table, calls me everyday on his way home from work, compliments my cooking, and how I laugh more with him than anyone else.

I think that little, everyday things are worth recording just as much as the big things. Thanks for joining me on that little sentimental trip. :) Have a wonderful (restful, fun, whatever wonderful means to you) weekend!