40 Years of Jen

40 years ago my Mom who had no sisters and my dad who had no sisters, to their surprise had a little girl. I was a strong willed baby right from the beginning and that hasn’t changed a whole lot. 😉 For as long as I can remember I loved celebrating anything. I believe that comes from my Mom who was a Christmas baby!

I have always loved birthdays! Everyone’s birthday! I love celebrating the life of those people that are important to me. This includes my own. I have never focused on being a year older or the age that I am turning, it has always been about celebrating life. Part of that is making the day special. With the kids they can always pick every meal of the day and plan whatever fun they want to have. I treat my own day the same. 🙂

My birthday falling on the weekend had me extra excited this year. That always means not just one day of celebrating, but a full weekend of fun. And this year, I decided one “no cooking” was going to be one of my birthday wishes. 🙂 The beach is always at the top of my list as well, so the birthday plan was to hit the beach for a bon fire lunch with family and friends. This was the first time I have been to the salty air since last Fall. It felt amazing and I was even able to put my feet in! The beach is so good for my soul and I couldn’t have asked for a nicer day!

Supper was of course my favorite restaurant in the Valley, The Naked Crepe. I was excited that friends and family wanted to come along too. One of my favorite things about my birthday is being surrounded for the full weekend with all of the people I love spending time with. I am so thankful that this big group of amazing people wanted to spend as much of the day with me as possible! I love just love them all!

In the evening, Caile, Ella and I were participating in Relay for Life. This year was a Hawaiian theme and we spent the whole evening being surrounded by our dance family. It is an honour to be able to spend part of my birthday celebrating, supporting and honouring the strength of those fighting cancer, those that have fought cancer and those that are no longer having that fight. The girls love their dance family as well, they really are an amazing group of people.

I am so blessed to be surrounded by all of these amazing people who make every day, not just my birthday, so much happier. Tomorrow I will continue the birthday fun with more time with family & friends. We are heading to see The Odd Couple at Centrestage and I am looking forward to a BBQ & my favorite Ice Cream Cake with my family.

I definitely have learned so much in 40 years. It is amazing how at half my life ago I would have never predicted my life would be what it is today. I sit at the end of my day being thankful and amazed at the path God has taken me on, but more than anything I feel blessed!