Twenty-Four.

Doesn't get better than a cupcake and a bestie...

Something about the timing of my birthday falling perfectly in sync with the coming school year, has often made it more meaningful to me than New Years. (Or maybe I'm just a born-to-be teacher...?)

Either way, after spending some time in Europe, deciding to take a job in Chicago, and feeling the midpoint of this transition, I have just a few birthday wishes:

Be thoughful. Be decisive. Be confident. Encourage. Love. Live in community. Enjoy the season. Develop my interests. Be life-focused, never $-focused. Find an outlet. Do something exotic. Find Life in the everyday.

Though 24 loses an element of the young/vagabond feel of 23, I'm getting used to it.

And - in case it's important - 24 hrs into 24 I can successfully report that I do indeed feel older.