*A Post Worthy of Twenty-Seven Years*

Well dears, it's official! I'm twenty-seven years old... 27... twenty plus seven... nine times three...

I had a fantastic weekend both with Marcus and James in turn. Friday night Marcus took me to dinner at our favorite splurge, The Melting Pot. We had a delicious Caribbean four course dinner that started with emmental and gruyere cheeses. Our coq au vin entree of lobster, shrimp, filet, and butternut squash ravioli. Our dessert was a decadent flaming bananas fosters drizzled over cheesecake, pound cake, brownie, and fresh fruits and berries. *sigh* It's fun and romantic and delicious!!! If you've never had the gumption to try fondue, you HAVE to give it a go. You won't be disappointed.
A few pics:









We slept in Saturday... had a sushi lunch at a new place in Kingwood. OH MY GOSH! Sushi Hana was delicious. Our host even gave me a pair of beautiful lacquered chopsticks for my birthday. We will definitely be going back... every other day, is our plan.


Then we spent the afternoon at the new Discovery Green Park in downtown Houston. "See. Touch. Hear. Taste. Explore." -that's their mantra. And with a slogan like that, I can dig it. It was a fantastic! The weather was perfect, warm and breezy... the view spectacular. You know, a over sized two year old... in a pretty cute swimsuit... with bulging diaper... dripping wet... running in and out- in and out of the water. That's just what we saw--- can you imagine what we heard? Squeals... giggles... and a lot of "Daddy lookame!" "Momma lookame!"



















So, scared of twenty seven? No way. At first I was... sort of. But you know what? There is so much more to me... more to life... more to my people than hoping I won't grow old. Something occurred to me this weekend. I've always sort have been in a race with myself. The image in my head of who I should be is very high, and now I realize untouchable. But when I look at Marcus and James Neal... and I see what is reflected their eyes when they look at me. They love what they see. They adore it. And even though I doubt myself all the time, they don't. So you know what? Twenty seven may be MY YEAR. The year that I do my damndest to leave the baggage behind... look myself in the eye and value what I see. This will be the end of "Lindsey by Comparison." Comparison to my siblings, my birth order, to the perfect woman,or anyone else. I've done a lot in my 27 years. My son has seen determination and faithfulness and accomplishment... but he hasn't seen self appreciation, self value. And, if there is one thing I can do- I can teach. If there is one thing that is sure- I want James to understand that he was 'fearfully and wonderfully made.' So, I plan on giving him the best of me by being better to myself.

*So if you read this... and something I've said speaks to you... maybe it's because we both need to do better with appreciating who we are, as is... perfectly imperfect. I am going to try harder. I'll need encouragement. Let me encourage you, too. We are gifted and beautiful women... I'm going to embrace that this year and maybe gift it to my daughter one day.


Thanks for all the birthday wishes, calls, and emails!
Those small things mean so much.
Peace,xo.