Read at your own risk.
As I sit here in my dusty ole’ painting clothes and baseball cap–my usual attire when I do work on our fixer-upper house–I can’t help but feel like 28 has given me more thoughts than ever before. Have I really become not only older…but wiser overnight? Are all of these thoughts swirling around in my head little symbols of sudden maturity and tidbits of wisdom dying to be shared? Nah, it’s just my usual anxiety and typical character that keeps everything bottled up inside…(what can I say? I’m an Enneagram type 9.)
In lieu (sigh, I never get the spelling of that word right the first time…) of turning 28 today, I thought I’d share 28 things that are on my mind today/things that have been on my mind since turning 27. So, before you start reading, grab that hot cup of coffee and a fluffy sweet piece of cake–because it’s my birthday, and everyone gets cake!!
Yep, this mug is talkin’ to you! 
(Not my birthday cake–this is actually a cake I baked last year. Read below!)
28 Things.
1. I decided I was going bake my own birthday cake this year, and I had BIG plans for this cake too. It was going to be my favourite flavour, Lemon Blueberry with Cream Cheese Buttercream, with an ombre effect of whites, pinks, and peach. And my signature pink flowers piped out of buttercream. Long story short, I made the frosting way too soft and the cake would have collapsed had I not put it the freezer. I didn’t even attempt buttercream flowers because I was too frustrated. I knew better. It’s moments like these when I wonder how I even call myself a baker?! Thank goodness the cake still takes like heaven! (To save a collapsing cake, place the whole thing in the freezer for a couple of hours. After frozen, cut it into slices and plastic-wrap each slice, then stick them back in the freezer in a freezer bag. Remove each slice to thaw when desired!)
2. Moving back home to Canada last year was the best decision. Sure, the fuzzy-warm feelings have worn off a little, but I feel like I’ve never been happier. And I love spending time with my parents again.
3. I watched the first half of Bird Box by myself the other night, who AM I? I don’t even like to watch Harry Potter alone.
4. I never want to buy a fixer-upper house ever again. Renovations just take longer than you project they will, the walls are all crooked (makes installing flooring and trim super fun), the construction dust is never ending, and Jarryd and I had too many spats over the whole thing. Thankfully, the hard part is almost over and the fun part of decorating is about to begin!
5. I get so overwhelmed by peoples’ kindness. The other day our new neighbour snowblowed our driveway for us. She must’ve felt extreme pain watching an out-of-shape 27 year-old attempt to shovel her own driveway, haha!
6. I’m only on point number 6 and I’m ready to change this post to DRAFT and forget about it forever, but no. I need to challenge myself, I’m 28 years old for crying out loud! Must keep going… (Did I just waste a number here?)
7. I’m really loving Marie Kondo’s Netflix show “Tidying Up”, but who isn’t?! I FINALLY know how to fold clothes the proper way (something Jarryd makes fun of me/gets irritated at me for not knowing). I purged EVERYTHING before our big move to Canada so I don’t know what to do with all of this tidying-up inspiration. I have nothing left to purge!
8. I really don’t like it when people say they’re “obsessed” with something (e.g- I’m so obsessed with these shoes right now). It grosses me out. Not even I would say I’m obsessed with Taylor Swift–I mean, I am, but I’d never phrase it like that. Haha!
9. I know I’m a baker and believe in all-things homemade, but can we just talk about how amazing McCain Deep n’ Delicious Cake is?! Like what is in that frosting?
10. One of my “resolutions” for Flour & Floral is to have more pink in my photos. My brand should reflect ME, right? And pink is my favourite colour, so why not?
11. Speaking of, you may notice pink fabric in some of my recent photos. That my friends, is a pillowcase. 😉
12. Jarryd and I bought our first dining table set last week. We’ve never bought one before. It’s not my dream table or anything, but it was a super good deal off of VarageSale—and we love it. It seats 6, so come on down!!
13. I can’t even believe I got to work with Wilton Cakes last year, and even got featured on their blog! That was very encouraging for little ole’ me.
14. I’m in this strange stage of life where I’m definitely in the minority when it comes to babies–as in it seems like everyone around me has kids. I’m constantly reminding myself that everyone’s life is different and God’s timing is perfect. Jarryd and I moving to Canada was essentially us starting over again, and even though we’ve been married going on 5 years, this move makes me feel “behind” in life, almost like we are newlyweds again. But let me repeat, everyone’s lives are different and God’s timing is perfect!
15. Speaking of babies, just a few years ago the thought of having a baby terrified me, but now…it would be just wonderful! Especially with living so close to my huge loveable family now! I’ve come such a long way.
16. I’m 28 years old and have no idea what I’m doing, what I’m supposed to do career-wise, and how I’m supposed to afford life/high speed internet. Trying not to stress over here…
17. I’m an Enneagram 9w1: as in, I’m a non-confrontational stress-avoiding peacemaker who likes a plan. But so many aspects of a 4 really nudge me. They enjoy the dwelling in sadness (sad movies, sad songs), feels like a black sheep, always stuck in their thoughts, and is super creative!
18. Jarryd and I teach Grade 2 Sunday School at church and the class is ALL BOYS. Talk about brand new territory for me. I’m outnumbered by people who actually enjoy wrestling and physically fighting with their friends. So weird.
19. Just THINKING about my old job (being a chef) gives me anxiety. And I have this fear that I’m going to wake up one day and realize that quitting that job and moving to Canada was all just a dream.
20. Other than home, I think my favourite place to be on earth is on a beach somewhere. Not a lake beach, but an ocean beach. It’s so soothing and I could spend hours in that salty ocean, until I see a fever of stingrays that is–then I BOOK it outta there! (True story, happened in South Carolina.)
21. Current Netflix show: Life in Pieces. It’s like a quirky, comedic version of Parenthood. So fun!
22. Current Spotify tunes: Carly Pearce. Oh and Alan Jackson hymns of course!
23. Is it weird how much I love being alone? Having the whole house to myself is like wrapping myself in a big blanket of ultimate-comfort-zone. I also love shopping alone, especially at IKEA, because I could spend 4 hours there just dreaming up my house that I can’t afford.
24. Do you ever wonder what you’d do if you won the lottery? I’d pay off our loan and mortgage, and I’d definitely buy the best Canon camera and lens out there. I’d also bring all my friends with me for luxurious spa weekends and get the most expensive spa packages, and then use the rest for traveling the world, home decor items, and melt-in-your-mouth steak dinners. (You can see I’ve thought alot about this.)
25. The kitchen in our house has soft-close drawers and cabinets. It’s pretty much my favourite thing ever.
26. I’ve also been spray painting all of our outlet covers, registers, floor grilles, and bathroom fan covers. Honestly, why spend all of this money on new ones when you can just spray paint the old ones? They look brand new, guys!!
27. I really love to keep things clean and clutter-free but my biggest downfall is not putting my clothes away after I wear them. I have a huge pile of clothes on our bedroom floor right now. Sigh.
28. WOW, I actually made it to 28!! (28 is too much, don’t you think?) I should probably make the last point a super deep one: I wonder how much money I spend on chips every year. Let’s see…I buy at least 2 bags a week, each bag costs let’s say $3.00. $3.00 x 2 bags = $6.00. $6.00 x 52 weeks in a year = $312. Hmm, ok. Not as bad as I was predicting it’d be. Phew.
There, I did it.
In case you didn’t know, that wasn’t easy for me. In fact, it took too long and I wanted to chicken-out half way through because I feel weird talking about myself. But I did it for my birthday, now I can move on and go wash some dishes or something.
Thanks to my like…2 fans out there who care about my personal life–for taking the time to read my 28 almost-useless thoughts. (This post doesn’t include a delicious recipe so I doubt it’ll get much traffic.) But that’s alright, y’all!! I’m glad I can say I did it and I hope you enjoyed it.
I think you should share at least one of your thoughts in the comments below. Please? Do it for my birthday. I’ll give you some cake. 🙂 Thanks for letting me share my birthday with you!!
It’s me!!! Your number one fan!!
Happy birthday! I feel like I always have random things like these floating around in my head, but it never quite makes it down on paper. It also takes me far too long to write things that other people will see.. so go you for making it happen!
Happy birthday!! I loved reading your *28* things!! I think it’s awesome your teaching all boys for Sunday school! Oh to be a fly on that wall! Haha!!
Happy Birthday Jennifer! I enjoyed your 28 thoughts, and I so relate to some of those to the point I think we could be twins. 😂 I’m in a “major minority” (lol) with the baby thing too, all of my friends have kids now but I remind myself that, like you said, it is God’s timing, not mine. Sometimes I’m not even entirely sure if we’ll have kids; we will see what the future holds.
Also, yes to hanging out at home like it’s a big fuzzy blanket – loved that description! Home and the beach, the best!
And IKEA. I could spend HOURS in there as well. Just roamimg and taking my sweet time. I love shopping alone. 😂
Lovely post – enjoy the rest of your special day!
Loved reading your post. The timing part, spot on. Not baby-wise, but after being with someone for 18 years before getting married (less than 4 months ago!) I’ve heard every variation of questioning when it would happen. Your faith in trusting it to happen when it’s supposed to is refreshing. We don’t all have to follow a standard timeline.
Haven’t checked in on here in a while and was delighted to read this blog post! Guess what? I’m 28, married five years, no kids, NO CLUE what I want to do for a career ( kind of working a dead end job & checking online jobs everyday!) So girl…you are SO not alone. (However I should mention that I can watch Harry Potter all alone just fine….)