through the eyes of an iphone

birthday week is ending
and, honestly, it rocked.

amazing food.
pretty cakes.
instant photos and vinyl.
new treasures.
spontaneous trips to movies, to bakeries, and to the city.
swimming day {right before it snowed!}.
new anthro dresses.
birthday flowers on the table. and in my hair. and in the kitchen. and the garden. not to mention petals going down the stairs...

most of all,
my favorite people surrounded me at all times, even when i slept {sister sleepovers every day!}.
it was heaven.

to say i'm blessed would be an understatement.

weeks like these get me thinking:
i know birthdays aren't about gifts.
i know that there is more to our souls than just this life.
i know our lives, the world that we know, will end.
i know every gift and thing or item or piece of the physical world will not follow me into forever.
i know i will regret the abundance of birthday cake i've eaten this week,
but i have so much to live for. so much in this LIFE that keeps me loving this world...
and the best thing about it?
i know that when all of these physical things go back to the earth, or into a landfill,
forgotten forever
as though they never even belonged to a twenty-something girl in 2012
and my body...
the lips i apply lipstick on
and the shoulders my straps rest upon
and the hair i braid on a daily basis...
when all of my molecules disintegrate and die,
i can take moments like these...
all the pretty, tragic, loving and mad moments
and feel the warmth of love that life brings me.
love is what keeps us alive.
and though this life isn't what it's all about....
good gracious am i grateful for it.