It's my day of arrival

ByKristen
159 Comments

On this day, 48 years ago, I made my entrance into this world. 😉 So, I'm gonna do some navel-gazing. You've been alerted, ok??

When I made my first "About Me" page for this blog, I distinctly remember typing, "I am a 29-year-old (yikes!) mom of four" and the "yikes" was because I saw 30 coming down the pike so soon.

Kristen hugging toddler Sonia

Then I can remember turning 38 and thinking, "Oh my gracious, in two years I will be FORTY. That's so old."

kristen birthday
38

And now I am having that same feeling, except I am staring down fifty this time.

Kristen in a work tshirt.

Maybe this happens with every new decade?

(You guys can tell me!)

Kristen in black scrubs.

If forty seemed old to me, well, fifty seems so decidedly adult. I feel a little like, ummmmmm what? Me? I'm almost halfway to 100??

This seems like something that happens to other people, not to me. And yet, here we are.

I turned 40 in 2018, and I remember feeling full of hope that it was going to be a good decade.

Nadine West dress

Unfortunately, it started out pretty poorly, with a marital separation that summer, followed by a few very rocky years, and then a final separation in 2022.

The tears I cried in those four years could probably fill a small lake.

rainy windshield.

So, the first four years of my forties fell far short of my hopes.

But during the next four years of my forties, things have been so much better!

sunlight on a raindrop.

I moved to a new, non-split-foyer house.

I got divorced.

I got my first college degree.

Kristen jumping.

I started a new career that I love.

I bought my dream car.

civic.

My now-safe heart did lots of healing.

My smile became so much more real.

Kristen and Chiquita.
also we got Chiquita. Hehe.

So, my forties have been a 50/50 mix so far: four hard years followed by four happy, changeful years.

I have two more years left in my forties, and since I have exited the situation that was causing me so much pain, I truly do have high hopes for these years. 🙂

Here's to closing out my forties well!

More Uncategorized

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

159 Comments

  1. Let's see, can I be the first (or at least among the first) to wish you a very happy birthday, and many more?

    And my 50s were actually pretty good. It's my 70s I'm struggling with now. 😛

    Reply

    1. Yes, my fifties I still felt strong and everyone around me including my parents were relatively healthy. I had “divorced” myself from alcohol and cigarettes at 48 and saved my own life! 🙂 It was a great decade. I miss it! 😉

      Reply

  3. Happy Birthday Kristen!
    Yes, every time I hit a decade, it made me think. The hardest one for me was hitting 50, because everyone I'd known that had cancer, had it in their 50s. Well, I'm in my 60s now, and still fairly healthy, and would be more if I'd make a few lifestyle changes.
    I'm liking this stage of life where I care less what other people think. I'm not liking this stage where my body won't work like it used to. So its a balance for sure.

    Reply

    1. 65 here and I can so relate to everything you said. I feel more confident with my decisions and living life on my own terms, but struggle with the aches and pains of aging. I'm healthy otherwise but my joints are showing their years of hard use.

      Reply

      1. Cindi,
        Same here! My mind says "you're 25", but my body says "you're every one of your 64 years". Wahhhhh! (LOL!)

        Reply

  6. Happy Birthday Kristen! I hope the rest of your forties and your fifties are everything you hope for and more!

    In terms of feeling like a 'real' adult, I always remember advice from Judy Blume I read as a kid (Judy Blume always gives such good advice!).

    When she was a kid, she thought she would feel like an adult when she turned sixteen. Then, it was graduating high school. Then it was going to college, then getting married and then having kids. She kept moving the goalposts until she was in her forties and figured out growing up is a continuous process.

    Reply

    1. Sophie -- I just got to meet Judy Blume a few weeks ago, a long-time dream come true. She said she's 88 now and I bet she still doesn't feel like an "adult." She was as lovely as I'd hoped and so kind.

      Reply

      1. Beth, I'm so jealous! I wrote to her last year and got an email back which was a wonderful surprise, but I wish I could meet her! Very happy for you!

        Reply

    2. I’m 69 and I’m still waiting to feel like an adult. I think I stopped maturing emotionally at around 16! Ha ha at this point, I feel like this is as good as it’s gonna get. I’m a mom of four and Grammie of six.

      Reply

  9. Have a lovely birthday, Kristen! Very thankful for you and the wonderful community here! (Feeling thankful - and it's only Monday 🙂 )

    Reply

  10. Happy Birthday Kristen! I hope the next two years are as fantastic as your last four have been.

    I was not bothered until I hit 60 and then 65. Not really bothered but more a feeling of what the heck, how could this have happened. While I am healthy I still cannot get used to how much doctors want to find things that are wrong with you when you hit 60 and then they double down when you hit 65.

    Reply

  17. Happiest of Birthdays!
    You deserve all you’ve worked so hard for and more! I hope you are well celebrated today !!!

    As you know being a nurse, not everyone gets another birthday and at 62 I look at every day as a gift and I hope you can too! The number does sound weird though since I thought 62 was OLD 😉

    Reply

  18. Well if we take this glorious spring day as a harbinger, it's going to be another great year for you - Happy birthday!

    Reply

  19. Happy Birthday, Kristen!
    I’m very optimistic the remainder of your 40’s will be fabulous!

    Reply

  24. Happy, happy birthday! Wishing you every happiness in the next 48 years! Your beautiful smile is such a part of you that I barely recognize you in the picture where you're not smiling.

    Reply

  25. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

    One thing about hard starts is that it's almost certain to get better.

    When my mathematically-trained father turned 50, he said "_Now_ I feel middle-aged." My response? "You're going to live to 100? Cool."

    Reply

  27. Happy birthday Kristen! May the coming years continue to bring you joy & growth in all areas of your life!

    Reply

  29. Happy happy birthday! You are an inspiration. Here’s to many more happy years. And yeah, I don’t feel old enough to be nearing 50 either. How did that happen??

    Reply

  33. Happy Birthday, Kristen, and many happy days ahead, for sure. You’ve made so many of us happy with, ironically, your blog that also allowed you to be able to get out of a bad place and be happy yourself. How lovely and thank you!

    Reply

  35. Many blessings on your birthday and for the year ahead. Your life is rich in all that matters.

    Reply

  37. Happy birthday Kristen! Love all of this! Life takes so many twists and turns, but around every bend, no matter how hard a curve it is to navigate, I've found the world to be a brighter more beautiful place, and a deeper appreciate of all that I have in my life. Wishing you the best!

    Reply

  38. Happy Birthday Kristen! I do so enjoy reading your Frugal Girl thoughts. I think 40's are a decade of change. From my lofty perch of 70 years old, if I had it to do all over again in my forties, I might have moved to Italy because I speak the language. Even at my age I feel 35. Wake up every morning excited for what the day holds, mainly covering myself with dirt in the garden during springtime. You have a lot to look forward to, a wonderful career, your children growing up and becoming more like friends, then retirement which has been ironically the busiest period in my life. Have a wonderful birthday and a great week!

    Reply

  39. Happy Birthday to you! Here's to so many joyful, free, fun years ahead.

    And 50s are awesome -- while I've approached each new decade with some apprehension, too (and also some gratitude because not everyone gets to grow older), each decade has been better than the last. Not always in circumstances, but based on how I feel about myself. Yes, my skin's a bit droopier and I feel it more when I don't sleep/eat/move well, but with each passing year, I'm more okay with who I am and more proud of the work I've done to improve the things I didn't love about myself -- internally, that is. No shade to people who improve things physically, but I'm largely too cheap for that. 😉

    Kristen, I hope your day is all kinds of amazing! I think we're all so glad you were born. 💕

    Reply

  41. Happy Birthday!
    I'm closer to 70 now than to 60 and it always surprises me a bit. I don't feel that old in my head!

    Reply

    1. i agree. old age is a privilege. sometimes i feel terrif and sometimes i feel ancient.
      may you continue to feel young in your head and sometimes in your body!!!!

      Reply

  43. YAY! I'm so happy for you that the last part of your 40's has shaped up way better than the beginning. Happy Birthday! I hope you have an amazing day and even better year ahead!

    Reply

  45. Happy, Happy Birthday!!!! You are going to finish out your 40s in grand style, I just know it! It’s onward and upward for you, dear lady.

    Reply

  46. Happy birthday! Today my husband turns 70!! And we are off to Greece to celebrate that and my retirement! Enjoy your day and keep smiling. You still have 2 more years in your 40’s to make that decade better than the first 4 years.

    Reply

  47. Happy birthday, Kristen! I'm sure your next two years and decade will be filled with both kits and challenges as we all have. My tough decade was was late 20's to my my mid 30's. Now as I near 70, I look back and can't believe what I did and that I grew and survived. (2 divorces, a major move and a new job, being a single parent for 7 years, a new marriage.) Youth gives us strength and courage to do what we have to do. I'm proud of myself for getting through it all and thriving. I know you have much to be proud of, too. Celebrate it all!

    Reply

  48. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! best advice my mother-in-law gave: Celebrate! don't count. Congratulations on all you have accomplished, learned and shared. I remember in my 48th year when it dawned on me I wasn't really "middle-aged"-- whew! But I can tell you the 50's were a wonderful decade!

    Reply

  50. HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY KRISTEN! YOU TRULY DESERVE ALL THE HAPPINESS THAT CAN COME TO YOUR DOOR. I THANK THE LORD FOR THE COURAGE HE GAVE YOU AND NOW ITS TIME FOR YOU! Enjoy life to the fullest, we only get one on earth so make the very best of it.

    Just keep looking up and forward

    Patricia

    Reply

  51. Happy Birthday to you!! Life can be hard and sad. However, you have worked harder and look at you now!! I see my daughter in you because her journey was simialr as far as divorcing and then splitting from a very long time relationship. I am sure she cried enough tears to fill a pond too. However, she reached the other side. She did just turn 40 and her smile is back. I am sure your parents are so happy to have their daughter back. YOU deserve to be celebrated.....these next years will be magical. Keep being you and keep writing.

    Reply

  52. Enjoy the Fs; they are still (usually) healthy and productive. We still look good, feel strong, and can do hard things in the Fs.

    The Ss seem to be when the physical troubles begin and accelerate. It takes much more effort just to not look bad, to stay fit, and to find the motivation to do hard things (and I’m experiencing these things while only in the beginning 1/2 of the Fs).

    Reply

  53. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
    My much older sister-in-law hated turning 30, complained vehemently about 40, then 50 and 60. By the time she turned 70, she knew her time was limited and I think was finally sorry about all her years of complaining, but it was too late. I never understood her angst, to me age is just a number and it doesn't define me.

    Reply

  55. Happy birthday! I hope the next two years bring you to fifty feeling joyful and optimistic.

    I find I tend to take stock near the middle of the decade--something about entering my "mid-whatevers" makes me reflect. I had a hard time turning 24, for example, because someone in their mid-twenties is really not a kid anymore. Like, late-teens/early-twenties is its own stage, but mid-twenties is an adult. And I was *so* not where I wanted to be in life. And this year I'm turning 34, entering my mid-thirties. I'm not even a *young* adult anymore! I find I'm doing a lot of reflecting on where I am professionally, in my family life, and financially. Happy reflections, by and large, but much more reflection than happened last year.

    Reply

    1. be proud of your accomplishments. you have a new baby on the way, great job, wonderful hubby and a new place to decorate and make memories. when i was 34 i didn't have what i wanted so much. a hubby and kids. what i have now was so worth the wait.

      Reply

    2. Meira, I'm a few years older than you and occasionally feel 'behind' for not hitting the 'real' adult milestones yet!

      Reply

  56. Happy Birthday to you, Kristen!!
    I do hope today is filled with beautiful surprises that fill your heart with joy!! May the Lord bless you with many more years of strength and
    hope!! Much love!!

    Reply

  57. Happy birthday! I can say that I found the process of turning 50 (I'm just a few months in) to feel much more liberating than 40. I feel like "me", and not just a mom that I used to feel like. Being a mom is amazing & life changing & I love it, but I am also more than that, and with my kids now adults, it feels very different. That has also freed up more time for a different kind of relationship with my husband & I'm also enjoying that. I'm also comfortable with saying admitting to myself when something isn't working (looking at my job), which as a people pleaser who obsesses about financial security - this is a very big step for me. All told, I'm loving 50 & am considering it a decade of adventure!

    Reply

  61. happy birthday. you are a rock star, educating us all how to soar from rock bottom. i was part of the generation that didn't trust anyone over thirty. and i am now plus that.
    i had a major breakdown when i was 35. it was scary but i came out the other side ok. Seeing all the pictures of you is awesome.

    Reply

  64. Happy birthday to you,
    happy birthday to you,
    Happy birthday to Kristen,
    Happy birthday to you!!!
    Enjoy your birthday week❤️
    As I've gotten older I celebrate all week 😀🎂🍰🧁🥳🎉💐

    Reply

  65. Happy birthday, and be not afraid! The fifties are wonderful years -- generally healthy, everyone else is, too. You've made peace with many things that used to upset you. Your children are adults (usually) making strides on their own lives. In the fifties, financial stability usually arrives. It's a good decade.

    I'm 76 now, by the way, and I'm still happy.

    Reply

  67. Happiest of Birthdays Kristen! I've been a reader for years, but rarely comment. I am so impressed with your attitude towards life. I love your writing style. I just KNOW that your remaining years in the 40s will be awesome. Enjoy your day to the fullest!!!

    Reply

  68. Happy Birthday Kristen!
    I turned 70 on Thanksgiving and was surrounded by my whole family (there are 17 of us). I felt strange that I was 70 but by the next day was back to normal. My 60’s had soooo many health challenges and surgeries that I’m looking forward to a healthy future in my new decade!

    Reply

  69. Kristen! You have been a blessing to so many, in real life as well as on the page, and that was in your darkest years too!

    Happiest of (Birth) Days to you today. Wishing wonders ahead for you in the years to come.

    Reply

  71. Congrats. You share a birthday with our king, Willem Alexander (The Netherlands). I want to thank you for the beautiful blog you share with us. And many blessings for the year to come! Josine

    Reply

    1. A very happy birthday to your King! I always enjoy looking at photos of your King and Queen (irreverently, "Wax and Max"), because they genuinely seem to enjoy their jobs and each other.

      Reply

  74. A very happy birthday, Kristen!

    For every decade since my twenties, I also remember having an age crisis two years before the start of each decade, 28, 38, 48. I turned 50 last year and it was just fine, just like when I turned 40 and 30.

    Curiously, at this age I feel closer to my teenage self than ever before. It is like time is a spiral and it is now bending back to when my body was changing with hormones and I was looking forward with some apprehension and excitement to what was ahead. Now, my body is yet again facing strange hormonal changes and I'm looking forward to the next chapter where my kids have grown up and I hope to have more time to focus on some of my earlier interests in life that were put aside during the "rush hour" of work and family.

    It does feel heavy also to consider your parents ill health and mortality, if it hasn't happened before. My father passed away years ago but now my mother is very ill and needs our care. This lends an opportunity to reconsider our old relationship and how we interact, and hopefully to give us closure and relief from some paint points.

    Reply

  76. Happiest of birthdays to you! I must tell you that turning 50 was a very freeing experience for me. I finally felt “grown up”, and finally felt like I didn’t really care so much of what other people thought of me as long as I was happy with myself. Maybe that’s not the best way to explain it, but whatever it was, the 20+ years since then have continued in that vein.

    Reply

    1. Addy, it's refreshing to read that you believe being a grown up is a good thing. I feel the same way too. I'm in my late 60's and it's actually a relief to ignore cultural dictates - I like, what I don't like, and what I do not care about.

      Reply

  77. Happy birthday, April 27 twin (I have about 5 years on you.) You are an amazing, inspirational woman and I love reading your posts. Keep it up and know you have another Taurus lady cheering you on!

    Reply

  78. Look at that beautiful, confident, joyous smile! Happy birthday season to you. I have many friends and family your age, it is a wise age, you don't have to prove anything just hold your head high, dance with abandon!

    Reply

  80. Happy Birthday, Kristen! And many happy more to come!
    Having lost friends at early ages, I know each healthy birthday is a gift we get to enjoy, so worrying about the number is fruitless, I believe. The old line - If we didn't know how old we were, how old would we feel - I love it. Some days much younger and other days, well ... ancient! haha

    Thanks for all the work you do to create content and maintain this cozy, thrifty corner of the internet.

    Reply

  81. Happy Birthday, Kristen!
    Don't you think that the hard times (and their ugly memories) have made these past years a little sweeter? Granted, you've had some hard times during these years, too. And we who read you regularly are proud of your determined courage and strength during these periods.
    Some of my colleagues have said, "Act like you know what you're doing -- and eventually you will." You have proved that over and over. Good for you.
    (And when you get to fifty, it won't be that much of a big deal. Speaking from experience here. But when you get to 65, well...!)

    Reply

  83. Many Happy Returns! (seriously, what does that even mean?)
    I know about the staring another decade in the face... I turned 40 this month. I don't feel much different than 30 which didn't feel much different than 25. But I have gray hair, a husband, two kids, a dog and a house. None of which I had when I was 25 or 30. So things have changed. I just feel like I haven't. I still feel lost and wish I had an Adultier Adult to do the adult things. But I guess the real secret to adulthood is... everyone feels like this, to a degree. we just hide that side of ourselves from our kids, so we thought our parents had it all together, so now we think we should have it all together. so on and so forth.

    Reply

  84. Boy--still being in your '40's sounds good to me! As long as you have your health and mental faculties, any age is better than the alternative! Take it from one who will be 89 this summer! A wise professor once told me (and I have proof that is true, "The shady side of the 80's is when the shingles start falling off the barn." Enjoy these years and the many you have ahead of you! Happy Birthday!

    Reply

  86. I am in my fifties currently. I think I do vaguely remember being a little off about turning 30… So different than you, no kids not dating anyone, starting to want to actually get married someday and have a kid or two. But after that, each decade I celebrated because 1) I had made it that far and was still relatively healthy, 2) all the wisdom that I had gained. And I saw women older than me, even with more wisdom. And I also hated how society denigrated people as they got older - especially women, so I decided I was not going to be like that. Life definitely has its ups and downs, sometimes really really really downs, but life at any stage has so much to offer. I do worry that when I get to be a certain older, older older age, that it will be difficult to remain so positive when health ailments are probably happening. But even then, I’m going to try to focus on what I still am able to do. Age is just a number. Your attitude and how you live. day-to-day is more important. In my head and in my spirit, I still feel like a 20 something college student. That is the spirit I usually try to put out to the world. I had so much hope and so much energy and so much excitement at that age. I have to live in the real adult world now, but I still try to emulate that as much as possible. ☺️

    Reply

  89. Happy Birthday!
    Enjoy these last two years in “40” but don’t worry about 50 either. It’s just another number, but definitely an excuse to celebrate extra big when that birthday comes around. 😉
    Hope today is joyFULL!

    Reply

  90. Happy Birthday, Kristen! I hope you have a wonderful day!

    Thank you for being an inspiration for all of us every day. I must say, the 50's have been a great decade for me! You have a lot to look forward to.

    Reply

  91. Precious. A testament to the fact that every day is a new day and a chance to start over. You have done just that, and made it better and more beautiful with each day. Happiest of birthdays to you! Wishing you the BEST year yet! I think it will be!

    Reply

  93. Oh, my goodness! I'm a reader from back in the early, early days. I remember each of those photos! I am so happy that your smile "became so much more real." You deserve all the benefits that are coming to you. Your courage, bravery, and tenacity have taken you far. I can't wait to discover where life's road leads you next. I'm along for the ride and hope it lasts for many years to come. Happy Birthday from two decades ahead of you!

    Reply

  95. Happiest of birthday wishes, Kristen!! As someone turning 66 (yikes!) next week, I can only say when I focus on the days and not the years, life is pretty darn amazing!! Here's to many more happy and healthy years for you dear one!!

    Reply

  96. Happiest of Birthdays 🎂 Blessings on your Arrival Day, may it be as wonderful ✨️ as the past 4 years!

    Reply

  97. Happy arrival day! I'm a year older and feeling many of the same things as 50 looms. I truly do feel like each decade has gotten better so far, though, so here's hoping that continues to be true!

    Reply

  98. Happy Birthday! I can remember receiving my Medicare card in the mail last year. That made me feel incredibly old. That red, white and blue card was something my parents and grandparents had, not me. But yep...it had my name on.
    I love that you have reinvented yourself in your midlife!

    Reply

  100. As someone who is almost precisely ten years ahead of you, let me recommend your fifties. They're absolutely fantastic! They're the decade for not giving a flying fuck what other people think about you.

    Reply

  102. Happy, Happy Birthday, Kristen! I firmly believe the best is yet to come for you and many beautiful things are heading your way.

    I, too, felt a little freaked out when l turned 40, then 50. I felt like there was no possible way l could have gotten there so fast, and poof, l will turn 58 later this year. I think it will always surprise us to hit that next milestone.

    Reply

  103. Happy birthday Frugal Girl! To see you blossom so beautifully in the second half of your 40s brings me so much joy. Your story brings me hope as well. I turned 44 earlier this month, and I have had a rough first half to my 40s as well: a cancer battle, an intellectual disability diagnosis for our daughter, a family business that struggled because of my cancer, and a career that feels like it is fizzling out. We're somewhere between picking up the pieces and gluing them back together with stronger glue. Here's to survival and renewal.

    Reply

  108. Happy Happy Birthday to you!! I've been a reader since the Stitch Fix days (not sure how long ago that was?) I completely enjoy all of your posts and always look forward to the Five Frugal Things days - one of these weeks I will participate. Hope you enjoy your special day and hope it brings as much light to you as you bring to us!!

    Reply

  109. Happy Happy Birthday to you!! I've been a reader since the Stitch Fix days (not sure how long ago that was?) I completely enjoy all of your posts and always look forward to the Five Frugal Things days - one of these weeks I will participate. Hope you enjoy your special day and hope it brings as much light to you as you bring to us!!

    Reply

  110. Happy birthday 🎂 May God bless the years ahead with joy, peace and immense contentment and good health!!

    Reply

  113. Happy birthday Kristen! Remember God will give you double blessings for your troubles, ie, the years the locusts have eaten.

    Reply

  114. Happy Birthday! 🎉💛 I hope the last two years of your 40s exceed your wildest dreams! As I get older - I’m 59.5 right now, yikes! - I tend to see life as a gift, and I’m just hoping for another healthy year. My husband lost his two sisters in their 20s to cancer and a heart attack, so this has been on our minds for a bit. I tend to see life as a roller coaster, and I feel like I’ve done the main part of the “ride,” and I’m more than halfway through it, winding down and slowing down. There might be a few more twists and turns left! 😃

    Reply

  115. Happy Birthday!
    You really turned your life around to a job that gives you purpose and financial stability and overall a life to be lived freely. This is so inspiring!
    I was quite happy when I turned 30, around that stage in life so many things happen.
    The 50 bothered me little, now that I am 57, I am not soo happy looking at 60, but: my health, fitness and general well-feeling is so much better than in my 40`s.
    So never forget to put a little positive perspective on the future years - good things might happen.
    Example on not how to: my aunt was merely 50 when she started that whiny : "Why should I buy (new total sensible item like shoes, wintercoat...)? I am old and I don`t need it any more." She was in good health and financially well off then, and this year, she turned 97! And she wasted all this time waiting instead of enjoying her life. Now, she does not remember me or herself most of the time.

    Reply

    1. Kind of reminds me of when people say they won't spend money on vacations, for example, and will save them for retirement...but then are less physically able to travel. Of course it's a balance, and spending without thinking ahead (or at all) definitely isn't wise, but I like to enjoy experiences in the present, as who knows what the future brings? There's a saying I like: Rise to the occasion which is life!

      Reply

  117. Happy birthday, Kristen! What ups and downs you've been through over the past 8 years. Wishing you so much happiness in the next years ahead!

    Reply

  118. Happy Birthday! Your journey has been inspiring. Here’s to many more adventures! Always enjoy the words you post, regardless of the topic. And my forties started out HARD (relationship breakdown) and then slowly started ticking upwards. I just turned 54 and life is good.

    Reply

  119. I enjoy the way you express yourself, causing us to think by sharing your journey. That could be part of the joy of your entering a new decade--the opportunity to share what is meaningful to you. I love where I am--age 79! I just came back from running (well, almost) the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon in memory of my cousin who was killed in the bombing 31 years ago. In fact, I ran the inaugural race 26 years ago! I got to mile 20 and was ushered off the course--a heat advisory and those at the back of the pack were not allowed to finish. That just adds to my story. Where will I be when I'm 80? I have some big aspirations! Keep those stories coming and Happy Birthday!

    Reply

  121. Clinking a virtual glass of sparkling apple cider to celebrate your 48 turns around the sun. What a pleasure it has been seeing you go from the depths of despair to a happy, safe, productive life. And I'm certain the best is yet to be as you grow in your profession and learning to have a joy-filled life (yes, it is a skill!).

    Have the happiest of birthdays!

    Reply

  123. Happy b'day,🎈🎉🎂Kristen & wish you many, many.. more!

    You have worked so hard & deserved all the successes that you have accomplished.
    👏 Congrats!

    Warm regards,
    Rosemarie

    (Hope it's not too late to wish you, happy b'day. Just read the email).

    Reply

  126. Happy birthday, Kristen! Blessings to you and many more as you continue your journey and yearly trip around the sun.

    Reply

  127. Happy Birthday Kristen!! 🎂🥳 So proud of you!!! You should be tremendously proud of yourself!! ❤️ I am about 9 years older than you but I can tell you I have enjoyed my 50's (aside from menopausal weight gain) 😂

    Reply

  128. Happy birthday, Kristen! I hope your day has brought you as much joy as you bring to all of us through your writing. Many good wishes that the upward trend continues!

    Reply

  129. Happy, happy birthday, Kristen! I hope you are celebrating that wonderful day of your arrival! You are an inspiration to all of us!

    Reply

  130. Happy birthday! The next big birthday on my horizon is 70 and I can tell you, at least for me, every decade has gotten better and better. I wish the same for you.

    Reply

  131. You are an exceptionally, beautiful, accomplished and, confident woman. You have worked very hard and your 40's have been good to you. I've no doubt, your 50's will be even more spectacular. Work hard, play hard, love hard. It's all that can be expected of us.

    Reply

  132. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! You deserve to be celebrated every day, but especially today. Your smile is so vibrant now. 😃
    Whatever comes next, you are living your BEST life, because you are doing the choosing and that is everything. 😌
    The best is yet to come! I’m in my 50’s after unexpected divorce (3yrs. ago). Still healing in some places, but so much lighter and fully “me”.

    Reply

  135. Every decade has its challenges, and I want you to know, that my 50's were THE best! I think they might be for you too.
    That said, I just turned 80 and in reality, every decade has hills and valleys. Just keep who you are and dispense with everything thing else.
    I can tell from your delightful blog that you have risen from a very hard place. Keep smiling and let your heart guide you young lady.
    I look forward to your blog, every day.

    Reply

  136. Happy birthday Kristen !!! You look fabulous for 48!! And you inspire us all with your ability to overcome difficult situations and challenging times!! You have done well!

    I can tell you from experience that you will blink and turn 59, then 60! More growth will happen and you’ll continue to inspire! I will turn 63 this year and sometimes I wonder where the time has gone and what the future will hold! It will always be an adventure! Thank you for sharing your wonderful journey with us and have the best birthday ever!!

    Wendy ( in Calgary. Alberta Canada)

    Reply