I turned 32 on Sunday, but I'm okay with it because two weeks ago I did a front walk-over.  It wasn't pretty and it hurt like hell, but after several attempts I landed it.  This feat means one thing and one thing only- I am not old.  My body is still capable of doing things that I was sure a decade of birthing children had destroyed.  I feel reinvigorated!  I want to go buy a gymnastics mat and practice in the yard.  Maybe I'll even buy a leotard.  Leopard print? 
When I turned 22, I remember thinking about how I could divide my life perfectly in half- 11 years pre period and 11 years post period.  On this birthday, I realized I could divide my life in half too- 16 years pre drivers license and 16 years post drivers license.  When I turn forty, I will divide my life into 20 years pre marriage and 20 years post marriage.  I don't know why I think this way.  It doesn't make a bit of difference.  Let's move on.
I heard a woman laugh the other day.  It was a contagious, hearty laugh that I instantly envied.  I've considered trying to transition to a similar laugh, but I'm not sure how accepted it would be.  It might be similar to me suddenly walking pigeon-toed because I think it looks cute.  People at work would stare and ponder whether I had always walked that way or was I wearing shoes two sizes too small. I don't like it when people stare, so I better not try the laugh thing. 
Matt and I took the kids to Gold Head State Park over Easter weekend. The weather was perfect! The kids got to spend some quality time with their cousins and the adults got to hang out and relax. One morning I wandered into the woods behind the camper, and came upon a deer. We engaged in a 5 minute stare down contest. It was the most magical nature moment I have yet to experience. It honestly felt like I was staring into the eyes of an alien, but not in a scary "Fire in the Sky" kind of way. I felt like the deer was looking inside me- reading me. I felt like at any moment we would start communicating with only the use of our minds. I know this all sounds so trippy, but I promise I was completely sober. On the last morning we were there, I walked into the woods to see if the deer would magically appear once more. And it did. This time our silent exchange was shorter but just as majestic. Our camping trip confirmed something I believe I already knew- nature is wondrous and worthy of being explored.

I can't believe it has been four months since I last posted.  Seems that time just has a way of passing too quickly these days.  Two thousand twelve has been kind to the Bergens thus far. No hospitalizations or incarcerations, so that is a plus.  The Bergens have officially joined the RV club.  Matt spent months in a drooling coma while online window shopping RVs.  I couldn't take it, so I caved and granted him permission to purchase.  I have that kind of power you know. 
Life on the home front has been somewhat chaotic as of late.  Countless times I have sat at the computer ready to type, only to be side-tracked by the mounds of trinkets and tiddlywinks that are scattered all around me.  I stack a pile, move a pile, toss a pile, and curse a pile, but the trinkets and tiddlywinks multiply like gremlins.  I need some feng shui in my life, and on Saturdays for about 3 hours after I complete my cleaning routine, I have it.  Then sometime between 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM, it gets un-feng shuied.  My new addiction to Pinterest is helping me come up with all kinds of ideas to organize my living space.  I haven't put any of the ideas into practice yet, but I intend to, maybe, probably, probably not.  I do love Pinterest though, even if I won't complete, make, or buy a fourth of the things I pin.  It's fun.  It's good, clean, harmless fun, and that is not easy to come by.  I'm hoping that this post will be the first of many for 2012, so stay tuned for more rants, raves, and adventures from the Bergens.