Thirty-One

Well, yesterday was my thirty-first birthday. Last year I dreaded turning thirty and all in all it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be... I mean, I didn't spontaneously combust or anything. And as much as I dreaded turning the big three zero last year, I couldn't wait for that zero to become a one. Strange, I know.

Because I asked for a totally expensive but necessary birthday gift (a new camera) Jason had decided that he wasn't going to do anything to celebrate my birthday - and that was fine with me. But other people had other plans... Derek asked us what we were doing for my birthday and when we told him nothing, he basically said that that was unacceptable and that we were going to do something. So, our birthday party of zero became birthday party of seven. Then my brother, David, asked what we were doing... now party of nine. A day or so later Jason invited our friend Brett as well - so now we are up to ten. A few days before the big day Jason's other brother called and asked what we were doing... and after that, well, it just snowballed. Our party of zero turned into a party of nineteen. All of Jason's family plus my brother and Kara. We all went out to dinner at Carnitas and then came back to our house to play some Guitar Hero. And my awesome husband ordered a cake for me - something that he has never done!

All in all, it was a great birthday!

Great Birthday

So I'm still not sure about this whole turning thirty thing. I woke up this morning feeling no different than I did yesterday. Maybe it takes awhile to sink in? But, I do know that it was a great birthday!

Jason had been planning a surprise for my birthday and didn't tell me where we were going. It turns out that he had made reservations for us at The Melting Pot. I have really been wanting to try it for quite a while so I was totally excited that he chose to take me there! And I was totally impressed by the fact that he actually made reservations (which is pretty much a must) - he always makes me make reservations for us when necessary. And not only did he make the reservations, but he did some research on their website so he already had in mind what we would order. The menu is a tad bit overwhelming so I am happy that he had already looked it over! We ended up getting the "Big Night Out" which is a four course meal. Oh, it was so yummy! We picked the Spinach Artichoke Cheese Fondue for our cheese course. It was so heavenly - I could have eaten just that over and over! Jason had the Spinach Mushroom salad and I had the California Salad. My salad was really good - but next time I'm ordering the one Jason had. For our main course we selected the Fondue Fusion which included two of my favorite things - lobster and Filet Mignon. The dessert was out of this world - dark chocolate, marshmallow, and crushed Oreo's. To. Die. For. Good!

He also got me an awesome present - a Disneyland pass. We had them before for a few years, but didn't renew them when I was pregnant with Dillon. I have been begging him for one again because it's so perfect to go now since Dillon is free. So, now it gives me the perfect place to take him when we just need to get out of the house - we tend to go stir crazy being home. I want to go today (right now it's actually two thirty in the morning - I think I drank too much iced tea at dinner because I can't sleep) because I am so excited! I guess that thirty year old's can still have fun after all!

So, like I said: Fantastic birthday - yummy food, cool gift and being thirty doesn't totally suck! Now if I could just get some sleep...

Birthday Blues

My birthday is rapidly approaching. Next Thursday - a week from today to be exact. Normally, I love celebrating my birthday, but this year is different. This year I leave my twenties and turn thirty. Yikes! Thirty sounds so old. Really, it's not, but at the same time - it is!

I loved my twenties. So many great and wonderful things happened. I met Jason at twenty, got engaged at twenty-two and married at twenty-three. We bought our first house shortly after I turned twenty-five and we welcomed Dillon into the world when I was twenty-eight. I'm not saying that everything in my twenties was all rosy and peachy-keen, there were quite a few low points, but overall, it was great.

Now I sit here, with thirty knocking on my door and I wonder what God has in store for me over the next decade. And, truth be told, I welcome it. But I feel this sadness of having to move on - like now' I suddenly have to grow up - like I can no longer be the way that I am (which at times I feel like I'm sixteen and I like to be immature). I feel like there was more that I wanted to accomplish in my twenties that I will now have to do in my thirties.

I've always heard that age is just a number and I'm sure that next Friday I will believe that. I also bet that turning thirty will be no different than turning twenty-nine or twenty-five or even twenty. But still, I will be slowly counting down the days until the "big day."