Thirty, Flirty, and Thriving

Ok, so I'm not exactly flirty.  But I couldn't miss the chance to use the quote from the movie 13 Going on 30 that my precious niece used to quote all the time.

I turned 30 on Saturday.  I haven't had any apprehensions about turning 30.  No big regrets or major depression.  But I will admit I felt a little twinge of sadness on Friday when I realized it was my last day of my twenties.  

Then my birthday came, and I was one blessed girl!  My day was full of cards, gifts, phone calls, voicemails, emails, visits, and lots of pampering.  And doughnuts.  Yes, doughnuts.

Jared went out and bought a variety of delicious options, and I cut pieces off several so I could taste them all!  The kids had no trouble finishing off the partial doughnuts.

When I started dieting on January 1, my goal was to make it all the way to my birthday (April 14) maintaining my fairly strict diet and exercise regimen.  I did struggle a little with exercise the last several weeks as my energy was just depleted from being sick, but I kept my eating on track.  

I lost 35 lbs. total!

So I wanted to enjoy some delicious foods on my birthday.  Apparently even Nolan knew my plans because he wrote this in my card:

"Mommy I hope you have fun eating non diet stuff on your birthday."

And I did enjoy doughnuts for breakfast, Jimmy John's for lunch (with Cherry Coke!), and a dinner date out with my amazing husband.  There were carbs.  Covered in carbs.  It.  Was.  Awesome.

The kind, loving words that I received from my friends and family members were my favorite gift on my birthday.  I treasure all the encouraging, sweet things that were said to me.  My sister even wrote in a book about sisters.  It's not something she enjoys doing, but it's exactly the type of gift that I absolutely love.

I also received some fantastic presents from several people, like these beautiful flowers from my hubby:

And these lovely flowers (that smell SO good!) from my friends (chosen by my little 4-year-old buddy Jaxon):

Nolan got me a new pair of earrings.  He wanted to buy me a new ring because the ring I wear on my right hand lost two tiny diamonds (I wear it anyway).  How sweet is that??  Jared redirected him toward something less expensive, and they agreed on a pair of earrings I had previously commented on at Kohl's.

Nora ripped open all my gifts from Jared before I could get to them.  He bought me an array of items that fall under the category of "My Favorite Things."  There were kitchen items (so I can tackle my Kitchen Bucket List!), a sewing magazine, a book about blogging, and a new purse (my current one is several years old, worn out, and outdated).  And on top of all that, he has been planning (with help) a birthday party for next weekend.  I am truly the luckiest girl.

 

I am in a circle of friends (5 of us altogether) who buy each other shoes for every birthday.  That means that each year on my birthday, I get four new pairs of shoes!  This year I even got five because one girl (my amazing sister) bought me two pairs.  This is one sweet deal.

 

I hit a point in the middle of the day when I felt overwhelmed and undeserving of so much loving attention and so many gifts.  

 

After the kids' nap time, we took them to Jared's mom's house.  She watched them overnight so we could go out to dinner and have a non-rushed date.  We branched out and ate at a new, nicer restaurant.  Then we did a little shopping and picked up some things on my mental list (clothes for the kids, stuff for Nolan's birthday party, one of my hard-to-find hair products, etc.).  It was fun to browse and laugh together.  And amazing to just jump in the car, drive to the next place, and go right in without unbuckling kids, grabbing the diaper bag, and corralling youngsters.  We felt light and care-free.

 

After shopping, we wanted to watch a movie, but we never have any clue about any of the movies in the theater.  So we stopped at a Redbox and picked up a movie to take home and watch in our jammies.  It turned out to be one of the best movies we have seen in a long time.  I'll write about that in a separate post. 

 

When we picked up the kids today, my mother-in-law even had presents for me.  Her loving babysitting was already gift enough!  She gave me a great Thirty-One bag with lots of pockets for organization and a super cool picture frame.  The front of the frame opens with a hinge so you can place your child's drawings inside and change them out easily.  It even holds up to 50 pages so you don't have to throw away the amateur works of art!

 

Oh, I am happy, fulfilled, and overwhelmed (in a good way!).  Thank you to my husband, friends, and family members who made me feel very special and loved on my birthday.  Who cares about crossing into another decade when it's this much fun? :)

 

Jessica