3-D

Well, it's official. I'm 30. Or according to Eli, 3-D. He saw me with this button and excitedly yelled, "YOU'RE 3-D!!!!"

All I can tell you is that so far being 30 is super fun and if I had known how spoiled rotten I would be this weekend, I would have turned 30 a long time ago. :) The truth is, my Mom has always said that I am an old soul and I feel like I have secretly been a 30 year old trapped in a younger person's body. Now I just finally have the wrinkles to match.

I feel like my birthday got kicked off on Thursday. I got a box in the mail that just made my day. My bestest friend Karen had individually wrapped 30 presents and sent along a cute little explanation for each one. The kids were at school and Kate was still napping and I had the best time standing in the kitchen opening each and every gift. There were serious things like a 30 day Bible study in Psalms and some pretty things like a candle holder and a wall decoration. Then there were things like a jar of salsa to to fill in for not being able to share our traditional birthday lunch at La Pinata, our favoritest Mexican restaurant. The first six presents were party supplies like confetti, a box of cheesecake mix and this cute button I'm wearing. She also sent some random things like hand sanitizer that attaches to your purse (when we were roomates in college Karen was the queen of the Lysol and hand sanitizer) and a sharpie marker. They were inside jokes, but I knew that my girls would be thrilled by those two gifts. I was right. Sarah noticed the hand sanitizer first and had it attached to her dance bag 20 minutes after I opened it. And Kate went right for the Sharpie. I don't think I ever told y'all about that. We have a sweet church member who made sure to give my kids gifts for their birthdays and she gave Kate a pad of construction paper and a HUGE.JUMBO.GREEN. Sharpie marker. All I could think was, 'What did I ever do to this lady?????" I later found out that Kate had specifically told this lady that she wanted a green sharpie marker for her birthday. It's what we all wish for, isn't it? Anyway, my favorite part of the box included the "30, Flirty, and Thriving" theme. I believe I have shared that "13 Going on 30" is one of my all time favorite movies and Karen sent me the DVD and also included a bag of Razzles, a candy that is mentioned in the movie. She also sent me lipgloss to be flirty (only with Josh!!) and some multi-vitamins to be THRIVING!!! I loved it. And I knew I was getting old when I thought, 'Oh good, I needed some vitamins."  :)  Everybody should have a friend like Karen. I mean, all of the "stuff" was cool, but really, just having someone to take the time and who knows you well enough to do something like that, it makes my heart full.

To top that off, Friday night my Mom didn't have to work so she offered to let the kids spend the night so Josh and I could have a date night!! I was thinking that we really need to have more birthdays because our last date night was Josh's birthday. We're going to have to come up with some new occassions. :) Anyway, we dropped the kids off and and had our picture taken outside in the very same spot we've been taking pictures for 10 years now.

We headed out for dinner and ate until we were afraid we might be stuck in our booth for the rest of the night. I was finally able to get up and walk to the restroom. I forgot to tell y'all about my "Turning 30 shoes". I found these snakeskin, wedge heeled sandals that were normally $70 on sale for $13  and I decided that I liked them. And they are SO NOT anything I would normally buy or wear. So, I decided that was the perfect reason to buy them and wear them. And I did. And it took me 10 full minutes to work up the courage to walk from our booth to the restroom for fear that I would fall flat on my face. It would probably give y'all great comedic relief to tell you I did, but I didn't. Thank the Lord. I did have a totally "13 Going on 30" moment in the bathroom. As I stood at the mirror reapplying my lipgloss there was a little girl about Sarah's age standing next to me washing her hands. She was wearing neon pink eyeglasses. And I thought about being that age and getting glasses and how I was one of those kids who was desperate to be a grown up all of the days of my life. I remember being that age and wondering what I would look like and what I would be like when I was grown up. Man life goes by fast!

Josh wouldn't tell me where we were going after we ate. His surprise for me was that he was giving me $5 for every year and he was going to drive me to any stores I wanted to go to and let me shop!!! Isn't that best birthday present ever? He followed me around carrying armloads of clothes and waiting patiently while I tried things on. He pretended to be interested while I discussed things like structured jackets and why I can't wear pants that have buttons on the back. My present from the kids is new perfume and we went shopping for that last. With no luck. We both just ended up with headaches and the mall closed before I could look anymore. Feel free to give me your perfume suggestions. I'm always looking for the perfect one.

We finished the night with a movie that ended up being terrible and we actually left halfway through it. Oh well, it was fun just to hang out in the movie theatre and eat peanut M&M's for awhile. When we pulled up at our house my heart was full again when I saw a ball in the yard and the bikes lined up at the door. I think the 8 year old me would have been very excited to know that she would spend her 30th birthday with her soul mate and come home to a house full of kids. (Or, at least their stuff. )  :)

I woke up the next morning to a quiet house and ate some breakfast and started my new Bible study. Then it was time to head out for dance class. It was unusually calm and easy and I felt like it must have been a birthday gift from above. :) Josh had already let me in on the fact that I was having two surprise parties. Yes, I knew about my surprise party. Josh got worried that I was going to make all kinds of plans and broke down and told me what was going on. Which was good. I like being surprised and all, but I have to prepare for the surprise, you know what I mean? I needed to clean my house and know what to wear and all of that stuff.

Josh told me the ladies at the church were going to take me out to lunch, but they actually decorated the fellowship hall and made finger foods and cakes and all kinds of goodies. I couldn't believe they had done so much work for me! It was so much fun though and I loved getting to just hang out and visit with everybody. I always feel like I'm running around like a crazy person at church chasing kids, so it was nice to sit down and actually have conversations with people. I felt so loved! We all decided that we will have to get together more.

Last night was my party. My Mom sent decorations home with Josh and let me tell you, it's really fun to watch your husband decorate for your surprise party. :) My Mom and Phil brought the kids home and Josh's parents and Mammy also came. Josh grilled steak, chicken and pork chops and made cheesecake and a German sweet chocolate cake. T, Mammy and Nana brought potato salad, baked beans and sweet tea. I seriously have never eaten so much food in one day in my life. I figured I needed to eat as much as possible last night because I knew my metabolism would be slowing down drastically today. :)

My Mom brought me my own box of cake pops! In case you don't know what that is, they are pieces of cake on sticks covered in chocolate. My Mom got some for Eli's pirate party and I'm not gonna lie.....I ate every last one of them that was left over. I commented then that I would be happy if cake pops were all I got for my birthday.

If you are in the Panama City area you can get some, too, at It's A Sweet Life. They are the greatest thing ever!!!

Today I am celebrating my actual birthday in true Emily fashion. Complete laziness!! We came home from church, I changed back into my pj's and we ate leftovers for lunch. I am stuffed, wored out and feeling spoiled rotten. Mostly, I am so grateful to be surrounded by so many loving, thoughtful friends and family. And I am excited to start a new chapter. I plan to live my 30's in 3-D!!!!!!