Happy Birthday To Me.

30 today.....yep I'm 30 today.

I had an amazing birthday dinner with my friends and family up at my parents on Saturday. Brian organized the whole thing with my favorite meal of salmon and oysters and clams with salads and cheesy garlic bread. My sister and my mom rocked the kitchen filled it with food and decorated the heck out of the place. My MIL set out the most wonderful sundae bar you ever did see, Edaleen ice cream, with twinkies, chocolate covered doughnut, oreos, berries, chocolate sauce and the like and of course whip cream out of the can, it was real goood...double fist pump good. May it also be noted the Josher stole all of the twinkies out of my sundae and made guttural noises of complete joy while eating.

So I want to say one more time of the interwebs.THANK YOU. My family is the best.


Let be known also that I love this man with every 30 year fiber of my being. He is the ultimate companion in every way.

One of the things you may know about me is that am the biggest sentimental sap in the world. I love tradition, family, old stuff, brand new babies and the like. In saying this over the years my grandmothers have been so loving to pass pieces of jewelry and the like to me and my sister and I hold them very close to my heart. They are the best because they are classic and go with anything the quality is usually different than anything you can purchase now, yet the overriding factor is that usually they are items that they have had for decades and I can remember them wearing them, I can remember each of them each time a wear a piece. I can remember being a little girl and sitting on my Grandma's bed surrounded by her jewelry boxes and being allowed to try each one on. I have always wanted to have a certain piece of my own for as long as I could remember...this may all seem very materialistic to you I assure its not about having, its about sharing, its about passing on, its sentimental.

For as long as I can remember I have wanted a pearl necklace. Not just any pearl necklace I had a specific one in mind. And about 10 years ago I told Brian when I get old and he needs to get me something really special I would love a pearl necklace in which I described to him in depth.

Well you can probably guess what I got for my birthday and its not because I'm old he has assured me it is because 30 happens once and he loves me.
It's exactly how I had envisioned.

I feel spoiled.

Finally my thoughts on turning older.

I have said it before and I will say it again, I love the idea of growing older. I love wrinkles, I love experiencing life, I love this life....its all pretty great.

I felt like kind of a freak this year in turning 30 and not caring, everyone says its horrible and blah blah blah.

Heres how I feel about saying goodbye to my 20's.

The 20's comprised the greatest 10 years of my life. I learned who I was and wanted to be. I proved lies that I had believed, to be wrong. I set goals and met them. I found my calling, started a business and have been blessed by it. I had two babies and they are not only healthy but happy. I married the love of my life and he continues to be just that. My 20's were exactly what I wanted them to be and in that I feel content to move on. Don't get me wrong there were plenty of hard times, even bad times,times of loss and great sorrow, disappointment and tiny bit of what some would refer to as failure but the blessings that have been bestowed upon me overshadow all of that. I am a firm believer that life can be what you want to be if you hold on tight and allow God to show the way. Contentment is the key to true happiness in this life. Receiving blessings and loving them and cherishing them, rather then wanting more just waiting for whatever God wants to serve up next has been a strong theme in the last 10 years. Its when I want for more than what I have at the moment or allow myself to be drug down by outside influences when things get grey.

So 30 ain't got nothing on. My God is so much bigger than a number. And old doesn't have to be a negative thing, it just mean more life.

BAM:)

Happy 30th Birthday Mr. Husband!

The love of my life turned 30 years old yesterday. I sent him a text that said I am so glad you were born! It was the only thing I could think of saying. Its seems so simple to say but really I can't imagine if his mom had not birthed a 11lb 12oz baby boy 30 years ago...by the way my MIL is a rockstar you should tell her that. My life would not be the same without him.

As you know we had a surprise party a little over a week ago but I think it is important to celebrate on your real birthday as well or it seems as it was forgotten so we celebrated with these two last night. Because birthdays should be celebrated with friends.

Again the double date was a complete surprise because I didn't want him to tell me not to go to the trouble. I told him after dinner there would be a babysitter coming in an hour. When the babysitter got here I drove to the Bajemas and told him we were picking them up. I am pretty sure that Justin and BJ could talk for hours and never get bored.

I love my 30year old man. He's pretty much the best husband in the world. Everything about him makes me want to be better. The way he treats people the way he responds to others, the way he advocates for and loves his children, the way he tells me I am "his best" everyday, the way he gives of himself over and over again without expecting anything in return. He's a good man the kind of man you pray for, I know I am blessed.

I watched him help a random stranger on a ferry boat a month ago with her phone. He simply overheard her telling her husband that her service was crappy. He turned around and said is it a Verizon phone can I help you with it. The woman was thrilled and surprised by his willingness to help. I watched him genuinely go out of his way to help her and he enjoyed it..it was beyond. I am sure this seems like a simple thing, but I thought it was neat in fact I was darn right proud to be that mans wife right at that moment. Later on we were walking back to the ferry and we heard people yelling," Hey Brian." It was the couple from the boat yelling from way up on top of a balcony of a building...hahaha we laughed so hard, it was totally random.

I realize more and more all the time how important it is to keep your eyes open for the little things that make you love your spouse. That way there are constant reminders...it keeps things fresh. God is so good to give us small things to delight in every day.

Not sure what this face is...but it makes me laugh.



Happy birthday babe, you are the love of my life and I am so glad you were born!! Three fist pumps for 30 more:)

What a Weekend!

I had been planning a surprise birthday party for Brian for the better part of two months...and this weekend the planning came to end and the partying began:) And boy did we have fun.

Backing up a bit I will tell you that I may never plan a surprise birthday party ever again after this but it was all worth it when I saw Brians reaction to the whole thing. He was so in the dark the whole time that it actually made the whole process harder...I am not sure how many arguments we had as result (nothing serious just disagreements).

I told him we were having a family reunion at my parents Saturday night, he totally didn't want to go for a number of reasons(couldn't blame him). Plus our friend Jordan is home from Med School right now and all Brian wanted to do was hang with his friends. So we settled on him coming for dinner and then he could hang with boys later on. This took some convincing and came with a bit of questioning and a lot of comments such as,"you are never like this about this kind of thing." Little did he know I was acting like this for him.

In the process of planing I got a catering call for the same day, a wedding for 40 people. Brian overheard it and insisted I take it even though I was trying to make up every excuse not to. I mean when you are planning a party for that number of people already taking a wedding doesn't seem that appealing. But since he didn't know all he could do was question my judgement and I broke down and took it. So on Saturday I catered a wedding for 40 at 3pm and threw my husband a surprise birthday at 6pm. On my way to my parents he called and said he was almost there it was 5:15pm ummmmmm....not cool. So I told him I needed him to go to the grocery and proceeded to call him every two minutes with something else he needed to pick up...we also staged my brother in law running out gas and made Brian rescue him. Lets just say at this point he was more than a little annoyed with me. But when he pulled in the drive and saw everyone standing there all of my craziness became clear and think he was thrilled.


All of our friends and family were there, along with a ton of yummy food. I can tell you that the place was decorated and set up perfectly, thanks to my mom and my sister they really saved this whole party for me!!! I couldn't not have in any way shape or form have done this without them.


And what do you know? Jordan was there.
Thanks to everyone who lied, stretched the truth or fibbed a bit to pull this off! Its not easy when the honored person is trying to plan their own party for the very day the surprise party is planned.


I love all of these guys....they are like brothers to eachother and to me! Brian has gone to school with most of them since Kindergarten.


This photo totally personifies my mood for the evening, it was amazing that it actually worked and it was even more amazing to be surrounded by all of our family and friends in on place. It was more than fun!


Critter and her friend Andrea hung around for quite awhile.


Dave and Treasa...probably the sweetest couple we know. Not only are they our neighbors, they have become family!


Some of the menfolk shootin the breeze.




We were so blessed to have such great weather!! More about my wonderful husband later on his actual birthday!

We go on dates in a mini van now...

and I quite like it. I love seeing Brian drive that thing Dads in mini vans are kinda cute....maybe its just me, but a man who loves his family and his wife enough to drive that thing with pride is really...well it really makes me smile and sometimes I blush at how in love with this man I am. This statement really has nothing to do with post you should be warned...other than it is proof that a relationship/person does continue to evolve into something you couldn't quite picture as something so attractive until you are in it. I believe that this is the exact realization that sums up my past year.

This post has been in the works for weeks. I haven't written my reflective birthday post for this year and I think it would be quite a shame if I didn't get all of the thoughts wrapped around my heart and mind out. So here goes.

This year has been the most confusing year I have had to date. The only year I can think of that could even hold a candle to this would actually be a two year period of time between the ages of 17 and 19 and before you say or think typical I could beg to differ. Although I haven't lived out your story so who knows. Those years between 17 and 19 I refer(in my mind) to as the hardest test of my life. I think God gives us certain experiences sometimes to help craft us into what we are to become to show us what we could have to give us a finer perspective of what he wants us to have of what he intended us to have and ultimately what is perfect for us to carry out his plan. I remember the exact weekend this all became clear and the months following it that led me to a greater understanding of what God really wanted for me. I think back to that time often and over the years it continues to evolve for me into something that I see as one of the most beautiful times in my life. A time that was about me and me alone with God and the pair of us wrestling through what would become my life.

But back to this year and how it realtes to that period of time. Its that period of time that gives me hope in years such as this past one. I know it is all going to be okay because of the faithfulness I was forced to have in the times before and how God always stands beside me. And that is what gets me through.

Every birthday I have had for the past 5 years starts the same. I get up I go to the bathroom and I stare at myself straight in the mirror and I tell myself a God given truth. God knows how you came to be. Its a reassurance its a blessing it helps me with my day. You see how I came to be is foggy and it is confusing and Satan tries to use it every year on my birthday to cloud the promises that day brings. And this year was no different. The strange loss I experienced this year and all of the mixed emotions and boggled understandings actually made it easier and worse all at the same time. But something tells me selfishly its going to be easier for me from this year forward. There was a bit of peace this year. And so much of what mattered before seems to not matter at all or maybe just not as much. And I am learning to be okay with saying that out loud and I am learning to rest in admitting the peace to myself.

The peace in losing someone is a strange feeling. Guilt tries to creep in rather quickly. So in all of this I finally said it out loud to someone last week. That someone being my grandma, because if anyone is going to tell me straight up its her. So I let it all out and she said thats good, thats okay and you shouldn't feel bad. She gets it she gets me and I love her for it. And letting out the feelings that made feel like I might be a bad person was validating. And I needed this to be able to close my year of 28 and settle into 29. The shallow part of me needed to be validated in my choices in my decisions in my following of what my understanding of Gods will for my little family and myself.

My birthday was the best birthday to date. I love the idea of turning 30....I feel more like a woman and less like a girl, strange but true. I feel like the skies look a little bluer. I feel like my understanding of whats to come is clearer. I feel like the most blessed woman in this stinkin world. I feel like my general feeling that the past -good or bad- is what makes life beautiful but we can't live there because the present is what its about:)

P.S. I love my mini van. I am so glad we bought it. I am so glad my husband talked me into it. Cheers to mini van moms around the world its the best ever.

My 29th Birthday in Pictures

Some of these pictures aren't the best...but they are what they are.

I can honestly say this year was my best birthday to date. And it had nothing to do with presents or events all though that was all good. It was more about time spent with people I love, enjoying my surroundings and taking in all of the wonderfullness of my life. It was great it was wonderful it was awesome! I have the best family and friends in the world!


my yummy neice Layla...she is chewable and she came to celebrate my birthday.

Ice cream roll with fresh raspberries....thanks mom!

Sun Sun Sun....I had been praying for sun this past weekend:)

We spent the day at the beach on Sunday:) Hot Dogs and sandy beach and family and friends equals pure bliss.

My Zachy Zach with Dot. He carried her around all afternoon.

Water Races.

My poolside date....he hated the pool so we hung out while his mommy relaxed in the pool:) I totally minded;)

And that was my birthday weekend. Relaxed and lovely!

My Gracer Girl is Six!!

I promise to catch you up on all of our weekend event however they all started with a birthday party for our Gracer Girl. I am most sad though that now that she is six she no longer will be telling people that she is pive (not a typo just the way she said the word five until recently).

On Friday the pair of us girls got our hair cut at Ahmmys Hair shop. I just love this picture of Grace. Her little vampire teeth are my favorite.

Breakfast complete with a candle is always on the list for your birthday breakfast.(Please don't judge my painters tape...I have been completely unmotivated to finish painting my trim:(

Grace requested a rainbow cake this year and so I did my best to please her in this regard. I love to make the kids birthday cakes...it is so fun to see their faces light up when the set their eyes on it for the first time.


Happy Birthday my Grace! You are such a beautiful girl inside and out. This year marked big things for you...riding your bike without training wheels, completing kindegarten, learning to read, and my favorite asking Jesus into your heart. You have so much confidence and I love that you are not afraid to say what you want. You are extremely tough bumps and bruises are quickly fixed with a hug from mom and you are back on to do it all over again. God is going to do some mighty things with you and I can't wait to see what they are:)

I can't wait for our girls weekend next week, no boys allowed just you and me.

Its My Birthday.....Tomorrow.

So I am turning another year older. I am not really a freak out because I am turning a year older type of girl, so its no big thing. I really feel like getting older is a blessing, I mean I would never want to be 15 again and for more than one reason. Age brings wisdom and experience and perspective which are all extremely beautiful things. Growing older also bring wrinkles and recognition of gravity and bits of gray here and there which in my opinion are also very beautiful. If I could choose to be 28 forever and everything would stay the way it is right now or choose to grow older and take all of the signs of aging with it just to be able to see what else God has in store for me I would choose the latter no questions asked.

I have much to be thankful for over the last year much has changed, blessings have been continually poured out and God continues to surprise me daily. I have had a happy, healthy, successful and very full year. I think this past year I have grown more individually in reflection of me through Gods doing than any year in the recent past. He has taken time to work on the root of ME which has been challenging but also very satisfying and wonderful.

So here's to another year. I will spend it catering a 15 hour day and then enjoy a late dinner with my friends and my wonderful husband. I will also spend it being thankful for all that I have and be anxious to see what the next year has in store.

My Gracie Girl Turned 5....

I can't believe it....my baby is five years old. Its exhilarating and excruciating all at the same time. Its always funny to me how you can actually watch them grow a year older in the weeks leading up to their birthdays. Their language changes, their abilities grow and their view of the world gets a little bit bigger.

I love having a little girl! She is my partner in crime and my team mate in all things.

She chose to get a pedicure for her birthday this year and as superficial as a pedicure may be we had a wonderful time. Just a girl and her mom enjoying being girls and loving up on each other. I wish I would have taken pictures of her getting the pedicure the pumice stone scrub through over the edge and the air was filled with precious giggles from my beautiful 5 year old girl. After that we shared lunch and a milk shake at Colophon Cafe. I asked her over lunch what she thought about being five and her reply was, "So far its pretty great!"

The things about Grace that remain the same from year to year are her need to be Grace, an individual, not one who conforms to what anyone else wants at this point. She is not my people pleaser...you always know where you stand. She is never luke warm always hot or cold. She is beautiful and cheerful and just an absolute perfect part of our family. Brian jokes that she is just like me and I suppose he is right in a lot of ways. Although I wish I could have been more like her as a child, so confident and sure.

This year she was awarded the most cheerful dancer award at the end of the ballet season. And this is a great way to describe her. Cheerful, she is for the most part easy going laid back and ready for the next shenanigan at all times.

I love you my Gracer Girl!! You are beautiful in more ways than one and I can't wait to see what God has in store for you!

Graces Dance Recital "Let There Be..."

Graces performance date has been changed to June 20. This is also Elliots birthday and Fathers Day. We weren't very excited about the change but it had to happen so it is what it is. That being said it will be at 630 at Mt Baker theater. The tickets can be picked up at the theater or I will pick some up this friday if you let me know before then that you would like the tickets. They are 10 dollars.
To accommodate Elliots birthday I think we will try to go out for dinner before the show to celebrate him turning 7.
So let me know...its going to be adorable Grace is going to a red robin complete with a feather tutu and a yellow sequin beak:)