The Big 3-0

I promise I haven't been avoiding this post because of that big nasty number in the title ... we've had a very busy couple of weeks! But a birthday was had so it must be blogged about!

I turned 30 last Saturday. Yikes, right?! I've never really worried about how old I am. I know I'm older than all of the friends in our year here (husbands and wives), and Jordan likes to remind me a lot about the 2.5 year difference in our ages and that he saved me from being an old maid :) But everyone knows none of that really matters. However, 30 is a big number. It kind of felt like my life was about to end in the weeks leading up to it. When people lie about their age, it's always 29. When people celebrate turning the same age every birthday, they always pick 29. Like 29 is the pivotal age and no one wants to ever be older than that. So leaving 29 behind seemed kind of disastrous. I also got a silly idea in my head about six months ago regarding something I wanted to happen by my 30th birthday. Unfortunately, it was something only partially within my control so it didn't end up happening, which added to my angst about turning 30 without having achieved this particular milestone. But honestly, in retrospect, I don't feel any different so it must not be that big of a deal. It just seemed like a big deal. And now it's over. Bring on 40 :) Just kidding. I kind of hyperventilated a little when I typed that :)

I told Jordan a LONG time ago that there would need to be a huge bash to take some of the sting out of this particular birthday. But as time got closer, the month started getting very busy! Jordan had to attend an optometry conference in Orlando two days before my birthday, my Dad wanted to come visit the weekend of my birthday (the big day was a Saturday this year) and Jordan's parents planned a trip out for the following weekend. And of course General Conference was the weekend before. So as I looked at the calendar, I realized there wasn't even going to be time for a birthday party!! I was slightly disappointed but knew we'd have fun anyway with my Dad in town. But my awesome husband knows me well and knew that while he shuns birthday celebrations like the plague, I would always wish we'd done a little something. So he planned a surprise party for me!!!! It was awesome!!

The levels that he went to in planning and pulling it off are worthy of Husband of the Year status! He made invitations at school and distributed them like three weeks beforehand (no last-minute text messages for this guy!). Then the Monday before, we had FHE at Jen and Ryan's house and McKinley was playing with my wallet while we were there. The next day, I couldn't find my food stamp card and thought for sure we'd left it there so I called and asked Jen to look for it. She told me she found it and it just happened to be the same time as Jordan was driving home so I told her Jordan would stop by and pick it up. All legit, right? WRONG! Turns out the card was never missing - Jordan had taken it out of my wallet to go get the food for the party, and since Jen and Ryan were in on the party from the beginning, they played along with the whole thing. Jordan said he was sweating bullets when I called to tell him the card was missing but couldn't believe it when I bailed him out by being so sure McKinley had just dropped it somewhere at Jen and Ryan's. My Dad was in on it too, since the party was Friday at 5 pm and my Dad was supposed to fly in right at that time and be at our house for dinner around 6. I kept telling Jordan I wanted to get some things prepped for dinner during the day and he kept putting me off. He also requested I pick up three 12-packs of soda at the grocery store when I went shopping. I thought this was really weird since we never buy soda, but he said my Dad might want some to drink and so would his parents the following weekend so we better just get it now. I was too preoccupied with getting things ready for my Dad to argue. The final straw was when he suggested we go to the park around 5 to let the girls get the wiggles out before my Dad came. I was seriously questioning his mental state. My Dad and his girlfriend were due to arrive at our house expecting dinner at 6 and he wants to go to the park at 5?????? What??????? But he kept pushing and promised that we wouldn't stay long and that he would help me with dinner as soon as we got back. I assumed he meant the park by our house, which is like a one-minute walk, so I finally caved. Then 5 pm rolled around and he started loading the girls up in the car, saying we had to run a quick errand first. By this time, I knew something was seriously weird. My suspicions went sky-high when his errand was to the store and he came out holding a HUGE Happy Birthday balloon. Just to have for the weekend, he said. Whatever. Then we started driving to a park 15 minutes away from our house. So much for a quick trip to the park. The final straw was when we pulled up and the first people I saw were Craig and Katie Moss, who live like 30 minutes away. What, they just happened to be in the area?!?!? As I got out, friends came pouring over, and Jordan just kept grinning from ear to ear, so proud of himself :) He had a couple friends bring food and even had my friend Lyndee make my favorite cake. And we brought the soda :) I still didn't understand what was happening with my Dad, but he showed up at the park too!! It was awesome! Jordan did a fantastic job planning everything. I'm so grateful to be married to him!

After darkness kicked us out of the park, we headed back home with my Dad and his girlfriend, Amy. It was great to finally get to meet her, and we had a lot of fun hanging out all weekend! We just talked and played Friday night and then had my favorite breakfast - pecan rolls - Saturday morning. Then my Dad took us to Sam's Club and SPOILED us like crazy!! I can't even describe how grateful I am to him! He also got me a sweet Coach wallet (with some cash in it to get me started), and Amy got me some nice perfume, which I love. Both are things that I would NEVER have purchased on my own and feel so lucky to have! I got birthday money from my Mom, Jordan's Mom, my Grandma and Grandma Bobbie and a card from Jordan's brother's family (my sister-in-law Jodi is seriously the best at remembering birthdays!). I'm so excited to use my birthday money to finally print my blog books!!! I've had the last two years done since July and have just been waiting for my birthday to roll around hoping to get enough to pay for the them! After presents, Sam's Club and naps, we headed to downtown Memphis for a yummy dinner at Texas de Brazil and then showed Amy around Beale Street.

My Dad surprised us Sunday morning with an early Christmas present too! He had noticed the day before that our TV was going out (has been since July) and I told him that we were expecting a little bit of scholarship money by the end of the month that we were going to put towards getting a new one. So he showed up Sunday with a brand new TV and said he didn't want us to use scholarship money for that and it would just be our Christmas present! Unbelievable!! Again, I can't say enough about how grateful I am for all my Dad's help during this very "skinny" time in our lives :) We ended their quick trip with a visit to the Riverwalk and a late lunch before they had to head to the airport Sunday afternoon. It was a fantastic birthday weekend completely fitting of the big 3-0!

The Birthday Girl (that's me)

Party time!

That's Madison and my Dad on the right - she actually saw him before anyone did and already had him running around with her before I even knew he was there!!

My DELICIOUS cake! It's a recipe from Our Best Bites and has chocolate mousse in the middle, chocolate ganache on top and toffee bits in the middle and on top!

Playing with Amy

These silly girls LOVE their Grandpa! He's so good at getting down and playing with them!

I just loved this picture - Grandpa and Madison reading a bedtime story and McKinley playing with Amy. It takes McKinley a while to warm up to new people so I thought it was cool that she was having fun with Amy.

I totally forgot that we went to see the ducks at the Peabody Hotel too! We have to do all that touristy stuff with Memphis newbies :) This is on the roof after the ducks have marched back to their home.

Love these cute girls

A girl and her Grandpa

Madison thinks everything is a balance beam now!

I stole the rest of these pictures from Amy :)

The group at dinner

 Me and my Dad :)

Saturday nap with Grandpa

The Peabody roof. Madison was digging Amy's sunglasses.

Having these three makes 30 look pretty darn good!!