A Day in the Life: 30

Since Mason gets his "A Day in the Life" posts, I figured I could do one of my own. Heck, it's only once a year. Too bad every day isn't as exciting as this one... :)

Such a perfect way to usher in my 30's.

Thank you so much to my wonderful friends and family.

I am SO incredibly blessed!

29

That is how many days I have left of being 29 years old.

I can say I'm in my 20's for only 29 more days!

So just for fun, here are 29 things I want to do or accomplish in the next 29 years. (A shout out to two of my favorite math teachers, Veronica and Mel, who will appreciate todays numbers post. P.S. This post is scheduled for 5:05PM on  05/05. :)

Ready? Here we go...

29. Shark dive. (It WILL happen.)
28. Climb Half Dome. June 27th!
27. Have my tatoos re-inked or re-designed.
26. Marry the man of my dreams. (Only 4 months to go!!!)
25. Have more babies.
24. Travel to Ireland.
23. Learn to play the guitar.
22. Visit Washington, DC.
21. Scuba dive in Australia.
20. Read through the Bible in a year.
19. Road trip across the United States in a summer.
18. Complete a marathon. (Don't ask me why.)
17. Backpack through Europe.
16. Take a vacation with my girlfriends and our families.
15. Take a vacation with just the girls-- someplace requiring a passport.
14. Be a "Team Mom" for my kids' sports teams.
13. Learn to speak sign language fluently.
12. Play in a co-ed softball league.
11. Sew a quilt.
10. Earn my masters degree.
9. Get a DSLR and be able to use it manually.
8. Grow a garden.
7. Start an annual family camping trip tradition.
6. Learn to make really good apple pie with crust from scratch.
5. Master homemade cinnamon rolls.
4. Get out of debt.
3. Learn to use power tools.
2. Give birth naturally.
1. Learn to surf.

I think that's enough to keep me busy and distract me from the fact that I'm getting older.

What is on your list?

Mason's 2nd Birthday

Several times a week we read Dr. Seuss' One Fish, Two Fish before bed, so it seemed like the perfect theme for Mason's big "2".

Matt's sister and her family came down from Redding on Saturday and stayed with us. Here are Samuel and Mason making breakfast on Sunday morning.

These were all of the kids at Mase's party (except Samuel)! We only invited our families and still ended up with about 25 adults and 5 kids. Thankfully, it was a gorgeous Nor Cal day and guests could sit outside or inside (of course, most of the men chose inside so they could watch the football games).

Lunch time! I used THIS pulled pork recipe and it was delicious! Katie came over early to help and made the coleslaw from THIS recipe. Of course, you can't have a Dr. Seuss party without green eggs. We also served fresh veggies with ranch, baked beans, and raspberry Jell-o with gummy sharks "swimming" in it.

This *might* have been my favorite part of the party. :)

I found an overhead projector on Craigslist for cheap, copied an image from Google onto a transparency, then used craft paint to create Thing 1 and Thing 2. Home Depot sells 4x8 styrofoam boards that are a half inch thick for $8, so I had them cut one down to a manageable size for me and I cut out the holes for our faces.

Guests took turns getting their pictures taken and I'll send a copy of each couple's photo to them with thank you notes.

Mason and Uncle Jared

Mase and Jenna (How funny are their expressions?!)

To mimic Thing 1 and Thing 2 hair, dessert was Cotton Candy cupcakes. They are french vanilla cake with vanilla buttercream frosting mixed with cotton candy. Plus a little on top for garnish.

Tessa, from The Frosted Cake Shop, made Mason's smash cake again this year.

I always request a low-sugar, organic recipe. This year she did a chocolate cake with strawberry filling. Mmm...

Me and my birthday boy.

I still can't believe he's 2.

Everyone should have a special birthday outfit! I made Mase's shirt with applique a simple "2" and two small blue fish.

And a birthday hat a'la Cat in the Hat!

I've said it before and I'll say it again, you can make anything with felt and hot glue (and, in this case, pipe cleaners).

At first we gave him the whole cake and told him to go for it. Being my OCD kid, he gingerly licked a finger's worth of frosting off and that's about it. Our families were trying to tell him there were toys inside so he would dig in. No go.

I handed Mase a fork and he made a small dent in one section of the top-- being careful not to disturb the pretty yellow writing.

And that was it for the cake. There's a lot left over for me and Matt!

Our attempt at a family picture. At least one of us is looking at this camera. :)

We all had a great time and spent the evening playing with new toys (Mason), putting together Mason's cool new play table (Matt), and cleaning up (me).

This year's One Fish, Two Fish party was a LOT less work than last year's golf party, and even more fun!

Oh, and favors were bags of swedish fish and gummy sharks. (Matt and I might've stashed a couple extras to keep for ourselves!)

Wednesday is Mason's actual birthday and I've got a fun-filled day planned that includes a visit to the pediatrician for his 2 year shots. Don't worry, there willl be sufficient birthday treats involved too.

Now, time to start brainstorming for the 3rd birthday party...

I can't believe

my BABY is turning TWO next week!

I'm told this happens. I refused to believe it until now.

We are celebrating this weekend.

Pictures to follow. :)



Weekend in pictures

Happy Birthday Jenna!

The princess even had her very own castle (the boys are storming the gates here).

The kids got to dress up in their Halloween costumes. Can you guess what Mason is?

The birthday girl opening gifts, with help from dad.

Church on Sunday and dodging enormous rain drops completed the weekend!

Thirty minus one

The year I met Tage he turned 36 and one of my friends dubbed the house he lived in the "Forty Minus". Tage was forty-minus-four years old and his two housemates were also forty minus something-or-other. We still call that house the Forty Minus.

Today marks the first day of the last year of my twenties.

I am thirty minus one.

That is still sinking in.

I will be the last of all but one of my best friends to turn 30 (it's right on your heels, Heather) and I am not prepared for this decade to end. It's perfectly fine for other people to be in their 30's... but me?! My mom was 20 when I was born, so I clearly remember her turning 30 and how OLD I thought that was. Speaking of my mom, enjoy this picture, circa 1991, when she was 29...

Hot stuff, right? And that was after having three kids in 4 years!

Over the past month I've been reflecting on things that have happened in my life during the last decade. There have been some awesome highlights (and, honestly, my share of lowlights). Before I get into some of those, check out 19 year-old me (and don't you dare comment on how I have the same hair cut-- man, I really need to change it up...)

My friends Kim (pictured left), Roseanne, Melanie, Jaime and Lindsey surprised me with a home made cake (confetti-- is there any other kind?), my favorite flowers, and even balloons. I'm pretty sure that's a Mike's Hard something sitting in front of me and Kim is rocking the Bud Light. I wish I could recall what the rest of that night looked like!

Now on to the good (and the bad... and the ugly.) In the past 10 years I have...

...been baptized.
...gotten married.
...gotten divorced.
...started a business (sort of).
...driven a '90-ish Dodge Colt, an '87 Oldsmobile Calais, an '01 Chevy Tracker, an '07 Jeep Grand Cherokee, a '95 Chevy Suburban and an '05 Chevy Malibu.
...experienced two accidents in vehicles that have rolled, one where I was behind the wheel (goodbye Grand Cherokee).
...worked as a lifeguard, a swim instructor, at Old Navy, as a children's ministry director, in a jewelry store and as a banker.
...purchased three homes and sold one (although none of which I currently live in).
...started this blog (and then another, and another and yes, another).
...traveled to the Caribbean, Mexico, Thailand and China.
...road-tripped across the country.
...lived in another state.
...become a mother.
...moved 9 times.

God only knows what is in store for my life over the next decade. No, really. God IS the only one who knows. If there is one thing I've taken away from the last 10 years it is that no matter how much I plan and regardless of what kind of control freak I try to be, it is ALL God's plan, His timing, and my life is in His control.

I am totally okay with that.

Here's to being thirty minus one!

Weekend Fun

Happy early birthday to me!!!

Tage completely surprised me with a new sewing machine for my birthday. I am so, SO excited! This thing does more stuff than I even knew a sewing machine can do.

Friday night I had dinner with friends.

Me, Lindsey, Heidi, L. Shanna, Veronica and Laura

Heidi gave me an early birthday present too! This cookbook...

These muffins are amazing. They turned out light and fluffy on the inside and slightly crunchy on the outside. Thank you, Heidi!

Tage and I had a date night on Saturday night and attended his friend Davey's wedding. (Thank you for watching Mason, Grandma Dee and Grandpa Jack!)

Mase enjoyed the warm Spring weather...

He was pretty proud of himself (notice the clapping) when he figured out how to turn the sprinkler on and off.

We hope you had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and enjoyed time with your loved ones. Have a great week! (Roseanne and Kim, please move closer-- I miss you already.)

Happy Birthday Dad!

We had an impromptu family dinner party tonight to celebrate Grandpa Flint's birthday

Cheesecake bars with homemade strawberry jam and lemon meringue pie

(The candles spell out "51")

Uncle Jared and Mason spending some quality time together

Simple paper bunting and some festive place mats liven up our earth tone decor

(The daffodils on the table are from Trader Joe's. If you have a TJ's near you, go pick some up. They are $1.29 a bunch and I guarantee they will brighten your day. These are yellow with orange centers!)

Tacos + virgin margaritas + good company = the perfect weeknight celebration

Weekend Fun

Recipe found here

2 lbs. organic kiwis: $3

3 lbs. sweet potatoes: $4.50

5 small organic avocados: $3.25

1 bunch broccoli: $1

2 1/2 dozen organic eggs: $5

Auntie Mel came to visit

"Vinny Madness"

Happy Birthday Vinny

Mason's friend Vincent is 2 today!

Mase was actually due February 26th, so they would have been almost exactly a year apart. 11 months is close enough though. As Mason grows it is fun to watch them interact and begin to play together. (P.S. Jaime, I totally jacked this picture from Al's Facebook.)

For Christmas Vinny got a Home Depot Work Bench and as soon as I saw it I knew he needed a personalized tool belt to go with it. To say Vince's family is "into sports" would be an understatement, so of course the tool belt had to include something sporty. Here is the tutorial I used. We hope he likes it!