My Big Time 30th Birthday Weekend!

As my birthday approached this year, I became increasingly more nervous about the idea of being 30 years old. It is not that 30 is old to me, quite the opposite. When I think of my friends that are in their thirties, forties, and fifties, I am not in any way thinking that they are over the hill. For me, however, I all of a sudden feel much older. I really wanted to embrace my 30's with open arms but I found myself wanting to flee instead. So, I told Jared that I wanted something big to commemorate the end of my 20's and the start of a new decade for me. Our birthdays tend to come and go with no big thing every really happening, which we are fine with, but this year I said, "Go Big!"

Jared listened!

Last Thursday was my birthday but because Jared was going to be at work all day and I had two away volleyball games, we knew that not much could happen that day. However, Jared contacted my buddy Cassidy who just moved here for St. George and she hung out with me for the day. Throughout the day, I got so many phone calls and texts from people and other friends just dropping by to wish me a happy birthday that I already felt spoiled. Jared left a little present for me on the counter to find later in the day as I did the dishes. It was filled with really cute sentimental things that Jared doesn't normally say. He is complimentary all the time, but he wrote very sweet things about taking the 30 year old version of me any day over a 20 year old version of me. He was so sweet!

The kids and Jared got home from school and I jetted off to my volleyball game. I wouldn't see the family the rest of the day.

Myself with the other volleyball coaches, Pam Barker (middle), and our assistant coach, Whitney Wilson. (She leaves on her mission for Puerto Rico in November.)

 We ended up getting home early from our games and so we had time for cake and ice cream, or ice cream cake to be exact. Jared made this cake out of Moose Tracks.

 Jared was kind enough to put all 30 candles on the cake, it glowed very well in the dark! I was holding my phone because my sister, Kim, and her family were singing happy birthday to me too.

 I had been complaining about my sewing machine breaking every inch or sew...get it...sew...anyways it kept breaking my thread and I would have to re-thread the stinking machine and go again for a few inches and then it would break again.  It was a pretty old machine that was a hand-me-down from my younger sister, Sharon. Jared took that as an opportunity to get me a new machine for birthday. I am so excited to use this machine and also learn how to use all the special sewing gadgets included with it.

 The next day was a teacher in service day and so the kids didn't have school. Coach Barker wanted to have early volleyball practice and so I asked if Jared could stay home for a few hours to watch the kids while I went to practice. He said OK and I went. Once I got home, I expected him to quickly leave for work, only to find out that he had taken the day off weeks before.

We spent the day with the kids. We went to the park and played tennis, (Jared whooped me, but I did give him a good couple of games). Then we rode bikes on the greenbelt, and played Frisbee golf (I whooped him. I have always been able to throw a Frisbee better than him.) It was a very fun filled day with the family.

Our picnic in the park with yummy roast beef sandwiches, cheesecake, and juice.

 We got home at about 5:00 p.m. and Jared told me I had an hour to rest and then I would be leaving again.  I was surprise but excited. I didn't have time to rest because I was super gross and sweaty from our day at the park so I went and got ready.

My girl friends planned on kidnapping me but were running a little bit behind so I ended up driving myself and my friend, Cassidy, up to Idaho Falls to meet up with them. When we got to Emily Evans' house, I was blind folded (notice the drawn in eyes) and they dolled me up for our adventure.

Emily made me a crown with the number 30 on it, a beautiful cape that said on the back,
"It's my birthday!" and a sash that said, "Birthday Princess."

 My homies brought me to Red Robin, my favorite restaurant, where we ate drank and were merry, in a very good, clean, Mormon kind of way! (No dancing on tables or doing embarrassing things that we wouldn't want our husbands to know about happened!) Good Clean Fun was all we had.

Afterwards, we went clothes shopping at Ross with the wad of cash my husband stuffed in my back pocket. I was able to find a cute pair of grey slacks for coaching and a nice brown blouse as well. I still have some cash burning in my pocket for another time...

Then, we returned home to Emily's house for some yummy homemade cheese cake (can you tell I really like cheese cake?) and to open presents.

My friend, Sarah Turner, got me 30 essential things from D.I.

A list:
1 pirate hat

1 giraffe hat

4 Christmas bulbs

1 leopard print purse (must beat it to shut it!)

1 lip gloss pouch holder

1 red pair of sunglasses

1 Christmas cookie tin

2 mug huggers

1 watermelon planter

1 pink pair of dishwasher gloves

1 skull Halloween light

1 small football

3 lays

1 fish plack

1 heart shaped wreath

1 red vase

1 valentine pencil holder

1 small basket

2 kids books

1 Princess Bride movie

1 glass quail

1 pair of fleece sock (not sure if they are used or not!)

1 penguin tin

Emily made me a bouquet of 30 suckers and then said, "Everyone says that your 30's "suck" but it doesn't!" and as a gag gift, she bought me some hair dye for grey hair. ( I actually go through yearly mid-life crisis' and need a change. Since I don't have any more room for tattoo's that can be hidden under my clothing, I now dye my hair different colors all the time. I don't think that I will ever know if I am going grey because I dye too often to let my hair grow out.)
Anyways, Annie Godfrey got me 30  black balloons and a thing of lotion. Cassidy made me some really yummy cinnamon rolls. We had a blast! I have the best friends ever! (Jared set up the whole girls night for me. He knows how much I love spending time with my girlfriends. He stayed home and watched our kids and would have taken my friends kids too but they declined his offer. He is so great.)

 My amazing friends, Annie Godfrey (14 weeks preggo), Sarah Turner, Me, Cassidy Marshall (34 weeks preggo), and Emily Evans.

I got home about midnight exhausted! Jared had waited up for me. He said we needed to get right to bed because we were leaving at nine the next day. I was surprised, I thought the girls night out was my big thing. Nope...The next day he surprised me with white water rafting. Ahhhhhhh! So cool!

 We dropped the kids of with my sister, Sharon, and sis-in-law, Megann. (Thank you so much girls for taking my kids! Sorry that Jordyn cried for you the whole time Meg!) We then met up with our friends Pam and Ryan Barker, yes my coaching buddy, and went rafting in Wyoming. Ryan rafts as a hobby during the summer. We had plans to go rafting with them earlier this summer but the rivers were so high, it was too dangerous. Jared managed to arrange this outing a month ago and kept it a surprise this whole time. Jared and I sat in the front and held on to those little blue ropes as we got tossed right and left through the river.

 Ryan favors his left side the most, which I didn't know about, and so I got wet the most. Pam sat in the back and kept saying that I am not a very good wall because she still got wet when usually she doesn't normally get wet. There were these little rappids and then huge ones that could toss you off the kyake if you didn't hold on tight. There is one called the Big Kahuna that sents a wave of water over the top of you. The water was cold but the day was nice and warm and so you would warm up after each splash.

 There was a part on the river where you could pull off and do some cliff jumping. Jared and Ryan jumped off into the rapids and it would sweep them around the corner to a really clear and smooth inlet where they could swim out and back to shore. They were fearless! The water was too cold for me to want to jump into, but if I was wearing a wet suit, I still don't think I could have done it.  That would freak me out too much! They jumped 3 times.

 Jared waving hi to me in the rapids just before the bend where the water clears up.

 It was such an awesome day! Jared did everything he could to make sure that I look back on my 30th birthday as a great day instead of a gloomy one. He was so stressed that things wouldn't work out and everything worked out amazingly!

But, my birthday wasn't over yet. Today, Jared planned a big pizza party for me and our family. Jared's brothers, Chad, Dusty, and Byron came with their families and my sisters, Sharon and Nancy, came. Jared made a delicious chocolate mint birthday cake and had the families bring me gag gifts.

I was given adult underpads, a mesh tattoo arm band(as a joke to go along with my numerous fake ones under my clothes), an old person first aid kit with Over the Hill soap, Grey B Gone hair dye, W-D Oldie (for creaky joints), Tyrd N Old (tylenol), and a baseball cap with a built in fan that runs on solar energy. 

I had so much fun!

 As seen below, you can see my awesome hat and tattooed arm band. I blew out my candles and we enjoyed some delicious cake. As you can also see, Jared decorated in black. There were streamers  and cups and balloons all in black to help commiserate celebrate my depressing fantastic 30th birthday. Jared even wanted to have me dress all in black like a funeral but decided against it.

I Love Love Love my husband so much! He planned so much stuff and made this the best birthday I have ever had! I love my family and am so grateful that I have such an awesome family and fabulous friends!  Cheers to a great decade in the 30's and beyond!