Hello 30!

I am not one of those gals who dreaded turning thirty, for some reason. It doesn't bother me at all.  You see, my life gets better and better the older I get, so I'm actually looking forward to getting older :)  I think of how many people I know who are better at 30 than at 20, at 40 than at 30, at 80 than at 50 and so on.  It actually excites me. I have so much to learn and have so many ways to grow and for that I say, WELCOME THIRTY!!!  How weird am I?

I woke up the morning of my birthday to two of the best gifts God has ever given to me - my hubby and my little Hooverlet.  I still can't believe how fortunate I am to have this privilege!

I must admit, I was a bit on the suspicious of every little thing side for the week leading up to my birthday, but I had no idea just HOW SNEAKY my hubby and friends are!  I was trying very hard though not to ruin the surprise, because it's so sad when you work so hard to surprise someone and they figure it out.  Which I almost always do.  Until Allison Hess entered my life.  She's a schemer to the max. ;)

Friday afternoon, our sister in law Mindi invited us over for dinner and I thought, "aha, this is it!". But it wasn't a party, just a really nice night hanging out with the family.  Thanks Mindi and Sheldon and kiddos for a great night!

After asking a few people to have breakfast with me for my birthday and no one being able to (Nate was at our Church's Men's Group) I decided to go with just my little buddy.  I got up Saturday morning, looked outside, noticed there were big, beautiful snow flakes falling from the sky. When I checked the weather, it didn't show we were supposed to get any, so I just assumed it was God's way of saying "Good morning and Happy Birthday" to me :)  Benson and I headed down with our new Ergo from Auntie Gretchen to Prince Street Cafe, where they make a mean cappuccino and then we wandered around Central Market looking at the pretty produce and meats, cheeses, etc.  Benson decided all people were there for his enjoyment and smiled a ridiculous amount.

Nate came home and I was incredibly suspicious of our dinner plans for that night :)  You see, I am married to a very romantic guy.  And while some could assume that their hubby's wouldn't plan a surprise 30th birthday, I just knew he would. He's like that. And he teaches me so much about romance and love.  He's so good for me.

We got ready to go, my sweet friend Vanessa came over to watch Benson for us (he loves her!).  On the way to dinner, Nate even used his GPS on his phone to find the place we were going, because he was really working to throw me off and my friend Allison called to wish me a happy birthday and to say she had a journal for me (we're all working on journals to hand out to women who come to a conference at our church, so this wasn't so weird) and at this point, I was pretty sure something was up.  When I walked in, our church's cafe was full of people I love and decorated oh, so adorably!  Nate and I watched Julie and Julia on our trip and he planned a French themed party for me, along with my dear friends Allison, Brynne, and Kim.  I am so spoiled. 

They asked each person to bring a French dish to share, and the food was DELICIOUS!  Seriously, no restaurant could have topped what people brought to share. It was incredible!  Allison and Kim even found vintage hats for us to wear from the time period of Julie Childs in France.

Our dear friends Luke and Janine had to leave, but left us with a bag FILLED with delicious bread, cheeses, and a bottle of sparkling grape juice - so delicously extravagant.  My sweet friend Jen's mom (who I've never even met!) even sent a gift to me!  And it was a perfect gift!  I had asked her to make coupon holders I saw on her blog for grocery carts for my couponing friends and one for me - I wanted to give them to them as a gift and she sent all three along and told me they were my gift!  Such generosity!  I couldn't believe it. You see, I like getting gifts as much as the next girl, but I LOVE to give them.  So this gift was really special as I received something and got to give something away.  It was awesome!!!

My hubby drove three hours roundtrip to the Le Creuset outlet to buy me a pan.  This isn't any old pan, though.  It's wonderful in every way and I've wanted one for a very long time, because they are amazing. And amazingly expensive, so I never thought I'd get one.  But Nate saved a HEAP of money on the one he got and I love it already. I've made multiple recipes in it already and just love it's versatility!  It can go from stove to oven in a flash ;) and it's easy to clean, etc.  Oh, so fun!  He also got me the "Art of French Cooking" two volume cookbooks by Julia Child.  He knows me so well! 

The crew had a time of prayer for me and I just feel so blessed and loved by those God has surrounded me with.  I am one blessed gal!  I wouldn't be who I am today without the wealth of relationships I have around me.  As I listened to people praying and prophesying over me, I couldn't believe some of what they were saying.  So much of it was so kind it was overwhelming, and some of the prophesies were confirmations of what I believe God has been laying on my heart.  God is just so good to us!

Oh, and for my scheming friend Allison, she even got church members and friends to scheme with her. I'm pretty convinced her love of throwing parties is almost like giving a present to her.  The journal making day for the conference was even a scheme - that means she included 6 or so other people not involved in the party in the plan!  Thanks for working so hard to bless me!

I made a yummy meal Sunday night :) with enough butter and 1/2 and 1/2 in it to kill us deader than dead... It called for heavy cream, but I didn't have it and really, the 1/2 and 1/2 made me feel better about myself. Like I was taking good care of my body.  Julia Childs lived to be OLDER THAN you'd imagine with her love of wine and butter in mass.  Crazy.

My first almost full week of being thirty has been so awesome and I can't wait to see what God has planned for this year!

And... no post would be complete without this little guy making his rounds :)  He is now the proud owner of two teeth on the bottom and they are so stinkin' cute I want to pinch them.... well, maybe not... but what do you do with cute teeth?  They're not quite like chubby legs or cheeks, now are they?  Hmmm...

He had a visit with his friend Ilyana (sorry if I botched that name, Monica!) and decided to HOLD HANDS with her - check this series of pictures out.  Disturbing.  She's only a week older, but about one inch taller and five pounds lighter!  Ha ha.  It's been fun to be pregnant with Monica, then to discuss our babes together.  And by discuss, I don't mean that annoying, unhealthy "my kid's better than yours" thing but just saying how they are progressing and being HAPPY when either one is doing well.  It's the healthy kind of "comparing". Or just checking in on our kiddos.

Benson continues to be super happy, strong, and very much a joy to us - we are so incredibly blessed by his little life!  

Nate has been working on this awesome saying for our wall.  He cut the letters out with his scroll saw, sanded, and painted them.  Now they hang in our living room.  Very cool!