Thirty!

I never thought I had an "issue" with age.  I mean really, life only gets better as we get older right?  However, in the days before my birthday, I started to feel sad as I thought about my twenties coming to end.  So many things happened in my twenties....graduation, marriage, my first job using my SW degree, the birth of my 3 children...the list goes on and on.  I had a fantastic birthday and was able to stretch it over the course of 3 days :)  Love that! 

Thursday night Mark and I headed out for dinner with the Tubergan's.  That the Tubergan's were even coming was supposed to be a surprise, but I added a few things up and figured it out ahead of time.  Once in the car, I was asked where I wanted to go for dinner.  Really?  You guys didn't have that planned?  I chose the Grill House in Allegan (wondering what would have happened if I insisted on someplace different)?  Once there, we were seated at a table seated for 8 which was a little strange seeing as there were only  4 of us.  Whatever...more room for my food right?  Next thing I know, in walk the Draisma's and the Veltema's!  What a complete shock!  I try and try to get together with these ladies without success, and somehow all these couples were able to go out for dinner on a weeknight and all manage to find sitters for their kids.  Talk about feeling special :)  Thanks to Kristin who had a very large part in putting this fun evening together for me along with Mark.  We had a fantastic night!

Kristin spent many hours on making this very special birthday gift.  If you know me or Kristin, you know we are not "crafty" people.  I love the way it turned out and it now hangs in my dining room!  Thanks to her hubby Brandon for making the frame :)   So I guess now it's just me who lacks the "crafty" gift. 

Thursday morning these flowers were delivered from Mark and the kids.  Alyssa was SO proud of herself for keeping the secret!  Today, I got to celebrate with my mother-in-law, my two sisters-in-law, and my niece Avery with lunch at Salt & Pepper!  Thanks ladies for taking time out of your weekend to celebrate with me :)



Let's just say that I am blessed to work with such great people at Shoreline!  What I thought was just a pizza party for our last "hurrah!" before we sadly go our seperate ways at the end of the month, tunred out to be a surprise 30th birthday party for me!  I came in Wednesday morning to a decorated office, balloons, party supplies, and of course a homemade birthday cake complete with candles!  Wow, I am blessed.   My mom watches my kids for me on Wednesday's and we invited her and the kids out to see my office before we officially close.  It was so much fun and they had a blast running through the hallways and playing "secretary" with my boss.  I think we all would agree that the noise level was much greater than our office has EVER experienced.



Completely birthday unrelated...my stove took a dump 2 weeks ago and instead of paying to repair a 14 year old stove, we decided it was time to upgrade!  So once we had a new stove, we obviously needed a new microwave...and somehow now we have a new stainless sink waiting to be installed and if it's up to Mark, we will have a new fridge and dishwasher to match shortly too.  Oh the cost to have things match!

We have found a new love at our house over the week.  Finger paints!  My aunt couldn't believe I didn't own finger paints before last Saturday.  It was a Pinterest inspired Mother's Day project that led me to buy these paints and they have provided lots of fun ever since.  Who knew?