Party People, It's My 30th Birthday!!

On this day, MY 30TH BIRTHDAY, I have come to realize that 30 is just a number.

While it's true that I'm closing the door on one chapter of my life, I'm opening another one...a bigger door, a better door. A door that leads to a room of endless possibilities.

For the first time, I'm actually looking forward to finding out what my 30's have in store for me.

Because my 20's were great.

Really great.

And, so, I'd like to take some time to reflect back on this decade, with you.

Top 20 List About My 20's:
(in no particular order)

1. Marrying Matt
2. Graduating college
3. Becoming an aunt...4 times over
4. Surviving a life-altering car accident
5. Learning the true meaning of family
6. Even though both times were brief...knowing what it's like to have a baby growing inside of me

7. Working at a job that I love
8. Buying my first home with Matt
9. Making some very meaningful friendships
10. Starting my first novel
11. Learning more about myself & the kind of person I am (my qualities & my faults)
12. Realizing that I actually like who I am...qualities, faults & all
13. "Adopting" our dog, Maisy
14. Watching my 3 niece's & nephew grow & witnessing some major milestones in their lives
15. Taking some awesome trips with my husband
16. Starting my designs business
17. Growing in my relationship with God, especially in prayer
18. Realizing that time goes too fast & learning to take a step back to enjoy the small things in life

19. Understanding the meaning of responsibility
20. Laughing a lot, loving a lot & making some wonderful memories

Even though I've learned a lot over the past 10 years, I haven't learned everything.

Even though I've done a lot over the past 10 years, I haven't done everything.

Even though I've seen a lot over the past 10 years, I haven't seen everything.

What I do know is that I love where I've been & I love where I'm going. I have a wonderful husband, a wonderful family & wonderful friends.

And, what happened to me during my 20's helped shape the person I will be during my 30's. I did everything I wanted to do in my 20's, except have a baby. That will change in my 30's.

As I look forward to the next 10 years, I know there will be lots of happy times & some sad times too, but isn't that what makes life worth living?

Maybe Turning 30 Isn't So Bad. Updated With More Text & A Question.

For the record, I'm still 29.

I won't be 30 until 6:34pm on Thursday (July 31st).

But, thanks to my wonderful husband, my wonderful sister & the rest of my family & friends, the transition into my 30's will be a little easier to handle.

MATT & MY SISTER ACTUALLY PULLED OFF A SURPRISE PARTY FOR ME!!!

I was 100% completely surprised.

They started planning the party at the beginning of July & managed to keep it all from me until last night! Even my friends kept it a secret, although several of them told me they almost slipped a few times, especially last week at work. They'd see me & start to say, "I'm looking forward to Saturday night!", but remember I wasn't supposed to know!

The party was at my sister's house. She got me over there by telling me she wanted me to help her rearrange Riley's room. I wasn't the least bit suspicious because my sister & I are constantly organizing things & thinking of new ways to arrange furniture.

Matt was supposed to be shooting our local arena football team's final home game. He shoots every home game, so again, no reason to be suspicious.

When I go to my sister's, I always come through the garage...but, this time the door was locked, so I had to knock. She opened the door & said she bought Riley a toy chest & wanted me to come upstairs & see it. To go upstairs, you have to go through the living room, which was where everyone was.

Our friend, Greg, took this picture of me coming into the living room. Do I look surprised? Actually, I look kinda stupid with my mouth half open. That's Jackson standing to my right.

Those who had kids were able to bring them & my sister hired a babysitter, which was really thoughtful. The sitter kept them all upstairs the entire night.

There was food, cake, presents & music. And, we all had a great time.

Afterwards, it was fun to hear from Matt & Holly how they got it all planned & kept it a secret. And, looking back over the past few weeks, I can totally see a few clues that make sense now!

I'm so grateful to them for doing something so special for me. What a great way to start off my 30's (at 6:34pm on July 31st...). I love you guys more than you know.

Earlier on Saturday, Matt's mom, sister, brother-in-law & niece's came over to our house to celebrate mine & my MIL's birthdays. We have the same birthday: July 31st.

I got to open my presents from Matt. He got me a Chi hair dryer (yay!) & 3 camera lenses for our digital camera. I'm excited about using the new lenses on our vacation! However, that means I have a lot more stuff to cart with me than just the camera. So, I need a camera bag.

That's where you come in, if you can help. Do you guys have any suggestions on what kind of bag to get? I don't want anything too bulky, but I also want one big enough to hold everything (3 lenses, camera, flash, extra batteries, etc). Obviously, I'd like it have a shoulder strap or even something similar to a backpack. If you have any ideas or recommendations, please leave me a comment.

For now, though, here's another birthday slide show.

Coming soon: A top 20 list about my 20's.

Hurricane Dolly.

The storm's about to hit the place where Matt & I vacationed last summer.

Hopefully, there won't be too much damage. It's a beautiful place!

Fleas.

It's official.

Maisy has fleas.

We found 2 more on her last night, as well as flea eggs.

Ew.

It just makes me feel dirty, like I don't keep my house clean or Maisy clean.

But, I do. I promise.

Thanks to the advice you guys gave me about this post, I knew what to ask for when I called her doctor this morning. Well, actually, her doctor basically told me word for word what you guys told me. But, at least I knew what she was talking about.

Capstar pill.

Bath.

Frontline Plus flea treatment.

So far, we've done 2 out of 3 because I have to wait 24 hours after the bath to give her the Frontline treatment.

And, poor baby. I didn't realize how many fleas she had until I started washing her in the tub. I mean, I wouldn't call it an "infestation" or anything. I only counted 4 or 5 (the ones I could see).

I feel so bad.

Especially because she stayed with Matt's mom this weekend & I seriously hope I didn't "spread" the problem to her house & her dog, Donut. If I did, I'll pay for the same treatment for him (at the very least!).

So, now I'm washing Maisy's bedding in HOT, HOT water & after that, I'll wash our bedding & the guest room bedding.

The doctor also told me to vacuum the carpet every day for a week. She says that the suction will activate the fleas & bring them up to the surface...hence the reason to vacuum. A LOT!

Now, a question to those of you who have given your dog (or cat) a Capstar pill: I gave her the pill around 6:50pm. After drying her off from her bath, it was about 7:30pm & I noticed a few fleas still crawling on her. Alive. How long did it take for your dog's (or cat's) fleas to die & fall off. The Capstar website says 4 hours. But, I guess I just expected immediate results.

She's been scratching & biting more than usual since I gave her the pill. Is that because they're dying & she's trying to get them off?

I don't know. That's why I need you guys!

My 4-Day Weekend, In Pictures.

My sister, her kids & I drove to Texas to visit my aunt, uncle & cousins this past weekend. My uncle's the one who had a stroke last September. He's made tremendous progress since then.

For that, I'm so thankful.

Right now, it's 10:05pm & I'm exhausted, so for now, I'll just share these pictures with you. I'll write more about our trip later in the week.

My cousin, Shelley's little girl, Maggi. She's 6 months old now.

My sister, Holly, swimming with Riley.

Riley going off the diving board.

Jackson "surfing" on the inter tube.

My cousin, Shelley's little boy, Ty. He's 3.

Trying to get Ty to go off the diving board.

Maggi.

Ty & Riley relaxing.

While we were there, a girl my cousins used to babysit for got married. Well, Holly & I also know her because when we were younger & would go to Tyler, we'd go babysit with my cousins.

Me, Felix (my cousin Shelley's husband) & Holly

There was a photo booth at the wedding. Holly & I took several pictures & we also got my cousins, Shelley & Cheryl in there to take some "group" pictures. Ha!

We went swimming again on Sunday.

I love this picture of Riley.

Maggi hanging out last night in her "Rockstar" outfit.

Shelley & me. (No, that white isn't my bra...it's a cami).

Jackson playing with Ty's electric trains.

Me & Ty. I have a funny story about him that I'll share with you later.

No, she's not hitting him...he put his arm around her & she's trying to get away. Stinky boys!

I know she looks dirty, but I promise...this girl took like 2 baths a day when we were there.

And, where was my husband, you ask?

Well, he was in Houston, Texas with his friends, Greg & Corey, watching the Chicago Cubs play the Houston Astros. They left Friday, went to a game Saturday & a game on Sunday & drove home today.

And, Maisy?

She stayed with Matt's mom. This is how I found her 10 minutes after I brought her home.

Maisy.

Ok, first of all, we found 2 fleas on Maisy the other day. This dog hasn't had fleas since the day we bought her, almost 4 years ago. That first night, we pulled a tick off of her & about 30 fleas.

Since then, nothing. Luckily.

She has picked up a few ticks along the way, but we noticed them before they had to chance to "dig in". I'm a mastered "tick picker". I pulled all 3 off Maisy & about 5 off Matt.

Anyway.

She gets a monthly flea treatment & wasn't really due for her next round for a few more days, but when we saw the 2 on her Saturday night, we went ahead & put the stuff on her.

My question for all you dog owners: Should I take her to the doctor tomorrow to make sure there aren't any more? Or, should I just wait & see if any more show up?

The flea treatment should kill any that might still be on her, right?

I wasn't freaked out about it, until I saw that Hartz commercial where the voice over guy says, "One of these (fleas) can quickly turn into thousands..." & that would just be our luck...

So, tell me what to do.

Please.

But, before you do, watch this video of Maisy.

Whenever Matt cooks, Maisy's underfoot the entire time, just waiting for food to drop. Last night, Matt was browning meat for taco's & Maisy was very interested in the steam coming off the meat.

Just watch.

And, we normally do NOT let her put her paws up there like that because yes, it's hot, but when we saw her do it, I had to get it on video. We didn't let her do it again.

And, here's what she does when we play Mario Kart. I thought it was too cute not to share!

More Home Improvement.

Can you guess what's in the box?

While we're certainly not doing big home improvement/renovation projects like Kim, Becca or Amy, we have been doing small things around our house this year, like replacing our fence & tearing up & planting a new flower bed. We've also bought a few new pieces of furniture.

Next on our list?

A new kitchen sink.

The sink the builders put in really wasn't our taste, plus it was rusting & would scratch VERY easily.

We knew we wanted a black sink because all of our appliances are black. So, we to a sink store yesterday & bought this one.

Matt saved us $199 dollars by installing it himself (he used to do some plumbing when he was in high school).

I've heard of "plumber butt". Would you call this "boxer butt?".

And, here's our new sink...installed & ready to use. And, yes, we kept the drain kit from our old sink (the one on the right side) because it was still in good shape. I just have to clean it.

Flower Bed Update.

I thought it was time to update y'all on my flower bed. I know you've been dying to see new pictures (yeah, right!).

I would like you all to know that I haven't killed anything yet -- it's quite the opposite. My flowers/plants are actually growing.

Before I show you proof of growth, I must show you my NEW plant, courtesy of Matt's mom. It's called a Butterfly plant...it attracts butterflies, obviously.

But, I love it because it blooms purple!

We planted it yesterday & it makes a great addition to the flower bed. I still have lots of space to add new stuff, though. I think I need more flowers.

Here's Matt digging the hole for the new addition.

And, here it is all planted.

Here are the white flowers we planted in May. They are really thriving...thanks to my exceptional watering skills & a little Miracle Gro (thanks, Betty Jo!).

This is one of the flowers I got from Audrey in my Spring Sprung package. It's growing, Audrey. Except there's no actual flower on there yet.

And, here's my PURPLE Crepe Myrtle tree. It's got lots of buds on it, but no actual flowers yet.

And, here's an updated look at part of the flower bed. If you look closely, you can see Maisy in the window.

And, here's an updated look at the other half of the flower bed. See Maisy? Oh, and please take note that the gutter that was placed smack dab in the middle of the flower bed has been moved.

The gutter people came out last week (3 weeks later than they said they would) and moved it. That's because we told them we weren't going to pay them until they moved it.

Matt's 1st & Only 5K.

About 6 weeks ago, Matt decided he wanted to run the Firecracker 5K. It's the annual 3.1 mile race on the 4th of July.

He drove around our neighborhood, mapping out a 1 mile course & ran that mile 3 times, about every other day. He even bought a new running shirt & shoes for the race.

The race was this morning & Matt did GREAT. He ran a 9:58 mile & finished in 30:45. I think that's wonderful for his 1st (and he says...ONLY) race.

I am very proud of him for accomplishing this....proud of his determination, commitment & drive. He set out to do something & did it.

Do you see him? He's behind the guy in the orange shirt. Our friend, Greg (the guy to the left of Matt) had already finished, but when he saw Matt, he ran a few steps with him.



Speaking of Greg, here he is about 5 seconds before crossing the finish line.



Matt, Bryan & Greg after the race. 3 really sweaty, stinky guys.

Ok, here's video of Matt finishing the race. Just a warning though: For some reason, when I was cheering, I kept saying "Finish it!", "Finish it!". Why? I don't know. But, I sound horrible. I tried to take out the sound, but I couldn't figure out how. So, please do not focus on my voice...instead, put all your attention on Matt. Please.

Stuff.

First of all, TODAY marks my FINAL 30 DAYS in my 20's.

I will turn 3-0 on July 31st.

When I reminded Matt of this very fact today, he laughed.

I didn't think it was funny, until I remembered he'll be 32 in October & then it was MY turn to laugh.

I would totally forget this birthday ever existed, except for the fact that there are presents involved, people. I LOVE presents. Presents would totally make this turning 30 thing less painful.

Anyway, I realized today that I've been slacking on my blog posts. So, allow me to take a few minutes to catch you up on my life...as boring as it may be.

Last Friday night, some friends of ours held their annual soiree (that IS a word for "party", right?). This year's theme: Economic Stimulus Party. They figured since all of us are getting those rebate checks, we could afford to put $5 dollars towards the keg.

Matt & me at the party.



Matt introducing the band: Casey & Pete. They work with us.

Katy, Courtney & me. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these girls.

A lot of the girls I work with: Left to right: Melissa, Jessica, Sydney, Shannon, Cecillea (the host), Tiffani, Lindsey, Lauren, me & Courtney

Me & Brett (who's WAY tanner than me!).

Greg, Matt & Aaron (we all work together).

Me & Melissa (another Melissa...not the one in the picture above).

Cecillea, Chuck, Matt & Greg helping Pete & Casey sing.

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Y'all, I swear, Maisy's so patient with Matt & me. She lets us mess with her ears, her face, her paws...I think some of that stems from exercises we used to do in Puppy Training School.

But, for the most part, I think she just trusts us.

She'll bark at us when she's had enough.

The other night Matt was having fun pushing up all her neck fat & it was so funny, I had to pictures!

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Last night, we were at my sister's house for a belated Father's Day dinner & Riley asked me, or demanded, to watch her ride her Dora Hot Wheels.

So, enjoy these pictures & video I got of her. Please excuse my voice...it's that voice we all get when we're talking to kids. You know, THAT voice.