Milestones, Girlfriends, and Bling

As of a week ago, I can better relate to our favorite country love song, Alan Jackson's, "Remember When."  We used to laugh at the, "Remember When, 30 seemed so Old, Now Looking Back, It's Just a Stepping Stone."... Yep.  I jumped over that stone last Wednesday.  I am now 30, and I'm now thinking that maybe I'm not so old, anyway.

It was a whirl wind couple of weeks, as our 10 year anniversary and my 30th birthday both descended upon Kevin in a big, pressure cooking, throw eyebrows to the wind, kind of way. We celebrated the anniversary with a surprise (for me) trip to NYC.  While there, we took in some Phantom, ate deliciously over priced, fancy dinners, and I successfully got my wine glass removed from the table for too much "happiness" before dessert.  Who knew when you start laughing uncontrollably, the server gets all kinds of nervous about whether or not you will be able to walk out of the restaurant.  It was 10 years, people.  I blame it on their New York state of minds not understanding a long lasting relationship.

This was the only picture we took of our trip, and although my favorite, I'm sad that my Banana Republic, bought especially for this occasion, dress, didn't make it into any of the pictures.  It was lovely.  And divided out by how many years we have been married, it was really a steal of a deal:). 

Central Park French style lunch date.  My favorite shirt on my favorite Man

A few short weeks later, as Kevin was still anticipating the bill for the anniversary, my huge milestone birthday of 30 screamed for attention.  Really, I have started to feel bad about the planning of these dates as I get older.   Getting married so young guaranteed huge pressure points in 10 year increments.  We could have waited a year to get married, but I **think** it was still worth it to him to move ahead with the nuptials.

We had a getaway to Chicago planned for the weekend after my birthday, thanks to Kevin's gracious brother, sister in law, and parents watching our kids.  So on my actual day, I requested a dinner out with my girlfriends.  It has been a wonderful summer spending time with all of them and our kids, and I didn't want to celebrate without them.  Luckily, someone reminded me that I did have a camera, so we captured our after dinner ice cream stop.

When I look at this picture, I am reminded that moving to Indiana 5 years ago, all I wanted was close friends.  I prayed and prayed, and prayed some more.  I joined random mom's groups, went to weird churches, invited strangers over, all to just have some lady friends to do life with.  And the four ladies pictured with me are the ones who were brought into my life, and have changed it, forever.  They are my kids hero's, my close confidants, and my Godly remodels.  Together, we have a total of 16 kids; a basement full for a Mom's group.  But worth every crumb, every tear, every "She hit me"... and much more.

And speaking of more, I should probably mention that Kevin came through in a big way too.  He's good with gifting me properly.  And he was generous in his understanding of the big deal that these events were to me. Let's just say I have started to enjoy reading a bit more on my new Nook, which is lit up by the new sparkle on my finger:).  Yes, he escaped the pressure cooker with flying colors, and now he can relax for the next 10 years.