Welcome to Thirty

My twenties ended on May 27th of this year, and I'm still adjusting. For the most part, I'm quite comfortable being thirty...but I still cringe inwardly, ever so slightly, when I pronounce the word. And somehow, I've never been asked for my age more than in those first couple months after my birthday... I guess the Lord knew I'd need the practice!

My big 3-0 was pretty...miserable. We headed out to Phoenix for lunch at an "American restaurant," which to me implies milkshakes and various kid-friendly beverages and meals. The place we went to, however, was swanky i.e. not for a family of five with three hungry littles! So, hungry, cranky, confused and disappointed, we call around looking for a nearby American restaurant that, specifically, serves milkshakes (yes, I'm the one who voted for milkshakes)...and we were directed to a place that serves "the best milkshakes in town." And it was closed.

So we had lunch at AppleBee's.

(At this point I had a baby migraine kicking inside my head and the blinding Arizona sun wasn't helping. Now, cue the tender mercies...)

The service was fantastic, my kids got a ton of attention from a family-oriented staff, there were milkshakes and kid-friendly options galore, and we even managed to capture a piece of that whole experience...

It may not have been our first choice, or even our second, but we couldn't deny feeling the Spirit's hand on our tense shoulders or the joy that was captured in that corner booth.

Tim was pretty bummed out about our plans falling through, the fact that I had to spend the rest of the afternoon with a pillow wrapped around my head, and that he couldn't do much more that day than mow our lawn. What he was most disappointed by was the failed Plants vs. Zombies cake that he had ordered for me the week before. What should have looked something like this...

had come out looking more like this:

And yes, the decorator really did write "your name."

Apparently Tim had shown her the PvsZ images on his phone, then described and drew the layout for her, to which she replied, "Oh yeah, that's EASY!" When he went to pick up the cake on our way home from Applebee's, it took everything he had not to throw it in her face. Instead, he walked away and left it on the customer service desk.

That evening, we had KFC for dinner lol :P

It may not have been a lavish birthday celebration, and things may not have gone as planned that day...but what I didn't capture on camera and what my sweet husband may not have realized is that the weekend leading up to my birthday was the best I've ever had :) I remember standing in the kitchen with him on Saturday while our kids played outside, and feeling happy and grateful for the amazing breakfast he had made. He took care of things around the house and with the kids, thereby giving me a mini-vacation. Funny how husbands don't see those things as gifts!

I'm pleased to say...that I'd much rather be thirty than twenty, that I love myself and others more than I have at any other time, that I no longer ask myself things like, "When is my life finally going to start?" or "What is my purpose in life?" I'm happy to be an adult, even one who admits that she's thirty :)