Turning Thirty

Tomorrow is the first day of my thirties. Last Friday I woke up and felt energized; I knew it was going to be a good week. After all - the last week of your twenties HAS to be awesome.

Friday-Saturday: I had the opportunity to attend Beth Moore's "Living Proof Live" with some amazing ladies. What a powerful evening and morning that was - there's something spectacularly moving about hearing 2800 people singing "Amazing Grace" a-capella followed by a message reminding us to keep an eye out for the treasures that God gives in life. My friend Elyse had a great blog post this week that basically encapsulated the feeling we had coming away from the event. It took a few days to sink in for me, but it was an amazing reminder for me to slow down. For me, the most powerful point that she gave the women in attendance was that "Our treasure got thrown out in the same trash as our time." What a great message it was and I hope that I do not do what is so prone to people who attend these conferences and lose the inspiration - it's so important that I don't.

Beth Moore - That shirt cracked us up, but her passion was awesome.

Sunday: In the middle of Sam's Club I got a phone call from my good friend Priscila; that evening they would be having an impromptu campfire and we should come over. What a cool thing - just a few phone calls and they had a campfire party! There were a ton of people there, lots of good food and great conversation was had by all. We stayed until a little after 10:00, but I was in awe of what a cool thing can happen with a few phone calls, some meat, and a pile of wood.

Burn, baby, burn!

Monday: I had texted a few of our students on Sunday night to see if they wanted to come over for homemade chicken soup and some girl time. What I got was an impromptu mini-birthday party! They came to the door with flowers, cake, and a card - they even lit candles that said "30" and sang "Happy Birthday". As if the awesome conversation wasn't enough - they even convinced me (read: made me hold true to my promise) to go out with them and "jam". Incase you're wondering, "jamming" is driving around with dance music playing, singing and car-dancing. Yes, I jammed. I do a mean backseat cabbage patch. You have NO IDEA. After that - I got to watch the Patriots KILL the Dolphins with a 41-14 victory. That's right. A palindrome win.

The card plays "Celebrate" - yes, I danced when I opened the card. Twice.

Tuesday: GIRLS NIGHT!!! Steve babysat our friends' two little girls for a couple of hours while my friend Laura & I kidnapped our friend Jennifer for some Mexican food, margaritas, and Coronas. It was so nice to get out and have an awesome meal with some of my closest girlfriends. That time is so valuable - and to think that I got it twice in the same week (we also had a wine & girls night after Friday's Beth Moore event) is just an awesome blessing. I value those friendships so much.

I had to leave my phone with Steve so he could call us incase anything happened (he forgot his). When I got it back, there were 2 cute kids on my wallpaper picture.

Wednesday: Nothing special happened on Wednesday. Just a bunch of cleaning. Why? Because some woman who decided to give birth to a little girl 30 years ago is coming to visit. The nerve. Make me clean my house. (Kidding - I'm actually PUMPED for my mom to come visit this weekend!!!!)

Thursday: I went to work very excited for today to be the last day of my 20's. Around 2:00, it was time for "The Coffee Train" - 3 or 4 of us women on the aisle who go and get an afternoon beverage of warmth (be it tea or coffee) at the office Keurig. When asked if I wanted to go, I said "Sure, let me just go to the ladies' room first." Upon return to my aisle of the cube farm - 6 or 7 of my co-workers jumped out of cubicles and sang "Happy Birthday"! I was presented with a cake and a card - the cake went very well with my Green Mountain French Roast decaf. This was followed up by an amazing evening at youth group - so much fun playing Charades and spending time with our staff afterwards.

"There's cake? I guess I'll stop by..."

In a few minutes I'm going to head to bed and snuggle up with my awesome husband, falling asleep in his arms and thusly ending my last week of my twenties. I'm SO incredibly excited for my thirties. A few weeks ago when I was reading through some scripture it occurred to me that Jesus started His ministry when He was thirty. Now, I'm not by any means saying that I'm going to go out and change the world - but it did give me pause and force me to think. I can do amazing things. I've gotten out of my awkward stages. I can really start life now.

Tomorrow I turn thirty. I plan on treasuring more and breezing through without attention less. Tomorrow is a new beginning, the start of a new decade and a new phase of life. I am incredibly refreshed and energized for it.

Bring it on, Thirty.