Thoughts on turning 30

Another thing that happened during my blogging hiatus is that I turned 30.  Mark turned 30 two years ago, so I've been preparing myself since then.  The number really isn't a big deal to me, but I do certainly feel older.  I watched the olympics this summer and I really felt old when I learned how young some of the athletes are.  They've accomplished so much and they are waayyy younger than me. 

I've accomplished a lot in the last decade too, but definitely not athletically.  In the last 10 years, I've graduated from college and graduate school.  I've built a house, started a career (two, actually) and gotten married.  I've also lost my father to cancer and birthed two fantastic kids.  I've also enjoyed creating a successful Etsy business as well.  There certainly hasn't been a dull moment.

I'm hoping the next 10 years will be a little different.  I feel like the building of my life is complete, the foundation has been set and now it's time to focus on raising amazing children and enjoying the blessings God has given us.  I don't expect us to slow down in the next decade, but I think we'll we working toward different goals.  For me, those goals will include improving my relationship with God and putting Him first in all things.  It will also include a renewed focus on parenting and helping Jack and Claire be the best they can be while also being their soft place to fall.  It includes creating a home where we can all thrive in a supportive environment.  It also includes rearranging my priorities so that God and family come first and money making takes a back seat.  I haven't figured that one out yet, but I'm working on it. 

I'm looking forward to the next decade and the many joys and challenges it brings us.

Here are some pictures from the surprise party Mark threw me.

Paisley is my favorite!

Me through the years

Back tracking

Wow, major blogging FAIL.  I have been MIA since Labor Day, but I'm back!  Now, I need to back track a little to get caught up on what's been going on in the last month or so.

We had a fantastic trip to Mark's grandma's farm over Labor Day weekend.  His Grandma is 92 and she's no different than the day I met her over 15 years ago.  She's sharp and able bodied and she even cooked dinner for the whole family on Saturday night!  It was nice to see some of Mark's family that we really only see about once a year, if that.  Jack and Claire don't have any cousins close to home so it was great to see him playing with cousins that weekend.  We even got to see one of Mark's cousins and her two boys who we haven't seen since before Claire was born.  It was a jam packed 2 days, but it was certainly worth it. 

We had a nightmarish stay at the hotel last year when we visited because Jack was just 3 and so excited to be away from home.  Claire was just a baby and all of us sleeping in the same room just didn't work out.  There was much screaming and jumping on the bed and running around the room. And the kids acted awful too.  This prompted us to make a couple of "hotel rules."  One, don't stay more than one night.  Two, always stay on the bottom floor.  I was pleasantly surprised how well they did this year.  We really laid down the law this time and threatened to take away most of their toys and fun activities for about the next year or so, so maybe that did the trick. 

Jack and Claire with Grandma Sally.  Ice cream cones provided by Grandma Sally, of course.

 

Grandma Sally lives on a nearly 200 acre farm and the boys love playing in the field beside her house.  They had just plowed the corn and there was plenty of muddy holes to play in.  You can see how excited Jack is in the next picture.  He could hardly contain himself.

 

Cousins!

Chillin' at the hotel

 

Oh, and Jack learned how to play Angry Birds on this trip.  An obsession that continues to this day.

To top it all off, we arrived home at almost midnight Sunday night and Claire started throwing up about an hour later (just as Mark and I crawled into bed) thus beginning a stomach bug that lasted the next three days.