30th Birthday Bonanza

I am completely humbled and flabbergasted by all the ways in which my incredible friends and family helped me celebrate my thirtieth birthday! I have had so many surprises that I'm beginning to feel a little jumpy every time I walk into a new place!

It started with a weekend getaway, all planned and executed by Chris. Last weekend we dropped the kiddos off with Jimmy and Courtney and headed down south, to the beautiful hill country. Chris picked a lovely bed & breakfast called Alexandra's House near Wimberley, TX. 

I could write several paragraphs about the breakfasts alone, but suffice it to say that the food was stellar, the home was idyllic, and the location couldn't have been better!

On Friday we arrived at 3:00, checked in, and stopped over at the Wimberley Glass Works to catch the end of a glassblowing demonstration. It was mind-blowing, too! Then we headed into Wimberley to get a feel for the town, do a little shopping, and eat some dinner. We stumbled upon an amazing little popcorn shop that had just opened, and the owner was telling us about how they retired from their high-paying jobs, learned to make gourmet popcorn, and moved down to Wimberley from Rockwall (in the D/FW area). What a neat story! And their popcorn and gourmet root beers were FABULOUS, too! We ate dinner at Cypress Creek Cafe, which was very good but nothing to write home about. Afterwards, we found the renowned Blue Hole and caught a fun outdoor concert, mostly enjoying the spring evening and the beautiful location!

We also stumbled upon a reconstructed Pioneer Town that is part of a little cabin resort area, but it was kind of fun to walk through as the sun was going down.

Saturday after breakfast with a family in town for the Aggie Band reunion, we went back to Wimberley for a little more shopping and to catch the annual Butterfly Festival. We didn't spend much time there, but we would have if the kids had been with us!

Yep, those are live corn snakes!

 I was kind of bored of Wimberley, so we skipped lunch (still full from breakfast!) and drove about thirty minutes to Gruene (pronounced "Green").

We popped into a few shops and then decided we would split a sandwich after all and went into Mozie's, recommended by our lovely B&B host. Loved this place! We spent the rest of the afternoon checking out all the great shops in Gruene, especially a great little antique store.

Mozie's and our favorite Antique shop

We also educated ourselves concerning the history of the little town and many of the original buildings. Finally, we ate dinner at the famous Gristmill, where we'd been before with friends but never just the two of us. It did not disappoint! 

We drove into San Marcos with thoughts of catching a movie, but that didn't really work out so we hit a few of the outlet stores and got some coffee (horrible, horrible coffee at Panera, FYI).

Sunday morning (Chris' birthday!) after a long, chatty breakfast with Rosemary (our host and chef), we visited University Church of Christ right down the road. The worship service was great, and it was fun to visit a church with some connections to many of our friends at our home congregation. After church, we headed straight back to the outlets and made an afternoon of it! I found a few good deals, of course, but was getting anxious to get home and see my sweet kiddos. We were ready to head out around 3:00 but as we were getting on the freeway, we kept commenting on how my air conditioning didn't seem very cold. It was soon apparent that it was not working at all (the fan was blowing but it was warm air) and that was not fun in the hot car! It was in the mid-90s in San Marcos that afternoon. Chris exited the freeway and pulled over, and as we were parking we both smelled a burning odor. Chris popped the hood and we saw a thin wisp of smoke coming from the engine--yay. The car wasn't overheating or anything like that--but we weren't entirely sure what could be happening, especially with the recent mouse activity in my car. (That's a whole different blog post for another day.) So as I stand there feeling slightly useless, Chris starts to do his thing (read: overreact) and indicates that we may need to unload the car because he thinks it's on fire. Luckily, after almost eight years of marriage, I remind myself that he's a hypochondriac and just wait it out. Eventually he decides the car is not on fire, but that the air conditioning is in fact broken. (I know, what a conclusion!) We had both lost our appetites for dinner so we hit the road with windows down at 80 mph. We got to experience traffic with no A/C, too, when we got closer to home, and we finally were able to pick the kids up after 8 p.m.! 

I'll spare you all the A/C repair details for now... and move on to the birthday fun!

Monday evening we went to the Rangers game to celebrate Chris' 31st birthday with all the family. We each brought something to share--hot dogs, chips, fruit, cupcakes--and really enjoyed a beautiful night for baseball, even if the Rangers' performance was disappointing.

Tuesday, Noah's school gave a moms' luncheon and the kids did a little program for us. It was so sweet! That afternoon, Chris and Noah went to the Arlington airport to see and explore a B-17 Flying Fortress. If you want to hear more about that, tell Chris to start his own blog.

Wednesday was my birthday! As usual, we went to our morning ladies' Bible study, but Mom had told me not to make plans for lunch because she and Jamie had plans. They surprised me by inviting all the ladies back to Mom's house for homemade lasagna, salad, and chocolate coffee cake! Not to mention, my dad, Chris and Courtney were able to join us! That was a really fun surprise and a great birthday lunch. I am teaching 5th/6th grades on Wednesday nights, so we just went to Chick-fil-A for dinner before church that night. 

Thursday morning, Mom and I met for pedicures after I took Noah to school. It has been a really long time since I've had one, and it was sooooo nice, even though I wrestled with Audrey half the time! That evening was supposedly our Redman family get-together for my birthday at Jamie's house, but I was in for another surprise--Chris had coordinated my sister and Mark, my parents, my aunt Nancy and aunt Martha, and cousin Christa to be there, along with all the Redmans, Mark W., and Jim & Sharon! Drew grilled burgers and we just had a good time talking and watching Noah and Audrey cruise around in the Mustang. 

Jamie invited the kids to spend the night, and graciously kept them all day Friday so Mom and I could go shopping! We had a nice lunch at Mimi's Cafe and then hit the local outlet mall. I had a good time shopping with Mom, especially sans kids! I was reflecting on what an awesome family I have, and how great this WEEK of 30th birthday celebrations was. 

Then, I had one more thing to which I was looking forward--a nice brunch this morning with my great friend Kelly. She had asked me weeks ago if we could try out a tearoom I had told her about, and she wanted to take me there for a birthday treat. Kelly is hard to describe in just a sentence or two, but she is one of my craziest friends and she is always trying to pack a million things into a day. It didn't faze me one bit when she called this morning and asked if I would mind stopping on the way to brunch to check out this couch she was considering buying from a lady on craigslist. (Seriously, if you knew Kelly, you would understand that this is just the kind of thing she does all.the.time.) I agreed, and we headed out. We pulled into a really nice neighborhood and I was just thinking how Kelly was pretty good at finding fantastic deals on nice things. Kelly rang the doorbell and we could hear someone inside yell something, and Kelly started to try the door and then thought better of it. I was thinking, "Kelly?! What are you doing?! You can't just walk in some stranger's house!" A lady came to answer the door, and she was holding a cute baby that looked just like this little boy at church named Oliver. I was about to remark to Kelly how the baby looked so much like Tanya's boy when I turn to see a bunch of my friends yell, "SURPRISE!!!" It was so surreal to be at a stranger's house and suddenly see all these people I know--it takes a second to put it all together! A surprise?? for ME??!?! Yep, these awesome girls had put on a surprise brunch for me, all coordinated by my amazing, thoughtful friend Tanya! (It WAS her baby, after all!)

Tanya, Kelly, Maria, Monique, Angela, Christina, Brianna, Trish, Cady, Lisa

I can say without hesitation that turning thirty has surpassed every other birthday as the best extended, surprising, heartwarming week of celebrations ever. I couldn't be in a better place in life--I am abundantly blessed with a loving husband who works hard to provide so that I can raise our children. I have two healthy, happy kids and I have every reason to expect great things from them. I have THE BEST in-laws, who are an extension of my own family and are some of the most selfless, giving, caring people I know. My own parents and sister and brother-in-law are great beyond words, and they "get" me better than anyone. I have come to a point in my life where everything has come together, and my church family is undoubtedly full of the kind of people who will be my lifelong friends. Many of these girls are, at the risk of sounding super-corny, true soul sisters and they lift me up and motivate me to be the best mother, friend, and Christian I can be. I say all this not to boast, but to give God the glory and thanks, and to simply say that turning thirty is not a sad moment for me, but one that reminds me and humbles me to consider how blessed I am with the life I am living at thirty. Better than the alternative, right?