Go ahead...Make My Day!

So, other than spending a great 30th birthday with my wonderful family, here are a couple of things that happened that just made my day!

1.  I went to a Golddigger's jewelry party on a whim today.  I traded two bracelets for $245 and still kept the diamonds.  The thing about this is that we have pay our property taxes at the end of the month and have been about $300 off the mark...God is cool like that.

2.  I FINALLY got all of my itunes songs, and more importantly, my workout playlist, loaded onto my blackberry.  This is huge for me, because I've been trying to do this for WEEKS, and now I can go to the gym anytime without having to work out a schedule with the hubs for the ipod.

3.  The City of Savannah announced this week that they are beginning an amnesty program for people who have unpaid parking tickets.  If you know me well, you know why that made my day!  I don't know how much $$ I have racked up parking fines, but I'd be willing to bet that I'm on the naughty list for this one.

4.  I happened to drive by the house that I grew up in today and noticed some firetrucks down the street, so I decided to investigate.  Long story short, the city is burning down the houses on that block to make room for a park, supposedly.  I talked the firemen into letting me take a look around and man, was that like stepping back into a time machine!  It looked SO much smaller than I remember.  I certainly don't remember living in a small box and it seems like we had a lot of stuff back then, so I'm not sure how my mom made it work, but she did.  I'm pretty sure my bedroom was supposed to be closet, but looking back, I don't remember it being small at all.  I remember my daybed with the trundle that my cousin, Penny slept on almost every weekend.  I remember my white dresser with the white eyelet lamp shade and the flowers my daddy gave me once.  I remember the hanging closet in the corner b/c the room didn't have one.  I remember looking out the window and watching my dad work in his shop and laying in bed and watching T.V. through the mini blinds at night.  So, although it was teeny tiny, the most important thing is that our parents made it work and we never realized how cramped it really was because we were too busy having a wonderful childhood. 

It was very sad to see my childhood home being ripped apart, board by board.  I walked through and remembered running around, playing chase with my brother, climbing into my parents bed at night (the wood paneling was still on the walls!), sitting at the bar doing my homework and watching my mom iron, and riding our bikes up and down the sidewalk.  It was a great place to live and I have many, many fond memories of that place.  I walked out with tears in my eyes (I'm pretty sure those firemen thought I was a little looney), and looking up and down the street, I saw one of our old neighbors, Mrs. Thompson, who lived two doors down.  I remember her being old then, but she hadn't aged much at all.  She was so surprised to see me and had tears in her eyes as she told me about her grandson T.J., who was one of my best friends growing up, living in California and how lonely she is without him.  She told me all about her bad day at the doctor's office, her frustration with getting older, and all the changes that had happened in the old neighborhood.  I'm pretty sure that I made her week, maybe her month, just by stopping by and saying hi.  While it was very sad to think about my old home being burnt to the ground, I was very humbled to have the opportunity to take one more walk through and share some memories with a jewel of a lady who was like another grandmother to me.  The irony of getting to do so on my 30th birthday wasn't lost on me, either. It was like God just chose to sprinkle me with blessings, for which I am extremely grateful.

So, I guess the first day of my 30's was pretty great.  I'm looking forward to the weekend for more celebrating with hubs and the rest of my family as well.  And, to say that I'm blessed beyond measure would be the understatement of the year!  :) 

Hello 30's...I've been waiting for you my whole life!

I don't have much time to expound on how I feel about turning 30 tomorrow,and there is much to say about what I've learned and how I've grown in the past decade. I will leave you with this little thought:

This photo is from New Year's Eve 2002. I call that the year my life changed forever!  We went out in downtown Athens, had a great time, and if I remember correctly, I randomly kissed the guy standing next to me at midnight (b/c I'm so wild like that...lol)! 

And this one is from this past weekend.

My bff abby and her family came down to visit for a few days.  We went to dinner with our hubby's, took our kids to the bounce house, and drew cows on the sidewalk for fun.  I don't know about her, but I think I enjoyed this weekend much better than that one so long ago.  And,considering the seven years difference in these pictures includes both of us having babies, I'd so we don't look so bad after all this time!  I mean, thirty IS the new twenty after all!  :)

LOVE!

Immediate Blessings...

Yesterday was one of my worst days ever. I don't know why, but I've been so cranky and dissatisfied with my life lately. I've just been in the worst mood lately, which is totally unlike me. I have picked fights with my hubby, let things bother me that usually don't, and found myself discontent with my job, which is pretty much amazing. It always takes talking to my BFF who reminds me that this is a monthly thing with me and that I should just let it run it's course. And, she's usually right. Although this time, I did feel like I was dissatisfied with some particular things in my heart that needed to be dealt with.

Sometimes, I think the Lord causes us to be dissatisfied with our lives so we will reevaulate where we are and make changes for the better. I think that is where I was and it all come to head yesterday. First of all, I feel that my relationship with the Lord isn't where it should be and I need to do something about that. So, I'm going to make my bible study and prayer time more of a priority in my life, somehow. Secondly, I realize that I am in need of good, close Christian girl friends. After feeling the Lord prompting me to reach out to a couple of girls that I knew but not very well, I sent them both an email asking them if we could start a playdate/bible study group, knowthing that they would probably think I was crazy. Well, wouldn't you know that both of them were excited about it and have needed something like that in their lives as well. We now have a date set to get together and I couldn't be more excited! And lastly, I realized that hubs and I needed to focus on our marriage more and try to make each other happier by doing the things that we know will please the other. Too often, our lives focus on being parents and we neglect each other as spouses, which causes discontent. When explaining all of this to my hubs, he agreed and we are now on the same page. We are even going to find a Sunday School class at church together, which will be a first in a long time for us.

To top it all off, I found out that the City of Savannah is offering me (and all the other deliquents out there) amnesty for my unpaid parking tickets!!!!! Woo Hoo! All I have to do is pay the original fines and they'll wave the late fees. No more holding my head in shame as I pass the parking ticket office every day or being scared of being booted when I park on the squares. And, Tennessee lost their head coach, which makes a great day in the Bulldog nation.

So, what started as a crappy day ended up being a very happy one. I think that just as he allows the discontentment in our hearts which causes us to turn to him, he also pours out his blessings upon us to remind us that when we turn our problems and troubles over to him, He always has a perfect plan and a way that is so much better than ours. I just hope it will stick this time...

Knockin' on Thirty's Door...

In eight days, I turn the big 3-0. I cannot believe it! I swear I just got those tickets to go see 'Grease' on my 18th birthday last year and remember celebrating my 21st like it was yesterday. Now, approaching the exit of one decade and knocking on the door of another. It's kind of scary when you think about it.

The thing is, when I turned 20, I pretty much knew what was up the road. I knew I still had to finish college, I would probably get a good job, and would eventually get married and have a family. I guess looking back, that is exactly what I did. Well, except I stayed in college and got two degrees, have had three jobs since then, and got married to a completely different person than I expected. But, it's all good...for real. You make a lot of really big decisions in your twenties. You decide where to live, what to major in, where to work, who to marry, and if you're like me and most of my friends, you start having babies.

I guess in your 30's, you begin to live out the product of those decisions, good or bad. I was talking to a friend the other day who was telling me that she hated her field of work and was considering going back to school to do something else entirely. The only problem is, she's 30 with two kids, a mortgage, etc. and doesn't know how to make it work. Should she stay in a job that she hates for the rest of her life because of a decision she made when she was 20? It's a tough decision that comes with some very real considerations. The problem with making all those decisions when you're so young is that you change SO much in those ten years. I am not the same person I was at 20 when I was at UGA, or even at 25 when I got married. Nor will I be the same at 40 as I am at 30, God willing. We can't constantly look back and think, 'if only life was as simple as when I was younger.' Or second guess our own decisions and wonder, 'what if I had chosen differently?' because that only makes you dissatisfied with the life you are currently living. We grow, we change, and we have to make the most with what we have been given or what the outcome of those choices brings. Life's too short to constantly look back and wonder 'what if?' Before you know it, another decade will have passed and you'll be reminscing about how great you had it 'back then.' You can't change where you are, but you can control where you are going and it's up to you whether you move forward or allow yourself to backwards, longing for 'what might have been' through rose-tinted glasses, no less.

So, here's to my new decade and whatever it may bring. I pray it will be much peace, much happiness, and more growth and change within me. In my next thirty years, I hope I will have been stretched, grown, changed, challenged, blessed, loved, and have been loved even more than in these past ones. Here's to my 30's...and whatever they may bring! :)