Surprise, I am 30

Warning:  This is an extremely picture heavy post. My wonderful, adorable, honest, trustworthy, amazing, and generous (among other things) husband threw me a 30th surprise birthday party. My parents hosted it at their beautiful, perfect for parties, house. In short - It. Was. Amazing. New Kids on the Block/90's themed . . . Does it get any better than that? I will let the pictures speak for themselves.  

These were the faces I made as I walked in.

Completely surprised and lovin' it.

These were only some of the amazing decorations.

My sister in law and friend were in charge of that portion, and I couldn't believe what an amazing job they did.

And yes, that is a doll of Jordan or Danny (not sure which) from NKOTB.

Doesn't matter which one . . . still awesome.

Appetizers

Main Dish

Dessert Bar

Candy Bar (obvi.)

cake

My brother in law made (yes, I said made) this photo booth.

It was so much fun.

See.

Tim picked out and bought 90's outfits for the whole family. 

I love them all . . . but Ethan's is my favorite.

A one-peice running suit.

Classic.

Fun was had by all.

Tim's sister and her family all got decked out in 90's gear.

They did so much work on the party, and I am forever indebted.

AC Slater was there.

This Flashdance outfit got best girl's costume.

Go Debra!

Even my parents got into the theme.

They may have been a little confused on whether the invitation said "Luau" or "90's," but it's the thought that counts, right?

Gina loved the rat tail on this guy.

The Newest Kids on the Block made an appearance.

They did a performance just for me.

And then they helped me blow out my candles.

This is when the party started to get crazy.

It's always a crazy party with DJ Jonny.

Microphones came out and stayed out for quite a while.

Favorite picture of the night right there.

The night was such a blast, and I was so thankful that so many people came out to celebrate.

I am so blessed with such amazing friends and family, and I do not take it for granted.

Tomato and Mozzarella Salad

It would be a stretch of the imagination to call this a recipe, but it is a dish that can be put together in five minutes flat and please a crowd at the same time.  

Here is the cast of characters (minus the tomato and mozzarella cheese, obviously):

Just slice up about 4 roma tomatoes and a ball of fresh mozzarella cheese on a platter.

Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top and then sprinkle salt and pepper over the entire thing.

I usually make it about 30 minutes before we eat and put it in the refrigerator to allow the oil and vinegar to really soak into the salad and give it a nice rich taste.

It is very yummy.

It will make you very popular.

But best of all . . . it is easy, peasy, lemon squeezy.

Insta-birthday

Well, I have finally arrived at the big 3-0. That's right.  I have officially made it to a new decade. I truly enjoyed my twenties and am looking forward to this new world of thirties. On that note . . .  Here is how I spent that last week as a 29 year old.  My life through the lense of my iphone.  

Here we are at our second home, the grocery store.

We might as well make it fun with the car cart.

We had a cake reception for a leaving pastor at church on Sunday.

Ethan cleaned his plate.

I am really enjoying this Bible study on Tuesday nights.

These next three pictures are of Ethan over a span of about five minutes.

This boy is busy.

Here he is inside a table, acting like it is normal to sit in a table.

After the table he felt like cooking me lunch.

When that got boring he decided to step it up a notch (no pun intended) and climb in the furniture once again to reach into things we put up high, so he wouldn't be able to get to them.

How did that work out for us?

Two things that accompanied me during naptime one day.

My cute water cup and the book Matched.

Tim and I got to go on a little morning date this week to check out a new school for George.

He will be in kindergarten next year, so we attended an open house for new parents.

I will leave you with a super cute picture of my boys.

They are such a source of joy in my life.

"Thirty, and Flirty, and Thriving"

Name that movie?

My Girl, McCall

At the beginning of the month I read about a blogger swap of sorts over on Casey's blog. It sounded like a cool idea. We e-mailed our names and blogs titles to one source, and she matched us up. Then we got to send our "person" a little gift. Somehow . . . I hit the jackpot. My girl, McCall, who blogs over at melee&thegirls, sent me the most special gift.  

She sent me a lovely assortment of notecards, car fresheners, and a gorgeous cross bracelet.

Here is each peice in its own spotlight.

Cause they all deserve one.

How cute are they?

My car will be stinky no longer.

Perfect gift for this mom of boys.

Mary Englebreit is my favorite.

Love, love, love these cute cards.

I may never send them to anyone because I want to keep them all to myself.

I loved all the presents, but this was my favorite.

It is absolutely gorgeous.

I never want to take it off.

McCall, you outdid yourself.

I hope you liked the presents I sent you even half as much as I loved these.

You are my girl!

This match-up was so much fun.