The New 20

Today I turned 30. My brother called me a couple of days ago and asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I can never think of anything when people ask me this question, but I remembered that I do have an Amazon wish list. I got on the computer while I was talking to him and sent the link to Amber, my sister-in-law. While she was pulling up the list, my brother was heckling me about how old I am. I heard Amber yelling out from the background, "30 is like the new 20!" He said, "Yeah, she said that 30 is like the new 50!" Nice. That's what little brothers are for I guess.

I was just excited to hear Amber say that she thought my Amazon wish list was so fun that it caused her to think that she needed to spice hers up a bit! I guess I'm not a total dud yet.

Last night my guys gave me my birthday present early. They got me Volume 1 of the Love Comes Softly movie series. We do like them because they're wholesome movies... but apparently part of the reason Chet bought them is that we laugh really hard at some of the acting, particularly the body movements and facial expressions of Dale Midkiff (Missie's father). Chet can do a mean Dale Midkiff impression that causes me to crack up. You'll have to ask him to oblige you sometime.

Earlier today I was getting ready to go to the grocery store, and Ladan walked me to the door. He gave me a hug before I left and spontaneously said, "I think you're really cool." That's a great birthday gift right there!

My mom had Chet go out and get me some balloons. He thought it was too much to get 30 balloons, so he got six latex balloons and wrote "5", "plus five", "+ five", "add cinco", "+ V", and "add another five" on them. Then he had them include a mylar balloon that says "thirty". He said that 6 x 5 = 30... and he was able to accomplish the goal with only seven balloons. Efficiency is definitely key. Now you see why we fit well together.

Before I went to the high school girls small group at church, I stopped at Starbucks and got my favorite treat, a mint javachip frappuccino. While I was waiting for it, the barista gave me a free multigrain roll and apple bran muffin. He didn't even know it was my birthday, so I consider that a gift straight from the Lord!

Then the small group gals had another little treat and a very sweet card for me. All of these things on top of the MANY Facebook, phone, and e-mail birthday greetings were a real blessing today. I definitely don't feel much different than I did when I turned 20. That said, I think Amber is probably right on. It's the new 20!