Beefcake Cards

Years ago my sister introduced me to the hilarity that is 'beefcake cards.'

She told me about one that she bought for her mother-in-law's birthday that had a picture of a ripped guy on the front.

It said - you may be getting older, but this guy doesn't care...

Inside - ... He can't count that high anyway. 

Then one year she sent me one for my birthday. 

Last month I got one for a friend's birthday and today she reciprocated. 

Enjoy -

Birthday Follow-up

Well, it happened.

I turned 30.

And the world didn't end.

I didn't really think it would.

Really...

I had a really nice day (couple of days).

It started a day earlier when I was out to lunch with my internship supervisor (turned co-worker). While we were eating she asked when my birthday was (she knew it was coming up) and when I told her it was the next day, she insisted on paying for lunch. Which was really nice.

Thursday (my actual birthday) my mom came up to my office, brought me a plant for my cubicle, and took me out to lunch. We tried a new-to-us restaurant and it was pretty good. Our meals were served with mole sauce which neither of us loved, so I scraped it off of my enchiladas (previously my only mole experience was when it was served to me on top of an iguana omelet... yuck).

Thursday evening a friend arranged for a group of people to go to a frozen yogurt place to celebrate. I had been kind of torn between celebrating and not, but Amber kept offering to do something. So I finally stopped being difficult and let her. And I'm glad I did. It was a lot of fun.

Following that, Amber and I went back to her place where I proceeded to do what I hadn't done in a looooong time - stay up way past midnight. It was after 1:30 by the time I got home. Way too late for a 30-year old. (:

During the day on Thursday I heard from lots of friends and all my family in some way or another. I got two awesome phone messages from a niece and then a nephew singing happy birthday to me. Those are my favorite messages (little kids singing any song really, so feel free to leave random messages of your children singing on my voicemail). (:

The next evening a couple of friends of mine from the master's program wanted to go out to dinner. The three of us have tried to get together about once a month for lunch or something, and they decided to combine it with my birthday. I had taken Friday off from my temple shift in case I needed to crawl into a corner and cry (which never happened, thank goodness). When I got to the restaurant to meet them I saw that they had invited another guy from our program and his family, my parents, and a friend of mine from my ward (thank you facebook for letting people who have never met get in touch).

The surprise was complete with balloons (a must for surprise parties, I'm told) -

And a present from Katie who made this after remembering I mentioned this quote a long time ago saying that I intended to eventually cross stitch it and frame it. And now I don't have to!

I love it.

And I think it's a great addition to this picture grouping.

Thanks to everyone who emailed, called, texted, facebook posted, took me out etc. - or thought about doing any one of those things -  to wish me a happy birthday. It was a great couple of days. (:

I Am So Blessed

Earlier this year I blogged about some drawbacks to getting older. In September, I started thinking about how blessed I am to be getting older and how much I have to be grateful for. I had it in my mind to create this post early and schedule it for publishing on my birthday. - Yep, the day is finally here, I'm 30. - So, on 29 September, I started this post. I'm planning to add and edit throughout the next 41 days so it's all ready for publishing by the 42nd day. Here goes!

In no particular order (and not a comprehensive list)...

I'm blessed because -

- I have a family who loves me
- I have grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters, in-laws and 21 (soon to be 22!) nieces and nephews whom I love
- I have the gospel in my life
- I have the blessing of being able to repent
- I have been able to work at the temple once a week for a year and a half, and I work with some pretty great people
- I have had really good health for pretty much all of my life
- I have really good friends in my life
- I have had the blessing of being able to get two degrees
- I have two dogs who love me
- My natural hair color looks good on me (:
(that's what my mom tells me)
- I have a body that allows me to push it to do hard things and doesn't hold it against me
(for too long anyway...)
- 1 marathon, 4 half marathons, and multiple 5ks and 10ks, as well as 1 half-marathon relay
 - I have working senses that allow me to see, hear, taste, smell and touch beautiful things
- I had an internship that turned into a real job (with benefits!)
- I've learned to be happy in whatever situation I'm in
(it's a process, and sure I have harder times than others, but overall... I think I'm doing pretty well)
- I have never struggled with addiction to harmful substances
- I have a roof over my head and a bed to sleep on
(thanks Mom and Dad!)
- I don't know what it's like to really go hungry
- I have a car that gets me where I need to go
(even with it's recent repairs)
- I have a Savior who lived and died for me because He loves me that much
- I have had one dating relationship in which I learned a lot about myself
(hey, it's more than zero...)
- I learned to drive a motorcycle and got my motorcycle license
(again, thanks Mom and Dad)
- I am a certified SCUBA diver
(ditto to above)
- I have the ability to learn and grow from my experiences and mistakes
- I have the ability to feel joy and pain
- I know how to laugh
- I live in a place where I am surrounded by beautiful things
- I am happy

Happy Thursday (weekend eve!) Everyone!
I hope your day - and your life - is filled with reminders of wonderful and beautiful things around you.

God lives.
Jesus Christ lives.
And I am so blessed because of it.

Coping

So... I'm turning 30 this year. THIRTY. I remember when my oldest sister turned 30 and I thought that was a long way off for me. Well, now I'm staring down the barrel of the gun that's shooting the number 30 out at me. I'm not freaking out about it yet... And I've thought of a way that would totally help me cope with turning 30.

I've had my eye on this cruise for about four years. I'm thinking it might be time to go. And I'm thinking that the perfect time to go would be on my birthday. Who would mind turning 30 while spending time on the Mediterranean?

I wouldn't mind.
Not at all.

We'll see if it happens...

If not the cruise, then I'd *settle* for some time spent in Italy.

I'm easy to please.

My Happy Birthday - 2010 Version

My 29th (*gasp!*) birthday began by driving home at midnight from Provo after being on a bus for almost 12 hours coming back from Denver (we got caught in a snowstorm for part of the way, but a midnight arrival time was a lot better than the ETA of 3 or 4 am the driver gave us at one point) - more on Denver later.

So, this is kind of how my day went:

1 am: After arriving home, the dogs moved into position for the first time since I left on Saturday morning (Max's position isn't normally my bed. He never sleeps on it, but he will climb up on it occasionally. He hasn't done it for a really long time, so I'm guessing this was his way of telling me he missed me. :).

7 am: Woken up by my dad who was leaving for work and wanted to say 'welcome home' and 'happy birthday.' Not a bad way to be woken up. (:


8 am: When I woke up, they kept me company until I was ready to start moving.

8:15: I enjoyed the changing leaves outside my window.
Had mixed feelings about the light snow fall all morning.

10:00 am: Attended a session @ the temple.

12:30: Met my mom, sister, & sister-in-law for lunch at Olive Garden.
Who wouldn't enjoy lunch sitting across from a face like this?

2:30 - 4:50 - Homework (still not done with everything that needs to be done for tomorrow)

5:00 pm: Went running with both dogs. In my winter running getup.

Notice the candy-striped gloves.
A gift from a friend some years ago.
I'm so glad I have them!

not picture above - Ear warmers. I got them for free at the conference. LOVE them. I've never paid for ear warmers, but I've gotten a couple through different events. Totally worth it if you run outside in the winter.

6:00 pm: Got a haircut. Yup.
Not really sure why, but I really wanted a change. Call it backlash if you will. Call it that, because it's quite possible that's what it was.
See the evidence:

(have I mentioned lately how much I dislike having my picture taken? Also, please ignore the lines and bags under my eyes. Remember Denver...)


8:30 pm: Attended a fireside with the associate director of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir speaking.

Beautiful flowers from my nephew Guy (and his mom), and my mom.

Beautiful flowers from my sweet friend Bethany who had them delivered to my home this afternoon. I don't believe that's ever happened to me before. I feel so grown up! (:

Throughout the day: Heard from a lot of people - family and friends - wishing me a happy birthday. Got sung to by my dad, my friend, my sister and her family, and my other friend. Good times.

It was a good day.

Here's to another good year.

funny - check out how similar this
was to my birthday last year...

If I Could Go Back and Do It Over Again...

... I'd have entertainment like this at my first birthday party:

More of My Happy Birthday

Scenes from my walk:


Scenes from dinner:

pictured: center - strawberry shortcake
starting from upper left corner, moving clockwise - my nephew w/ a noodle hanging out of his mouth, my sister Caitlin and me, me with dessert, my nephew using a straw for the first time, my parents, and avocado egg rolls
(if you ever go to the cheesecake factory, eat the avocado egg rolls as an appetizer - wow!)

My Happy Birthday!

Yesterday I turned 28.

It was a good day.

I started out by going to the temple.
(the first time I've done that on my birthday. i like it. i think i'll do it again.)

Then I went to lunch with a friend.
Olive Garden.
(:
(came home with a boxes for leftover lunch and leftover dessert.)

Went on a walk with a friend and my Dingo.
beautiful day!
(decided that we should have the bonfire we've been talking about having for the last month)

Went to dinner with my family-that-I'm-living-with (minus Rob - he had to work) at the Cheesecake Factory
(my first time there. it was really good. for dessert i had... strawberry shortcake - at my sister's suggestion. it was a good suggestion.)
(and I came home with leftover dinner, and leftover dessert)

Had an appointment with my Bishop. The executive secretary brought me a cupcake to celebrate. (:

And ended with a bonfire in the backyard.
so fun.

Ben, Annikki, Robbie (in the flames, look closely!), Justin, and me

Ben, Robbie, Justin, me, and Annikki
we need to do it again.

It was a great day.

bonus: I didn't do any reading for class.
I should have done some reading for class... oops.