Thoughts on Thirty

Isn't your thirtieth birthday supposed to be some sort of momentous occasion? Kind of like a first birthday except you don't dig your hands into the cake and wipe frosting all over yourself. Or at least I didn't this time.




For a lot of people 30 might be a hard birthday, because you're considered "old" by the standards of our youthful culture. My dad told me his thirtieth birthday was very depressing for him.
I suppose I'm not as cute as I was around age one or two.... that might be upsetting for some folks. But it doesn't bother me too much. At least I don't have to wear shirts like this anymore. Except for when I'm pregnant.


At thirty, I may not be as cute as I was at Elora's age:




But in a lot of ways I'm happier with my disposition and looks than I was at sweet sixteen! I was definitely more creative then though. Check out all of my rings:



My twenty-first year saw a lot of action (academically that is). So I could feel somewhat accomplished at that landmark year.


Its easy to feel like you need to have reached all kinds of milestones by thirty. If I got too analytical about the big things I haven't done yet, I might be upset. So what about the little things?
Not only did I finally move far away from home , but I got my braces off and got contact lenses at the age of twenty-three. Now that is momentous. I even actually met someone I liked enough to get married, and I have two kids of my own! Thats pretty good too.

My birthday itself wasn't especially spectacular this year. We were watching money and couldn't do anything big..but we played at the park, got an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen, and went to the mall for the second time since we moved here.
I got to spend some birthday money on some cool new shoes there:

Beforehand, I also bought myself the present of two new bras from (whisper) Victoria's Secret. Its the first time I've had bras that I actually like and that fit me! But I'll spare you the visual of that one.


I got four different birthday messages on the answering machine: my sister and her daughter called and sang to me, two of my brothers called and sang together, my mom (who is visiting my grandma) called with her and sang to me, and my dad even called (he didn't sing). Who knew my family was so musical!

So, thirty. I haven't accomplished any huge major things in my life. But I have a family who loves me enough to call me, a husband who tried really hard to plan a fun day, and two kids who are almost as cute as I was:


(I'm totally kidding. I'm not that narcissistic.)