Happy Birthday to me!

Who knew turning 30 would be so fun?

I am so thankful for my loving family!

Yesterday was my actual birthday. It started off with a delicious breakfast with my husband and father-in-law. I don't think I have ever seen so much gravy! Then, I checked in at work for a little before closing up shop for the year. We had a lite lunch thanks to Customer Appreciation $2 subs at subway. Opened gifts with Trophyhus and his dad - can't wait to wear my new "Virginia is for Runners" shirt! Then, I sat and watched junk tv while they installed programmable thermostats for the new house. Josh made reservations at a very nice restaurant where I had the best lava cake ever! Funny that it was a steakhouse and the steaks were extremely good but I can't stop thinking about that lava cake with ice cream.

I saw most of my family yesterday but didn't really have time to hang out due to various reasons. Below are pics of the party I missed at my sister's house:

So today, I got a pedicure with Carrie. Actually, she was "babysitting" me while the rest of the family was secretly at my house decorating and cooking. We pulled up to my house just in time. There was caution tape warning that a 30th birthday party was occurring at the curb, pink flamingos (affectionately known as Boris and Doris) in the yard, a palm tree cooler in the dinning room with pink flamingo drink holders, everyone was wearing leis, and I wore a grass skirt. So thankful they didn't have a coconut bra! That might have been overkill ... it looked like Hawaii collided with Virginia. I loved every bit of it! Apparently, my sweet Trophyhus has been planning and working with my family to get this together for a while. I was very excited and blessed for all their hard work. Mom made so much food and Amber even made me purple cupcakes! I am so thankful for my family. They made me feel so special and loved.

Cupcakes Amber made just for my party - PURPLE :)

The last 30 years have been great! I cannot wait to see what the future holds! It just keeps getting better and better! Thank You Lord! Funny that I used to cry on my birthdays because I didn't want to grow up. I even delayed getting my license till I was 16 and 1/2. All this changed when I found Jesus! Now, I keep getting better and better - ok, so it isn't me. It's Him in me. I'll gladly take it! I want more of Him and less of me.

I am currently running for meatballs, cocktail weenies, cheese ball, chicken salad, pizza, cupcakes, spinach dip, and the rest of the food Mom made for my party. Good thing tomorrow is New Year's Eve - Mom made enough food for at least 2 parties!

Who rides a Party Bus to work??? I do!

At work we have this really cool perk - since our campus is overcrowded, they offer "cafe cash" if you ride the shuttle in from one of the really far back parking lots instead of parking in front of your building. I am all for this as I love lunch and what's better than a free or partially free lunch? They give me $4 in cafe cash Monday through Thursday just for parking far away! I can eat a good lunch for like $.50-$1.50 - um, sweet!

Usually, the bus is your normal mini coach bus. Nothing fancy. Tuesday was just an ordinary day. Kind of rainy so no one was enthused, until ... here comes the Party Bus! Carrie and I caught the last two seats on the bus. The driver warned us that this wasn't an ordinary bus and she was right! We sat down on the comfy leather couch-type seating and couldn't help but snicker. Everyone else on the bus was pretty serious so we kept it to ourselves until after the first stop in front of building 2 where 75-90% of the passengers got off. We only had a few minutes before our stop so we took the opportunity to take some pictures ...

Did you notice the zebra print pillow? The running lights? Did I mention the music playing? It was something Zumba-like ...

Ok, so it's a horrible picture of me but a very funny story that started our day off with a laugh :) As one guy stepped off the bus he commented - "It's all downhill from here today." It was a sweet ride, even if it only lasted for 5 minutes :)

I am currently running to work off the delicious cookies from the Ladies' Cookie Swap I just left ... dozens and dozens of delicious cookies ...