Birthday Surprise

Last week, I hit the big milestone birthday... 3-0!  As the day had been approaching, I was kind of dreading it, to be honest.  Not in a I'm-so-old-and-don't-want-to-turn-30 kind of way but in a my-hubby-has-been-gone-for-12-days-and-is-out-of-town-on-my-birthday kind of way.  It turned out being one of the BEST days EVER.. thanks to my unbelievable mother, sister, hubby, and best friends.  Here's how it all went down...

Knowing that Justin would be out of town, Bridget fulfilled her best friend duties and asked me if she wanted me to email some friends to go out on my birthday.  I agreed and so she sent off the email.  Within the next several hours, almost everyone had replied and politely declined.  I was soo sad, thinking none of my friends cared about going out on my birthday.  Little did I know this was all part of my mom's, Jorie's, and Bridget's master plan to surprise me!  I've been told that I can be difficult to surprise by my hubby, so apparently they had to get creative!  Bridget told me not to worry but that we were going to make the most of it.  She planned a super fun morning for us... she hired a babysitter to watch our kids and took me to get a pedicure and out for lunch.  It was the ultimate treat and I felt so loved and spoiled!  I came home, put the girls down for naps, and then we headed to Lindsey's for playgroup.  Since none of my friends could come to my birthday dinner, Lindsey had offered to host a playgroup birthday party for me.  So we went to Lindsey's and had some yummy snacks.  Some of my friends apologized about not being able to come to dinner and asked if Bridget and I were still going to do something fun.  I had no idea what we were going to do, but knew we'd be doing something.  I felt bad because she had already spent basically the entire day (and so much money!) on me.  Little did I know that everyone had been told to say they couldn't come, even though I would end up seeing some of them again in just a couple hours!! 

After playgroup, we brought the kids back to Bridget's and she told me to go get ready.  I felt kind of silly but got ready anyway.  We left and when we got in the car, she went on to explain how bad she felt that no one was able to come.  She said things like, "I tried so hard.  I even called some other people but NO ONE was free.  I'm so sorry," etc... She then went on to say that we were going to Cedar Rapids to have dinner with my mom and sister.  I totally believed it and was thinking that was fine... at least we were doing SOMETHING!!!  We got to my mom's house, walked in, and I was in for the BIGGEST surprise ever.  Right when I walked in, I saw all of my very best friends waiting for me and yelling SURPRISE!!!!  In normal Annie fashion, I shed several tears and couldn't get myself together for several minutes. 

These lovely ladies were waiting for me!!

We had sangria and appetizers and chatted for awhile before my mom served us a delicious dinner at a perfectly set table.  My mom loves a theme and did an awesome job decorating and planning the most perfect dinner party!

My favorite flowers were a beautiful centerpiece.

Such a pretty table!

Jorie made this photo collage... so fun!!

Cheers to 30 years!

After dinner, Jorie had everyone take a quiz about me and I was showered with gifts- both physical and of the word sort.  They typed up a list of 30 things they love about me and all took turns reading their contributions.  Words of affirmation is my love language and my heart was bursting from the sweet words everyone shared.

My hubby got me a Keurig!

The party ended with some delicious chocolate cake!

I can't think of a better way to have spent my birthday.  It was the most special night and I will remember it always.  I know there will be many hard days coming up, with our move, and these memories will hopefully be a bright spot for me. 

Jorie had everyone take a picture with me and I'm so glad she did!  All of these wonderful women helped make my 30th the best birthday yet!

Mom

Jorie

Bridget

Dollie

Emily

Erika

Jacque

Lacey

Lindsey

Thank you so much for the most perfect night!!!!

We heart spring!

30 years = Girls Weekend!

This past weekend was definitely one of the most fun times I've had recently!  I met three of my most dear college friends (one is actually a friend from high school!) for a quick girls weekend away to celebrate our 30th birthdays.  We planned this before we had any idea that Justin and I would be moving but the Lord knew I would absolutely benefit from this trip, at this exact time, well before I did.  It was exactly the refreshment that I needed.  Check out this picture of us from college... circa 2003 I'm thinking...

Me, Rachelle, Michelle, and Andrea

 Just to give a little background on these amazing women... Michelle and I have known each other since junior high and really became good friends in high school.  We both (along with several others from our high school) decided to go to Iowa and she was the girl I called when we first moved in and hadn't made any friends yet.  ;)  We stayed friends through out our years at Iowa.

Michelle and Andrea were on the same floor freshman year in Burge and Rachelle and I were on the same floor in Rienow.  I met Andrea through Michelle and found out she went to high school near my high school and we knew some random mutual people.  Andrea and I were also the crazy girls who got engaged AND MARRIED while still in college, so we loved having each other over for dinner and hanging out as married couples our senior year of college.  We thought we were so grown up.. HA!  :)

Rachelle is the friend who ended up marrying my second cousin and is now IN MY FAMILY...whoa!!  We were on the same floor freshman year, joined the same sorority, were roommates for two years, both worked at the hospital in registration, both elementary education majors, both learned the Everclear dance at UDA dance camp in high school (haha, Rachelle!), among many other similarities. 

All four of us joined sororities and were in a bible study for Greeks together through out college and that is how we all became connected.  We also all grew up in the Chicago burbs so we had that in common as well.  That concludes the history portion of my post.  :) 

And here we are now...

As you can see, the weekend started off with manicures and pedicures and LOTS of catching up!  We all stayed at Michelle's awesome condo in Chicago.  Andrea flew in from D.C. and Rachelle drove in from the burbs. 

After some pampering, we headed to dinner at this darling Italian restaurant Michelle knew about.  She planned the whole weekend and everything was great.. she is the perfect planner! :)

After dinner, we went back to Michelle's, put on our jammies, and watched funny, random You Tube clips.  We were in bed by 11 and up by 7 the next morning.  Yep, we are all 30 now, remember?!

The next morning, Michelle's hubby made us all a gourmet breakfast (can you believe that?!  what a guy!) and then we headed to Lush for facials and foot treatments.  We decided to go heavy on the pampering... who has time for this in their normal lives?!  We all had to buy a $50 gift card to use on products, but they opened the store an hour early for us and pampered us for free!  Then we got to use the gift card on the products we liked.  It was awesome!

Michelle and Rachelle getting facialed.  (is that a word?)

Me and Andrea getting our foot treatments.

Happy customers!

 After that, we ate lunch at a cute bagel shop and then shopped around Lincoln Park. 

We all headed home later that afternoon. It was super quick but I am so glad we all made the effort and did it anyway.  It was so refreshing and relaxing!  We decided we're going to make this an every five years event...  See y'all at 35!  ;)

Some funny ones

Just overheard Claire singing her latest made-up song:

I love God because he bes the best. He is the best. He is the beeeeest.

Some other recent favorites:

Emma calls all princess dresses 'beauty'. I think she heard Claire say she wanted to wear her Sleeping Beauty dress one time and now whenever she wants to wear one of the dresses, she points to her tummy and says, 'beauty'. Super cute!

Emma's answer to any 'where' question (where is your blankey? Where do you live? Where is your sissy?) is always Iowa.

Claire has been very vocal about her love recently. I was gone on a girls' trip last weekend and got to Skype with the girls one morning. Claire said, "Mom, I miss you. Do you miss me?" and frequently tells me she loves me. This is perfect for this words of affirmation mama! ;)

Emma thinks the way to say excuse me is 'beep'. When you are in her way or a toy is in her way, she says beep. Even if I tell her to say excuse me, she says, 'beeeeep'.

Claire's current list of imaginary friends that come into play every day are Lish, Bea, Leo, and Huntrainea. Seriously, that last one is Hun-train-e-a. Don't ask. I have no answer.

Emma's current favorite song is Mary Had a Little Lamb. She is always asking me to sing it. She says 'Mary' and points to my lips to ask me to sing it.

Matchy Matchy

Please watch

This has been all over Facebook today.  If you haven't watched it yet, do.  It is worth your time, trust me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4MnpzG5Sqc

Cousin Catch Up

We have been doing lots of visiting with our cousins before the big move.  I HATE thinking about not being near all of these sweet kiddos soon.. we are currently within an hour of all of them.... sigh.

Anyway, we are enjoying our time now before we are far, far away.  It has been sweet.

We visited Georgia and Lola last week.  These girls play so sweetly together!

Claire loves big cousin Silas!  We went to tot time with the Dill boys last week.

Claire and her newest baby cousin!  We had fun meeting him today!

Pinspiration

Like so many other people, my eyes have been opened to so many good recipes, fun ideas, and easy projects thanks to Pinterest.

My most recent 'project' (if you can even call it that)...

The snack bin!  I keep it in the fridge and fill it with yummy, healthy snacks and the kiddos are free to help themselves any time they want.  Claire loves the independence of getting it and choosing it herself.  And I love not having to look through the fridge and cupboards and list off the options.