Swimming with Dolphins

Tyler is an amazing man. The dedication and love he has for his daughters and me. The sacrifice and service he gives of himself for our family in order to balance our lives, his job and studies at school. His gifts are always meaningful and full of love, and what he did for my 30th birthday will be added to the many reasons why my husband is so amazing!

I don't know if any of you have seen the clip of Kristen Bell's Sloth Meltdown, but that is almost exactly how my dolphin surprise played out.

We went to San Diego for my birthday, and I was under the impression that the trip was my birthday gift. Tyler had us scheduled to spend my actual birthday at Sea World. He was rushing me all morning (nothing out of the ordinary) and when we finally arrived in Sea World he said he needed to take me somewhere. Completely oblivious, I thought he was trying to get me to guest services because he had told me earlier that he was going to make me wear a birthday button.

He took me to a small gift shop - It didn't look like guest services. I started to look around and saw lots of pictures with people hugging dolphins. At this point I am starting to get real excited!! "OH TYLER!" I shouted. "Is this where I can stand by a green screen and get a picture that looks like I am with a dolphin?!?"

note: Tyler's and my parents got really cute pictures like that at the San Diego Zoo a few days ago with a baby panda. Tyler knows I love dolphins (it's a Tri-Delta thing), so I thought he had set-up something similar for me here.

Tyler tells me "no" with a huge smile on his face. This is where I start to freak out. "Those are real dolphins, aren't they? I know they are! They are real?" This is also when I start crying (looking through theses pictures I get tears in my eyes). It is truly ridiculous my friends.

I was crying because I was so excited. Because I knew that this was an experience not everyone gets to have. Because how thoughtful and amazing my husband was to do something like this for me. It was all just so much to take in.

I had NO IDEA! I had tears running down my face the whole time I was in the water, the waiting time before we got in the water and probably about 30 minutes after we were out of the water. It. Was. Awesome.

I hugged, kissed, pet and swam with a sweet dolphin on my 30th birthday. What an amazing way to celebrate!

Sunshine and Seashells

My love for the ocean is undeniable. The first sight of sandy beaches, the smell of salty waves, the crisp cool ocean breeze - I turn into a little girl on Christmas morning, with silver dollar-sized eyes and high-pitched squeals.

Tyler asked what I wanted for my birthday and it was easy to answer. I value time together and life experiences. My birthday wish would be to travel with my family and experience a new adventure together (and I mentioned that the ocean would be nice).

Tyler planned everything. We invited everyone in our families to join us who could. It was absolutely amazing! Although, going to the beach 6 weeks after having a baby wasn't the best choice when it came to squeezing into a swimsuit, but really - who cares when you are surrounded by the people who love you the most.

One of the highlights was watching my darling girls experience the beach exactly the way I had dreamed they would...

Aliyah running down the shoreline, jumping in the waves, building sandcastles, digging trenches and coating herself in a healthy layer of sand. Everly sleeping peacefully in the shade of her stroller with the crashing waves as her lullaby. My heart was overflowing at the sight of it. Seeing my babies together on the beach, enjoying family and this special day together. It was one of my greatest gifts!

The Big 3 - 0

I always expected I’d hate this birthday. Being young, doing youthful things has always been something I’ve clung to. I have been guilty of looking back on my childhood and the passing of the carefree years of my life with an over sentimentality for what was.

Some parts of my soul stopped growing at eight. and sixteen. and twenty. and there are days when I only want to see the world through the eyes of the girl I was at those ages.

But here I am, the very first days of my thirtieth year on this big world and I am feeling sublimely peaceful. My twenties were a helluva ride - some of the best years of my life - but when I look at what I have today and what I had ten years ago - I wouldn’t trade places for even a minute. I spent the last ten years finding out who I wanted to be, discovering who would be the love of my life, learning what it meant to be a self sufficient adult, and more recently, how to be a mother.

With those lessons tucked closed to my heart, I feel nothing but excited anticipation for what lies ahead. I hope a piece of my soul stops growing at thirty too. And I can look back in as many years with the same weepy over-sentimentality that I do now. I’ll see myself as this very woman - trying her best as a wife, as a mother, and in her "career" adventures  - and I’ll smile that same smile I now reserve for that knobby kneed 8 year old on her backyard tire swing. For that busy teenager singing loudly with the windows down in her first car. For the twenty year old version of myself as she learned to juggle her college courses, a part time job, and living on her own.

I am thirty years old today and it’s a good place to be.

Sometimes...

... it's okay to break the rules for some good clean fun!

My PBJ will Set Your World on Fire

Goodness Ahead

A very important thing is happening in my life this week. On Sunday, I’m turning thirty years old. I’m not entirely sure how this happened as I could have sworn I was just turning twenty last year but I’ve made peace with this birthday. I welcome its arrival. If the next ten years are anything like the last ten, then there is a lot of goodness ahead of me.

Aliyah Says...

After laying out three remotes on the couch...
Aliyah: Mommy pick! Which one, Mommy?
Me: I will take the one in the middle. Thank you!
(She starts to walk away after giving me the remote but then turns around)
Aliyah: It's two dollars.
Me: Oh!
I take two pretend dollars out of my pocket and had it over.