A Holy Birthday

It's true y'all...

I turned a youthful 32 on Good Friday.

A friend of mine mentioned I have a pretty holy birthday this year....it made me laugh.

 

As I've gotten older, birthdays become a lot more meaningful than they used to be.

Gone are the days of planning a huge night out on the town with booze and dancing with friends.

With each year that I get older, I tend to want less and less material things for my birthday, and more and more intangible things.

I want to spend time with my family.

I want to relax.

I want a BBQ with just a FEW close friends...no huge parties here.

And possibly a kid-free dinner date with my husband.

For me, celebrating another year of life is about surrounding yourself with the ones you care about and love the most. 

Nick, however, always goes above and beyond and out of his way to make sure I have a memorable birthday.

Every year, I find myself asking, "how will he ever top this?!?!", and every year, he always finds a way to do it.

(Last year he threw me a surprise birthday party and got my Marine Corps BFF to come...the year before, he took me away from the miserable Massachusetts winter and took me back to Orange County, CA for a spring vacay...he seriously always goes out!)

I always joke and say to Nick on the first day of every March, "It's my birthday month!" 

He usually rolls his eyes at me at the absurd thought of actually celebrating your birthday for an entire month.

But even with the eye rolling, he always plans sweet surprises throughout the month for me.

This year, after our Nashville trip, he surprised me with VIP section tickets to the Florida Georgia Line concert at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

We went last year, and had a blast!

Their concerts are always so fun and so upbeat.

The night before my birthday, our sweet sweet neighbors babysat both of our kids, and Nick took me out to eat at one of my favorite local restaurants, The Republic.

It's a local fancy steakhouse with the most amazing steak tartare you will ever have.

And just because, I treated myself to a Hendrick's Gin and tonic with lime.

It was just really nice to sit, have dinner, relax, and not have to chase after and listen to our kids.

We actually got to have a solid hour and half of good adult conversation, and actually enjoy and taste our meal! Amazing!

Oh, and I was informed on my birthday that Nick had a secret stash of cash to put down on a new SUV for me!

Uhh...what?!

We had been talking about getting myself a bigger ride with more room in the backseat for my kids.

I LOVED my old crossover, but have definitely outgrown it.

So on my birthday, we drove off the lot with a brand new bigger SUV...a step above my last one!!!

I am in love with it and speechless that Nick made it happen.

I will definitely drive this one for much longer than the two years I had the last one.

It meets all of our family's needs, and more.

I am over the moon!

My birthday surprises didn't end there....

(I know, right?)

I think I won the husband lottery here...

After we drove home in my new car, I was under the impression that we were just gonna grill in our backyard as a family.

Little did I know he invited a few of our neighbors over for steaks, hot dogs, and cake!

He even decorated our home and our backyard!!!!

He got me a 2nd sweet sixteen cake since I got a new car on my birthday...lol.

This is all courtesy of my wonderful husband....

I've said it many times, but it's disheartening to me when I see women lying about their age.
Seriously, ladies...
We are worth WAY more than our age....
Celebrate it.

I'm not gonna lie, after 28 (ish), I realized it takes a bit longer to recover after a night of too much wine....
You can't eat pizza at midnight, and not expect it to see it in your midsection the day after...

But at 32....
I don't think I can remember a time in my life where I was happier.

I have an amazing, loyal, handsome, funny, slightly awkward, and sometimes a pain in the butt husband...
We have two beautiful, amazing, sometimes slightly crazy and annoying kids that we wouldn't trade for the world...
I AM ATTENDING MY DREAM SCHOOL, TEXAS A&M!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
My husband has an amazing career that is affording him the opportunity to go to college....AND has let him continue to serve for FIFTEEN years (this July)...

And lastly...
That husband of mine....
the one who has been absent in our marriage more than I care to even calculate....because of the awesome U-S-M-C....
He is still here by my side...
Through all the fights...
The points in our marriage when we thought we were done with each other...
Through all the times he thinks it's hilarious to "dutch oven" me...
And when he drove me to the hospital for my knee surgery just FIVE hours after returning from Afghanistan...jet lagged and dead tired....



I can't imagine 32 being any more awesome without the life I have now.

Thanks to all of y'all who took time out of your day to wish me a happy birthday!

I am beyond lucky to have y'all in my life!

BRING ON APRIL!