Life After The Thesis

So, I turned 30!!! yesterday.  Wow.  I’ve left my 20s.  It seems like it’s been ten years since I turned 20, yet it is crazy to think that I’m now 30 and no longer considered really young.  Well, if I had to turn 30, I told Brandon that “I’m not planning my birthday, but it had better be good.”  I didn’t want to be disappointed and I wasn’t. 

Brandon told me a couple of days before my birthday that we had to be ready and have the kids to the babysitter by 11 am sharp, so I was wondering what was up.  We had previously decided that Brandon would take the day off and we would go on a lunch date together and leave Adam and Branson with a friend.  So, a couple of minutes before 11 am yesterday I was in our bathroom finishing my hair and Adam comes in and says, “Mom there is a long car outside.”  I said, “What?” as in, what is he talking about?  So, Adam says again, “There’s a long car outside our house.”  I think, “oh what has Brandon done?  He hasn’t gotten a limo, has he???”  I walk out of my room and there is Brandon grinning and I look out the window and lo and behold, there is a shining black limo parked on the curb in front of our house.  I was sooo shocked!  I said to Brandon, “you rented me a limo!?” and he laughed.  So, we got the kids in their shoes and the driver said he would drive them over to the neighbors, so as we were getting in the car Branson asked what this car was and I told him it was my birthday car.  We dropped them off and my friend’s jaw dropped when she opened the door.  I was giddy.  We then rode in our limo up to Midway, UT (mountain resort town in between Park City and Heber) to a mid-sized bed and breakfast/restaurant called the Blue Boar Inn.  It was so beautiful and the food was great.  I had the best French onion soup I’ve ever had along with a tenderloin steak sandwich and Brandon had a fancy caesar salad with cedar plank salmon.  We had a chocolate mousse cake for dessert that was AMAZING.  We then took a tour of some of the rooms upstairs.  It would be a fun place to spend the night.  We then got back in the limo and drove home.  It was as fun as it sounds.  I was so surprised and it was fun to spend the time with Brandon together like we used to when we didn’t have three kids.  We did have Cory with us, but he doesn’t talk and he was good.   That night, we got Chinese takeout with Claire and David and then we had ice cream cake and I opened my cards and a couple of gifts.  It was so fun to celebrate with our boys.  Adam and Branson are loving birthdays so much right now.  Adam kept telling that he hoped I had the best birthday ever and how much he loved me.  I love my boys so much.  It is so great to a mom to them.  It was such a happy day.  Completely memorable, which is what I wanted.  Brandon spoiled me soo much.  I loved it.  Here are some pictures of the day:

During lunch:

In the limo:

Our family outside the birthday car:

Party night:

Happy Birthday to Me!  Next up, Brandon’s 33rd on Tuesday!

OH P.S.  I highlighted my hair for the first time ever for my 30th.  Can you tell?  It ended up no being as light as I thought, but it still looks cute in person.

AND P.P.S.  Don’t mind Branson.  He is pretty much potty trained now and pants seem to be optional for him after he uses the potty.  Just be glad he had something on for these pictures!  He is such a random boy.

Hello!  Yes, we are still alive and well.  I can’t seem to get into the blogging mood.  Don’t get me wrong, I spend hours a month reading other people’s blogs, but never blog myself.   I have had some great posts written up in my head while I’ve been sweeping, cleaning, nursing, etc., but alas, nothing in print.  Time to change things. 

Oh, what did you do in the summertime? 

Did you fish in a pond?

Tie up a firepit?

Eat s’mores?

Dig in the gravel?

Paddle a boat?

Ride on a “four wheel”?

Bask in the sun?

Get an owie?

And, finally, bless one cute baby?

 (Sorry no picture with the parents.  We didn’t get to it.   GRRRR!

Is that what you did?  So did we!!

After the death of Brandon’s beloved Dad, we were thankfully able to spend most of our weekends up at the family cabin.  It was so wonderful.  It’s paradise up there.  We love it and always feel so blessed and lucky to be there.  Labor Day weekend Cory was blessed.  A very happy day.  We can’t wait for the world to be green again!

So, after it took awhile for Brandon to convince me that we REALLY needed at PS3, I finally gave in, saying we couldn’t play video games on it, but just our blu-ray movies, home videos, pictures, etc. We were able to use a gift card from our CC rewards points to pay for half of it, making the purchase doable. Well, since we have gotten it, I must say that I love it! We are officially hooked on blu-ray HD movies, we watch our HD home videos with it, and we watch all the episodes of the Office on it that Brandon uploads to it from the Internet, as well as all the Disney movies that you can digitally save to it for the kids to watch at a click of a button, no more finding the DVD. WELL, we now have TWO MORE REASONS to love our PS3. First of all, NetFlix now lets you stream movies from their website to your PS3, so you don’t have to watch the streamed movies on your computer screen, but on your HD TV mounted to your wall. AWESOME! Secondly, Brandon discovered that you can buy a “TV Tuner Capture Card,” which you put into your computer (like a video card) and then you access a TV DVR program (Myth TV) and then you put in what you want your computer to record to stream over to the PS3, when, how long, etc, JUST LIKE A TiVo! So, for much cheaper and one less machine to clutter your house, we now have a TiVo! So now, we can watch The Office the VERY night it was shown after the boys go to sleep, rather than having to wait a couple of days for it to be posted to the Internet. Also, we are able to record the PBS shows we want our boys to watch and have them watch those, instead of letting them watch any show that we may not like (such as Word Girl), not to mention the Hallmark Hall of Fame shows that come on sometimes. Ah, the joys of being married to my nerdy electronically minded hubby!  Ha, ha, just kidding. But, it is so nice to have him around. We have quite the set-up electronically in our house–computer set-up (never have a broken computer or slow or down Internet); our TV and shelves with the PS3, surround sound receiver, speakers, all mounted on the wall with no wires outside the walls; and our “homemade” TiVo, etc. Come over and enjoy! And, we may even play Guitar Hero on the PS3 (we have two guitars). Don’t ask, yes I did give into THAT game (and maybe Sonic the Hedgehog)–it’s fun! Go buy yourself a PS3 (the price has gone down to $300), you’ll be glad you did!

Next up, Halloween pictures!