How to turn 40

It was a little hard to believe. 

It was time to turn ~40~

Oh boy. 

The birthday celebration started with a sweet, long night's visit with a precious friend. 

Utter Cream is one of our favorite inside jokes, and I was delighted to find it in my birthday present. 

This dragonfly ring was nestled inide my owl change purse, and the accompanying description meant a lot to me. She chose it with these thoughts in mind, and it was precious confirmation of all the good the Lord is doing in my life:

(I'm going to let the grammar mistakes go)

Laney asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and I told her I wanted some special girl time with her. Getting a manicure is quite the treat for us, and we had fun choosing our colors and just being girlie.

 Yep. ~Four. Zero~

We then all went to eat lunch together, the kids, hubs and I. 

When I had pondered by birthday, in the months (yes, months) leading up to it, I had decided I wanted a road trip. With some friends. There were 4 of us all turning 40 at almost the same time, and we thought it would be fun to take off and celebrate. We tossed around ideas about where we would go (one of us kept mentioning Minneapolis, Minnesota for some strange reason) and it seemed like the best way to celebrate such a monumental milestone.

Then, much like a needle scratching across a record, that idea came to an abrupt end. 

My friend was sitting in my kitchen when I said to her, "There isn't going to be a road trip." It was a sad admission.

I was sad. 

When she called later to tell me the plans for my birthday Saturday, she said to wear comfortable shoes and that was all. I panicked just a little. I don't do surprises well. 

In fact, they send me into panic mode. 

I refuse to discuss my neurosis on my birthday post. Since it's a birthday post, let's just celebrate the neurosis, okay?

Surprises are not my favorite. 

Anyway, my sweet friends took me on a local mini road trip. It was so carefully and thoughtfully planned out. I was blown away by all the work put into it. They made every effort to not only include all of my favorite things (like having Josh Garrels playing in the van when I got in) but to do things I had never done in our city. It was so sweet, and even today, these weeks later, I'm still thinking about it. 

When I got in the van, I was handed a bag of "road trip goodies" that had some of my favorite things in it. Then, as we approached a stop, I was handed an envelope that had a clue about what the stop would be. There were several stops throughout the day, and they were all sweet and fun and included a present. 

I was spoiled rotten. 

There was a stop to the local "beach" because no road trip should be without a beach trip. We had virgin margaritas (yes, really) and I loved this wine glass that was part of the present. 

This was one of my favorite stops. I had driven past this monument for years but never actually been to it. The thoughtfulness of including it nearly made me cry, especially since the clue said, "Next, a stop at the place where 'all nations come together' to celebrate your love for missions." 

It was a beautiful view.

We also rode a trolley! That was so much fun. We made friends with the nice lady that drove and bid farewell to all that left the trolley. It was nice to be a part of the community in a way I never had before and see our city at the same time. Such a good idea! 

They even took me to Target, one of my favorite places, with a gift card, where I got a birthday dress.

We had dinner at a place that I had never eaten before, and it was so good. Then more friends met us for cupcakes and we ate them in the van. It was a perfect day and I am so thankful for my friends and the way they love me. 

I got home just in time for the husband to go to work, but first the family gave me their present: a hammock. It was such a great present, and I have loved using it. We were so rushed and I was so tired from my fun day that I forgot to take any pictures of that part of the day. 

But I do love my hammock. 

They even wrote my name 40 times on each card!

Once I figured that my birthday was going to be more of a normal day, I embraced the normal whole heartedly. It was a Sunday, so we went to church first. That was good, since it's one of my favorite places to be. It was not good that my old small group ambushed me in my new small group to sing "Happy Birthday." I didn't handle that very well. Surprises and I are not friends, but I think we already covered that. 

Then, after church, my favorite charity had a walk to raise money for their organization. The family and I met friends there and had a great time walking for water. When it was over, we all ate cupcakes again! It was fortunate that we had just walked a 5K...

Some of us had a hard time walking the whole thing, and some of us needed to burn some extra calories due to all the cupcake eating, so this set up worked well for both of us. 

After the walk, the husband took the kids home, and my sweet friend and I went to her house to try to get presentable enough to head back to church. 

I love these earrings. 

This particular Sunday just happened to be my last theology class of the semester. I was very happy to go. I honestly can't image a better way to spend part of my birthday. Theology is a love of mine, so it felt like a gift to get to do this on my day. (Cheesy, I know and I don't care. I'm a geek and I know it. )

After church the girls and I headed to another of my favorite places for  a late dinner. 

We do this a lot. It's what keeps us sane. 

My love of cupcakes was celebrated over and over again this weekend. I do love them. A lot. 

This stinker cut herself out of the picture on purpose. This makes me laugh every time I see it. 

My mom got me a precious owl necklace and this. She knows me so well. 

Later the next week, my sweet sister asked my mom to babysit while hubs was at work so we could have a date to celebrate. I had mentioned in conversation a while ago that although I used to love to eat sushi, it was something I never did anymore. (I can't see dragging kids to a sushi restaurant. And what if they *gasp* liked it? I'd go broke.) She remembered that conversation and planned a date where we could go have sushi. I'm not kidding when I say that it was one of the best meals I've had in awhile. 

We then got to go see a movie that I had been wanting to see. I loved spending time with my sister and we always have fun. It was such a great way to end my birthday mardi gras. 

I am so blessed by the friends and family God has gifted me in my life. I felt so celebrated and special after all of this love. Aside from the well meaning people who leaned in and asked how I was handling this "monumental" birthday, turning 40 has been a breeze. 

When you feel this loved and celebrated, how could it be hard?