30

It's been about a month since I turned 30, and I'm finally getting used to the idea. I don't really feel any older, until I remember that I have a 25-year-old husband...:)

My birthday was great. I was able to get the day off work, and Chase and I went to breakfast at Emigration Market with my mom, Rod, and my Aunt Karen and Uncle Allan who were in town from Canada. Chase and I went to Gardner Village to walk around and do some shopping. There were lots of cute little kids there in their Halloween costumes.

We also stopped by Daybreak and looked at some of the model homes. Ever since I went there for the first time a few months ago, I have been interested in their community and philosophy, which is to bring people together and help the environment by creating small communities with neighbors, recreation, and shops/businesses all within walking distance. It's a pretty cool little place.

Later that night, we went to Ballet West's "The Dream". It was a delightful little 3-part ballet with a completely different story/theme in each act. "The Dream" referred to Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream", so the third section was a short rendering of that story.

As much as I was dreading turning 30, I have found that so far it isn't really that bad. In fact, sometimes I secretly enjoy the looks on people's faces when they ask how old I am and I tell them. Shock! I hope that my 30s are a decade full of success, accomplishments, and family. I am glad that I am able to look back on my 20s with a sense of accomplishment. Some of the things I was blessed to be able to do in my 20s:

Graduate from college with a bachelors degree, and again with a nursing degree
Travel to 7 different countries
Travel to 9 different states for my job
Get to know many different types of people, from patients with artificial hearts to Tibetan refugees
Learn many new skills
Buy a house
Get married to the best husband I could ever ask for!

Here we are on my 30th birthday....


And here I am celebrating my next decade!