Thirty Thoughts

Today is my 30th Birthday.  I'm not announcing that because I want a Happy Birthday message from you.  I honestly just feel so blessed today that it had to be shared.

Thirty Thoughts on my 30th Birthday:

1.  A lot has changed in 27 years:

2.  I am now 26 years removed from my first (yes...that implies that there were several) mullet haircuts.  I refer those years as the "Joe Dirt" era.

3.  I've known this hunky man one third of my life.  Bow chica wow wow.

4.  My family means the world to me.  That's nothing new to being 30.  It's just something I should point out every day.  They are beautiful on the inside, outside, and backside:

(Butts from L-R:  Daddy, Mama, Matt, Melissa and Ava (in her mom's arms), Finn, Erin, Jack, John)

5.  God chose the best family for me to marry into.  (And the tallest family, I might add!) 

6.  This never should have happened:

7.  This REALLY never should have happened.  I don't know what's worse:  the purple brick background, the permed bangs, the thunder dome haircut...

ai yai yai

8.  I am so thankful to live where we live.  You cannot ignore the Lord's creativity when you live near the coast!  Look at that beautiful sky!

9.  In the next decade of my life, this little guy will go from 3 to finishing middle school:

10.  And this one will go from kindergarten to driving a car.  And I'm not talking about the Power Wheels kind. 

:(

11.  Thoughts 9 and 10 were brought to me by my friend Erin.  Which reminds me that I am forever thankful for the 30 years of solid friendships that God has given me.  Everywhere I have lived, worked or played, I have enjoyed because of the people that have spent time with me.  Thank you for investing your time in my life!!!

12.  John asked me this morning if I automatically woke up with osteoporosis.  

13.  The solid arm punch I gave him answered that question.

14.  Now that I'm 30, will I think making this face is too immature?

15. or this one?

16.  Now that I'm 30, will I forget what Jack looked like when he used to hold milk in his cheek and dress like Mushmouth?

17.  Is the flexibility it requires to pike like this be possible now that I'm 30?

18.  It took me 28 years to learn that I enjoyed painting.  So thankful that it didn't take 29 years.  Painting has been a huge blessing!

19.  In my 30 years of life, I have experienced 30 Christmas Days.  That's a month worth of Christmases.  For some reason, it seems like it would be more than that.

20.  Will the 2011-2021 decade respect the thirties like the 80's did?

21.  Four years ago we vacationed in Sedona, AZ.  The resort we stayed at had a gym.  The gym had an employee who asked how old I was when signing into the gym.  I asked her how old I had to be.  She said 16.  I loved Sedona.  And the gym.  And that lady.

22.  Birthday donuts are as good as birthday cake.

23.  I wonder how many more nieces and nephews the next 10 years will bring us.  I'm pretty stoked about the 2 (almost 3!) that we have now!

Ava

Austin

24.  My auto insurance could have possibly decreased had it not been for the whopping 35 in a 30 ticket I received 12 days ago.

25.  This image will make me happy in my 20s.  It will continue to bring a smile to my face in my 30s all the way to my death bed. 

26.  Today at lunch Jack asked how babies get into a mommy's belly.  Yikes.  Let the games begin.

27.  Also at lunch, an elderly lady overheard the boys talking about my b-day, and she turned around and sang Happy Birthday to me.  It was sweet.

28.  John just called and asked how I was feeling.  I said old.  Then I proceeded to tell him that indeed, osteoporosis had automatically set it, that all of my bones had broken, my teeth had started falling out and I've wet my pants all day.  He said he has never been more attracted to me.  The should totally add a new wedding vow:  for old and for older.

29.  I am still younger than John.  I am still younger than my brother.

30.  Thank you for reading this incredibly long, self-indulgent post.  Blogging is like affordable therapy for me, and it's a way to remember things.  Cause now that I'm 30, I'll probably forget. 

I'm eternally thankful to my Lord and Savior for the countless blessings He has given me!  Thank you, Lord, for 30 years!

Iron Manly

 Make no mistake about it...

 these pictures

 will most definitely

resurface

in about 20

or 30

years...

Just in time...

for a certain someone's

rehearsal dinner.

Funky Town, Part III

One last bit on Funky Town...

(again...if that doesn't make sense to you, read the past two posts)

Gigi's Boutique is the local place to go for unique womens' clothing and accessories.  Sadly, I didn't have a photo of the building, but here's a picture of some super cute handbags that they sale.  And if you are a local, they have a huge sale going on right now.  Check it out!

Gigi's is such a great place.  They are SUPER kid friendly and have yet to yell at me when the boys are tugging on all of the mannequins' clothing.  In fact, they usually leave with candy.  The boys.  Not the mannequins.  That would be super freaky.

Behind Gigi's Boutique is a little courtyard of sorts of cute lowcountry buildings...

(This is where part of Farmer's Market is on Thursdays.)

Here's the Dispensary...

Even Edward Jones has a cute building...

And the fun red building is Fruition.  They care unique artsy type things: photography pieces, woodworking and even some painted furniture for kids.

John took this picture of some rustic wood items.  I think there's an outdoors store here, which would explain the kayak.

Okay, yep.  There's the outdoors store:  Shallow Water Outfitters.  

You can tell I need to get outdoors more.  

John loves outdoors stores, which is probably why he can be credited for this photo.

And what is a post about Bluffton without a picture of a beautiful oak tree?

The stringy stuff from the tree is Spanish moss.  It has red bugs.  At least that's what 'they' say.  I think it's one of the first few lowcountry lessons you learn as a child when you grow up here.  It comes after the lesson titled: "How to run from an alligator."

I've never seen a red bug, but I have been known to yell across the yard to my children that the red bugs will get them if they don't put that stuff down. 

Last but certainly not least:  the FOOD!

Below is the Bluffton Oyster Company.  It is not a restaurant, but you can buy local seafood here to cook yourself.  (This picture is mostly crummy because I was too busy watching the guy on the right try to get his boat out of the water.)

The family that owns the BOC has opened a restaurant nearby, which is SO GOOD!  It's called Bluffton Family Seafood House.  Try the She Crab Soup.  You won't regret it.

Other fun Funky Town Favorites Not Pictured:

The Cottage.

Breakfast, Lunch, and tea in the afternoon.  Try the home made cherry almond granola.  Or the chicken lettuce wraps.  Or the caprese panini.  Or any baked good they are serving that day.  You get the picture.

Bluffton BBQ.

Open Wed-Sat. Lunch and Dinner. They seriously need to open every day. 

Great ribs.  Great BBQ.  Drink the sauce.  It's that good.

The boys love this place because of the pig statue at the door that holds a basket of peppermints.  Yeah, they're pretty easy:)

And that completes the tour de Funky Town.

Come visit.  Heck..move here!

Funky Town, Part II

The blog has had an overhaul!  After deciding that laundry, reading lessons, cleaning, painting, and preparing for Monday's MOPS craft were too productive for a chilly Saturday afternoon, I decided to tackle the very unnecessary task of redesigning this blog.  The term "design" should be used very loosely, as it is only a tweaked template at best.  Hopefully the bright dots won't cause you to have a seizure.

Moving onto Funky Town...

(Please see the last post if you're confused.)

A new, and very welcome addition to Funky Town is "The Storybook Shoppe." It's a children's book store, reminiscent of "Shop Around the Corner" from "You've Got Mail."  You will most definitely want to twirl in this store. 

It's somewhere you want to peer into even when you know they're closed and you've been there three other times that week.

The book selection is a great mix of the classics and unique books I've never seen!  Our purchases include:

1.  The Polar Express.  We know (almost) every word.

2.  Little Pea.  I don't remember the author's name, but I *think* the last name is Rosenthal.  It's about a little green pea who hates candy, because that's what little peas are supposed to eat.  If he cleans his plate of all the candy, he's allowed to have his favorite treat:  SPINACH!  Finn identifies with Little Pea and has asked that we call him by that name.  Very fitting, actually.

The Storybook Shoppe has levels.  I'm a sucker for levels.  It makes me want to call it "The Storybook Nook" because the levels make it very nookish.  In fact, if I owned the store, everyone would have to refer to the upper level as the nook.  Jack and Finn love the nook.  There's a table up there with a few puzzles and games.  

And a few days before Christmas, Santa sat in a cozy chair in the nook and read Twas the Night Before Christmas to the children.  Jack and Finn still expect to see him and receive a candy cane when we go.  It's a problem. 

They also carry a great selection of puzzles, games and....pinwheels!

Great books.  Friendly staff.  Happy colors.  

And it smells like newness.  Or paint.  Can't distinguish, but both are good.

Welcome to Funky Town, The Storybook Shoppe!

Funky Town Part I

I am ILL.  I posted a lengthy blog two days ago and Blogger deleted it when I tried to save it.  UGH!!!!

Instead of rewriting the blog immediately, I started visiting my some of my favorite other blogs and realized 2 things:

1.  Their blogs are really popular.

2.  Their blog posts are really short.  (compared to mine)

So, realizing fully that our blog is not interesting enough to become 'popular', but also realizing that our sweet family members do take the time to read it, I'll try to keep things short and sweet. 

And maybe a little more frequent. 

So, moving on...

Today's topic is....

Bluffton is the name of the town we live in.  It's in South Carolina.  It's small.  And outside of an occasional "Man I wish we had a Bojangles" comment here or there, we feel that Bluffton really offers so much for our little family.  For some reason (we know the reason, it's just too long to tell), our boys refer to the downtown area of Bluffton as "Funky Town".  I understand you may not care to learn about Bluffton, but for those who read this blog and want to know what we enjoy doing, it would be a crime to leave Funky Town off of the list.  

Downtown Bluffton is about 3 minutes from our house.  I don't know where it technically begins or ends, but the good stuff is on about 2 or 3 streets.  There are several stores: gift shops, art galleries, restaurants, thrift stores, a clothing store, children's book stores, the most beautiful little church you've ever seen that sits on the May River and other a few other random places.  We usually park at John's office and walk the length of Calhoun Street, browsing, buying and hopefully not stealing. (another story for another blog)

I'll start with one store and see how it goes...

First up:

SPROUTS

Sprouts falls into the gift store category.  It's near and dear to my heart because the owner, Dana, (yes, it's like Cheers around here...everybody knows your name) took a chance on me and has some of my artwork in there!  The Bluffton sign above is one of several different things she has in there.  Thanks, Dana!  Sprouts carries awesome jewelry, housewares and enough fun children's items to keep the boys busy while I spend more money than what I just made from my sold art piece.

Here's a peek inside:

Another view.  See that window there in the center?  Just on the other side of it....

was this little boy.  I found him one day and took him home with me.

Finley+Tire Swing = Happy Finley

Put this in your memory bank.  If you know Finn, then you're aware that he has earned his nickname as 'Grumpy Gus'.  If you ever have to babysit Finley, it would be in your best interest to have a tire swing near by.  In fact, buy one.  Or buy two in case the first one goes out.  Don't worry about Finn.  We know it's a phase of three year old crankies.  But until this blessed phase ends, we're living in this jungle gym outside of Sprouts.

And this is just a cool old truck that stays parked outside of Sprouts on occasion.  It's very near the location where the New Year's Eve crab dropping was.  No, not a large pile of celebratory crab dung, but think Times Square ball drop minus the thousands of people, huge Diddy billboards, and police officers.  And instead of the ball, picture a much smaller crab cut out dropping from a 20 foot metal pole.  

And that's Funky Town!

More on Funky Town later. 

Post Christmas. As Promised.

It snowed on December 26th in Bluffton.  That made for 2 snow falls in 2010.  For Bluffton, that's a record, right?  It was such a pretty snow.  Didn't stick to the ground, but it will stick in our minds as a lovely Christmas memory.  

Mimi and Poppy can be thanked for bringing the white stuff.  They came down from NC on the 26th and spent a few days with us.  This is my Mom.  Isn't she love-ly?  Isn't she won-der-ful? 

This is my Dad.  Jack's #1 buddy.

Scout came home for Christmas.  If you didn't hear, we had to "give him away" because a certain glasses wearin' youngster in our home was rough housing a little too much with the dog.  Enough was enough, so we 'gave him away.'  We took last pictures and everything.  The little boy who happened to pull Scout's ears one too many times was SO upset.  But it was needed.  Scout took a 3 day hiatus with his second Mommy, Jennie.  He was probably sad to come back.  We surprised the ex-dog abusing child in bed a few nights before Christmas, telling him that the family we gave Scout to couldn't keep him.  When he finally realized the awesomeness of what was happening, he said, "I think I have imagination."  In 5 year old lingo that meant he thought he was dreaming.

To give Scout a proper homecoming, we gave him a stuffed eagle.  Very squeaky.  Very patriotic. 

Very tasty.

The boys had a lot of fun with their gifts, and for the most part, showed a decent amount of gratitude.  One of their favorite gifts was the game Operation.  This was a flashback moment for me until the new Operation started making all sorts of sounds that my childhood Operation game did not. 

The new Operation even has a sound for passing gas.  Like we need any more of that in our house.

On New Year's Eve, some of John's childhood buddies came over for dinner.  We ate, laughed and celebrated David's new job opportunity in NC!  So glad to have them on the east coast again!

While the adults were talking, the cousins were playing.  Who knew buckets could be so fun:

After all the new presents, these are the hit.

We had to say bye to Mr. Serious.

It was a sad day.

That's all for 2010!