the big b-day

on the auspicious anniversary of my birth, 08/08/08, upon whence i turned 30 years old, nothing too drastic happened, but a compilation of many little things that made the day a day of specialness. allow me to enumerate them for your imagination's pleasure.

nick and i spent our last night housesitting for some friends, and this wall is what i awoke to on that birthday friday.

you may not be too impressed, but believe me, it was impressive! the air was perfect morning air, the shadows weren't just sitting there like they appear to be in the picture - they were dancing! the wind in the leaves outside the window was making them flitter and flicker all over the wall and it was so beautiful! i just lay in bed watching them.
the reason i could lay in bed so late was that nick went to clean coldstone by himself, giving me 2 extra hours of sleep. how's that for a loving husband?

after luxuriating in the extra rest long enough, i took myself over to a different friend's house where i hung out with her two children for the day...

ruby + liam = cuteys

liam's dad is a pretty amazing photographer, and liam is obviously going to be a chip off the old block. he took this picture of me and ruby and then proceeded to take several more with very intense determination. in fact, intense is the word for this kid.

then several friends joined nick and i for dinner at zio's in springfield. i love italian food more than any other food under the sun.
drea, allison, casey, erica & rob were the friends. they showered me with gifts and love.

i even got to blow out a candle! you're never too old.

after dinner we went for a brief walk at the springfield nature conservation area - super pretty, but not enough time to explore it all before it closed.

don't ask me why we're standing like that.

...and of course some ice cream gave the evening some closure.

all in all, a good birthday.
i'm so incredibly fortunate to have the friends god's seen fit to bless me with. and to have such a guy like nicholas as my husband, sometimes i still don't even believe it!
when looking over the years of my life, my 30th year has definitely been the best of the bunch.