I. AM. THIRTY. (O.o)

My first inclination today was to find one picture of me for each year up to now.. yenno, like those giant frames parents have in their house for each kid moving up through school grades. I then decided that that was a lot more effort than necessary for now. Plus, I'm in Illinois, a rough 8 hours from my parents' house, which is where most of said pictures are stored. So yeah.. maybe later?

Anyway, I'm 30! Hooooly cow!
I thought for good measure, I would at least throw in what is one of the first photographs ever taken of me. I know you're already seeing it, but as a caption: This is the first picture my [now] parents ever saw of me. This was the picture that made them confirm that I would become their daughter, and they my parents. As you can see, it's not much to go from... I call that... LOVE.

#tbt : sometime in 1985?

Haha. Awh..

Yeeeeup. So to start off my birthday, we woke up at our leisure and hung around Dillon's house for a while. The iPad had of course come along for the long trip, and Sydni was bound and determined to "teach" Dillon how to properly play one of her games.

gooooot it, mr. dillon?? 

Too funny. Once we finally got ourselves in gear, it was off to see Rob's Dad's side of the family. We had a perfect, relaxing afternoon with his dad, stepmom, sister, nieces and Sydni. His sister Carissa was kind enough to host Sydni for a sleepover with her daughter Ella for the night, so to free up our evening. It took Sydni a little bit of warm-up time to get used to the new surroundings, but once she was comfortable - and realized there was a kitty - we were all good!

my little animal-lover ♥

ella. sydni. kate. 

^^ Kate & Bob bought Sydni a clay set as an early Christmas present, just in case the logistics of Christmas time don't lend to us actually being there. I still can't believe how thoughtful it was, and in case there's any question - Sydni LOVES it. [[Thank You!!!]]

Rob and I eventually left Sydni with Carissa & Ella, and made a pitstop at Rural King before heading back to Dillon's. I shouldn't have been surprised when Rob spotted a remote-controlled helicopter on the way out... and bought it.

For himself. :p


.... Boys ;).
We finally pulled ourselves off the couch and away from the marathon of Dog Shows on TV, dressed up a little, and headed back south to Collinsville for dinner and whatever else the night may have had in store for us.

In lieu of the recent "events" blanketing the St. Louis area, we opted out of The Landing, Soulard, even The Loop. Instead, we cozied up at a table inside Friday's South, on Main Street in Collinsville. We ordered up some food and waited for Jesse to arrive.

He did, with some others in tow, and the night got started.

thanks, guys for the birthday support!! :D 

Here's the list of what I consumed tonight to commemorate my farewell to my 20's:

1 beer. 1 shot.

Aaaaaaand.. that's it.

Oh wait, I lied. After both of those, I think I drank about 3 gallons of water. Literally.
And I wasn't alone. The bartender [bless his little hipster soul] found out that it was my birthday, and conned me into a shot of Rumplemints. Never in my life have I wanted as badly to vomit the entire contents of my being, but it happened, it's over and I survived. What a lush I am. Strangely enough, this may have been one of THE best nights out that I've had in a while. I'm denying that this is because I'm 30 now. It's because I basically have always been a rotten drinker and people watching in Collinsville was more fun anyway ;).

........ animals, i tell ya. #h20!

My 30th birthday has FINALLY passed; it's been just about a 5-month lead-up to this day, what with the Jamaica getaway, Nashville getaway and everything in between, mostly from Rob♥. I am so insanely grateful for another year, and I intend to wholly embrace the big 3-0. A million & 1 thanks to my family & friends for everything up to now, and going forward. You guys... are the bestest.

Okay 30, I'm ready. Are YOU?! ♥

xo | cmd