30th Birthday Weekend

You might remember me blogging about my big birthday celebration in July! It was quite the party and quite the celebration.  I knew since the party was so big that I wanted to do something small and simple for my actual birthday.

As I was thinking about what to do for this big birthday it just so happened that my close college friend, Heather wanted to plan a little reunion with our litle group.  

You might remember me blogging about our last reunion back in 2010. 

After a few texts and e-mails (while I was in Ecaudor) our reunion was planned for the weekend of my birthday! Sadly our 4th, Colette, was not able to make this reunion. (we missed you Colette!!!)

Thursday morning Heather and I jet planed it from Dallas and NYC and landed in Minneapolis within 5 minutes of each other. 

Samm picked us up from the airport and we were greeted at her house with this sweet card (along with some fun birthday presents)

And Yes Heather's birthday is two weeks before mine, so it was a perfect time for a little joint celebration! 

 We began our time together with a bike ride across the Mississippi river and through the downtown area.  It was a beautiful fall day and a perfect way to start to the weekend!

Thursday night Paul (Samm's husband) grilled out for us and we had a yummy dinner together! We ended the day piled up together on the bed with warm apple crisp, talking and laughing and catching up on all that we've missed in each others lives! 

I awoke Friday morning, my actual birthday, with sweet friends and and cute kids! 

Samm's girls, Maddux and Sophie sang me Happy Birthday and I blew out my candle (and made a wish) in my banana nut bread

 My parents sent my birthday box to Samm's house so it would be there on my actual birthday.  I had lots of "help" opening up all my great gifts!

 I think the hit of the box was the birthday blowers my mom stuck in. I think Sophie had a blower with her at all times throughout the rest of the weekend! 

My parents filled the box with sweet little gifts and a note with 30 things they were thankful for about me. They also had given me the skymiles to make this trip to Minnesota for my big present.  Thanks M and D! 

 After my little celebration we got ready to go to the apple orchord.

Maddux and Sophie were very in to putting on make-up with us!

 Friday was another beatiful fall day! It was so great to be out in creation enjoying the weather, laughing, and enjoying each others company.

 I think the best part of the day was all 5 of us diving in to the giant corn pit.  I might have even let them all all bury me in the corn.  I mean sometimes you can still pretend you are a kid:-)

We fed the animals

 and took a hay ride through the corn fields

 I don't really know why, but I love this picture.  To me it represents peace, nature, and simplicity.  It represents the exact way I would have wanted to spend this birthday.

I decided to take some creative pics of the squash I picked

 I know this sounds crazy, but being in the middle of corn fields was so enjoyable to me. When you live a life in a concrete jungle being in the middle of nowhere is such a breath of fresh air.

 After having a picnic at the Apple Orchord we headed back to Samm's house.  I really wanted to start this new decade with time with the Lord and time to journal, so Heather and I hit up the local starbucks and had a quiet afternoon with our bibles and journals.

After a relaxing day, another college friend, Katie joined us and we went out for a little birthday celebration!

 We went to this trendy restaurant in Uptown, called Chino Latino.  Samm told them when she made the reservations that we were celebrating birthdays.  It was a fun little surprise to see our names printed on our menus!

 The food was amazing and the ambiance was really fun

 We had great conversation and I really think Katie might be one of the funniest people I know.  Between her and Heather we laughed a lot!

 I mean who doesn't try on sunglasses and take funny pictures on their 30th birthday?

 After dinner we went to this great place called, Caffe Latte to have birthday cake.  It was delicious!

After a great night out, we went back to Samm's house to talk and laugh some more.  I went to sleep with a thankful heart for a a great day with friends, lots of calls texts and emails from friends and family, and most importantly experiencing the Lord's sufficient grace on a day that I have been dreading for quite some time. 

On Saturday morning we began the day with another college friend, Holly, for breakfast at Birchwood Cafe.  It was fun to catch up with her a little after losing touch for several years.

After breakfast we took Maddux and Sophie to the local zoo and botanical gardens.

Sophie and I won each others heart over the weekend.  Samm told me she doesn't really go for new people, but for some reason we warmed up to each other quite quickly  and had fun together! Although I've seen Samm several times since she became a mom, this was the first time I actually met her kids (I've seen her when she has traveled other places and left them at home) It was fun to see her as a mom and to play with her cute kids! 

After the zoo we had one last little bit of quality conversation and spent some time in prayer together.  

Before heading to the airport we drove out to the suburb of Apple Valley to spend time with my extended family.  My dad's brother and 3 out of his 4 kids live in the area.  Since we all live so far apart our families don't get together too often.  It was great to be able to see them for a bit and catch up for the first time in 5 years! 

and Yes, the kids wanted to take a silly picture! 

One last picture of the 3 of us! 

I really am so thankful for these friendships.  

Samm and Heather have been 2 of the most influental friends in my life.  Even though we live far apart and see each other so infrequently they still know me so well. 

It was so refreshing to be in their company all weekend, share what was really on my heart and have them speak into my life with tenderness and wise words. 

The best part of the weekend was when I realized we celebrated my 20th birthday together. Who knows where we'll all be when I turn 40, but just maybe we'll celebrate that one together too. 

Thanks Samm and Heather for such a wonderful weekend! 

Here's to a sweet birthday celebration, over a decade of dear friendships with these 2, a great weekend, and a new year of life!