Three Decades

This post is almost two months delayed, but in my defense...I just got the pictures. The big 3-0 was less traumatic than I imagined, but just to be safe, I flew to my parent's house where I could have emotional support in case any break-downs did arise.

On the day of my birthday, my adorable, pregnant little sister surprised me with a very memorable (in all aspects gift) which entailed her collecting a number of items with some sort of sentimental value with regards to our childhood. On each item was a little saying with an explanation. Sadly, I wasn't smart enough to write them all down, but this is what the two of us could recall after putting our heads together.

Warning: a large amount of pictures of yours truly are about to follow. I promise I'm not narcissistic, but I was the only one with a birthday that day

PRETZELS

For shared road trips and creative forms of entertainment

(When we were little and on a trip to Utah to pick our uncle up from the airport, we decided to sew clothes for him out of napkins using pretzels as our needles)

KETCHUP AND GRAPE JELLY

For shared meals and a sister who ate my share of condiments

(Growing up my younger sister was a food purist and hated anything on her meals - ketchup, mustard, jelly, even cheese on her pizza. I, on the other hand, had to have ketchup dripping from my hamburgers plus a separate pile of ketchup and mustard on my plate to then dip the hamburger in. Same case with the grape jelly)

CANDY NECKLACES AND LIPSTICK

For shared bike rides to King's

(Favorite treats we would buy from the local dime store)

HERBAL ESSENCES BLUE SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER

For shared bath time and skunk stripes

(We were creative children - growing up we had blue shampoo and a caramel colored shampoo, so naturally we could pour stripes of it down our hair and pretend it was blueberry or caramel sauce)

LIP GLOSS

For shared make-up and mono germs

(She still blames me to this day for that one, but I didn't force her to use my lip gloss)

BLOUSE

For shared wardrobes...usually yours

$0.82 IN A PLASTIC BAG

For shared piggy banks...sorry!

(No explanation needed here - too bad the gift didn't cover for inflation - hehe)

UNO CARDS AND TISSUE

For shared games and tissues for the sore loser...usually me

DISNEY'S THE COOKIE QUEEN CARTOON (rented from the library)

For shared cartoon's and childhood memories

(This was a favorite cartoon of our mother when she was little and she was delighted to share it with us. It instantly became a favorite of the second generation, and I was thrilled to see it again after so many years)

More Cookie Queen

Cake time! German chocolate and Mom's lemon cheesecake - nothing but the best! In the background you see my Orem officer brother I'm so proud of.

Where's the albuterol inhaler when you need it??

I love Dad's supportive efforts to blow the candles out in the background...apparently even he questioned my ability to clear out 30! If memory serves me correctly...I missed one! Time to start practicing for next year.