Thirty, Flirty, and Fabulous!!

Yes, I reached a new milestone on Saturday...30! I must admit, this was a birthday I've been dreading. I cried at 25 and at 29, and was not looking forward to what everyone refers to as "the big 3-0!" To celebrate, I went out with some girlfriends Friday night. We went to Saltgrass Steakhouse. It was so fun and my friends made me feel so special! Thanks for such a super FUN night girls! (Maybe next time I'll be less sleep deprived and join in on the continuation of the night!)

This picture was taken when we first got there, before everyone arrived (the ones we took after with everyone came out blurry, so if you were there and got that picture, will you forward it to me?!)


But here's a picture with everyone!


So Saturday morning I woke up to Ella saying "Mom, someone left you a treat on the porch!" And Dave promptly saying "come on Ella, let's go." Then it was silent. I looked at the clock...7:30! Holy cow! I got to sleep in! So I continued to lay in bed and the very next thought I had was "30." I started to tear up. Not wanting to cry about it, I quickly decided to come up with 30 reasons why it's great to be 30. And I did and then I felt much better! I had fun laying in bed laughing to myself as I had to really stretch to come up with some reasons. Some were serious, some were not. Here are a few of my favorites...
1. Dave, Ella, Ava, and Drews - 4 blessings that weren't all a part of my 20's.
2. I can say "I'm 30, flirty, and fabulous!" Okay, so maybe not as flirty as I once was, but isn't it fun to say!?
3. I may be 30, but my husband will be 40 in 2 years!
4. I'm still the youngest in the Riska clan and can still tease the others about being old!
5. So what if I'm getting more gray hairs? It's a fun time to experiment with new hair colors!
6. I'll get to celebrate my 10th wedding anniversary in my 30's, and I plan to celebrate big!
7. I'll get to witness all 3 of my children being baptized in my 30's.
8. 30 is the new 20!
9. I have a much more solid testimony at 30 than I did at 20.
10. I have more experience (aka wisdom - HA!) to pass on!

So there are a few. I finished coming up with my 30 reasons just in time for Drews to wake up and want to eat. And then the rest of my family came home. They had gone to the store to pick up a few things. While I was feeding the baby, Dave made a yummy breakfast and Ella had picked out some pretty flowers for the table. The rest of the day was just as nice and relaxing. Thank you to everyone for all the birthday wishes, gifts, phone call, emails, and loves! 30 will be great and I know I have lots more to look forward to!