...celebrate good times...

Andy's 30th birthday bash was a huge success!

After he stepped out of our bedroom (check out the video here) he walked down the steps to see all the well wishes from family and friends taped along the walls and then into the dining room to see his pictures (which were all falling down.) Pancakes and bacon were on the morning menu, and after getting dressed, we headed out to his best friends house where he was given a MasterChef-esque mystery box challenge.

Andy made the Brown family a stellar lunch and dessert, and then we watched some old college videos, which brought back some great memories for Andy. Since the weather was so bad, and Friday was incredibly windy, we decided to wait on skydiving. So we went instead to SkyZone, an establishment where the floors and walls are trampolines. I had never been, and it was awesome! Check out Andy's amazing basketball dunk here.

We came home and immediately got ready for his special birthday dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. The romantic setting and our incredible waiter made for a great first experience, but it was their kindness and generosity in giving Andy a tiny, sweet dessert that truly topped off the dinner. We were so impressed and felt that it was well worth the cost.

We arrived home just in time to invite Andy's family in for a private get together. After a round of Qwirkle and ice cream cake, we said our goodbyes. After speaking with my parents for a few minutes, Andy and I tucked ourselves into bed and were soon fast asleep.

Andy's mom, Andy, me, Andy's sister

It was a whirlwind of an adventure, but he continues to say that he felt so loved. It really was a great day. Thank you to everyone who took the time to make him feel so special.

I want to celebrate my birth, not wish it away or ignore it or pretend it's not happening. I love birthdays! The balloons, the cakes, the friends. And I'm thankful that I'm not where I was ten years old - so, so thankful. I'm convinced that life should be getting better, and if it's not, then I must be doing something horribly wrong.

How will you celebrate you this year?

...3am...

Today I finished all the planning for Andy's 30th birthday, which is tomorrow, or rightly, today. Reservations were made, ice cream cakes were ordered, candy was put out and everything was set up. Below are some pictures of the finished product. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it took forever!

I've learned quite a bit on this adventure and have answered some age old questions, like, Can there ever be enough balloons? The answer is a resounding yes, my friends. Yes. Many, too many balloons...

Even now I can hear the pictures in the 30 falling from the wall. Three so far on the floor, not counting the four I've already re-taped. Hilariously, I've used nearly an entire roll of tape, so if many more fall, then I'm just going to have to show him the picture.

Though I've written, I haven't posted to my blog because I knew he would read it, and I wanted most of today to be a surprise. But I'm going to publish it all now for those of you that have been asking where I've been. Thanks for reading! I just won't share it on my Facebook or Twitter. That's usually the how he knows to read it.

If you have a moment, will you take the time to wish Andy a happy birthday?

Life with him is one of my greatest adventures...Can't wait to tell you all about tomorrow, or rather, today!

Night all! xoxo

...to be loved...

I asked some of Andy's friends and family to send me some kind words for a "Thirty Things We Love About Andy" project. I gathered them all together tonight, copied and pasted them into a text document, made them look pretty, cut the edges and finally pasted them to bright construction paper. I'll hang them on the walls down our staircase so that the first thing he sees when he wakes up on his birthday is how much he is loved.

I, of course, get the privilege of reading all that was written, and it's been so wonderful to see the impact that Andy has had in the lives of others. It's true that he has a servant's heart, and he regularly sacrifices his own comfort to help a friend in need. But my favorite response was from my sister-in-law, Tammy.

Tammy has the rare gift of being able to speak the truth in love. She will tell it to you like it is, and she will expect you to tow the line, but her words will never feel condescending, or demeaning, or demanding, or unkind. You'll walk away knowing that she is right and that you are dearly loved. I know very few people that can genuinely do this. She is also incredibly insightful. (She also religiously reads my blog. I'm super thankful for her!)

Her first words were: I love the way that you show Sharon that you love her.

I regularly wonder if I would be the woman that I am today without Andy's love. It seems silly, and I am in no way saying "he completes me," but with him, I feel secure in my own skin. I'm okay with being my silly, gushing, lovey self. He welcomes it. He embraces it. He participates in it.

When I'm frustrated and I take it out on him, he doesn't retaliate, though he might laugh at me, which only makes me laugh as well. He teases, tickles, kisses, cuddles, admonishes, caresses. We are quick to say "I'm sorry" and seek forgiveness.

He regularly stares at me and says, as if surprised, "You're so pretty." Not only that he says it, but the way that he says it, as if my "beauty" caught him off guard, always moves me. I never feel un-pretty in his presence. Even in pajama bottoms, with no makeup, unbrushed teeth, I know he only has eyes for me. I know it. He would never allow me to know anything else.

I'm not sure that anyone else could or would ever love me the way he does, and I'm not sure that I would be the person I am today without his love.

How have you been changed by the love of someone else? How are you loving others into being their best selves?

...April Fools...

Look at how cute!!!

I short-sheeted the bed and he didn't even notice!

Well, he noticed, but he didn't realize he'd been pranked. When I asked if he had gotten into bed, he said, "Babe, you made the bed wrong." Even as I was laughing he still didn't understand. I said "April Fools'" and told him I had short-sheeted our bed. He laughed, both at the joke and himself for not realizing he had been pranked. It was seriously unsatisfying...

I spent the evening gathering pictures of Andy, from baby up until his graduation, which I will hang in the shape of a 30 in our dining room on Thursday night. I loved watching his sweet face go from baby, to teenager, to man. Andy is the kind of person that gets more attractive as he gets older. While I've loved getting older, last week I had my first negative experience with aging.

Animal lover

I went to a salon that I've been going to for years to get my hair dyed back to my natural color. In fact, I've done so much to my hair (pink, purple, blue, calico, red, bleached out) that I'm not sure what that color might be. I vaguely remember a brunette staring back at me from a mirror at one point in my life before I began experimenting. So I found a picture of warm, chocolate brown hair with honey highlights, marched into the salon and set my stylist to work.

I marched out with a head full of jet black hair.

I look like Snow White...or a goth princess...or Morticia. Against my pale white skin, it's pretty shocking. One student whispered, "Mommy, why did Ms. Sharon paint her hair black?"

My mother always said it was only hair and it would grow back. But as I creep closer to 100, I have to wonder, does it? Does it really? My dad would say no.

I was hoping to walk out looking like my old (ie. younger) self. As I repeatedly washed through my hair, thoughts raced through my mind. Had I ruined my chances? Would I never look normal again? Was all of my experimenting catching up with me? Would I regret it for the rest of my life?

My reaction surprised me. Entrenched in birthday mode, I began to realize that my distress was directly related to growing older. I've loved getting older, but do we reach a moment when all that changes? In truth, I'm still processing through my thoughts and emotions. You're welcome to speak into my life and share your own experiences.

Nearly a week post appointment, I'm still hopeful that that simple, brunette girl is still somewhere in there. If anyone can resurrect her, it's my stylist. She really is quite wonderful, despite our obvious miscommunication.

...the allure of youth...

Andy's 30th birthday is this Friday! I was hoping to throw him a surprise party, but his crazy schedule leaves little time for fun with others, so I've planned some other things in the hopes that he'll feel extra special.

Today, I spent many hours blowing up an obnoxious amount of balloons. The key to blowing up balloons? Hold onto your cheeks! No joke! My cheeks were puffed out and aching after the first ten, so I started to hold them with both hands as I blew hot air into the balloons (three puffs makes for the perfect size balloon) and it really helped ease the pressure and pain.

The most difficult part for me was tying the balloons, but after the first twenty I seemed to get into a rhythm. I passed the time by catching up on back episodes of my favorite shows (this adventuring is sure cutting into my screen time!) so it wasn't all bad. Still, my cheeks and lips are sore.

Ultimately, I just want Andy to feel so loved this Friday. Birthdays can get discouraging as we age. We reminisce about our hopes and dreams, and then beat ourselves up for not being where we thought we would be, where we think we should be. We fear another wrinkle on our face or some added weight around our middle. We mourn our youth.

But is youth really all that great?

Without a doubt, there is much to be admired about youth. The hope, the promise of life, of a future unfettered, untainted. But do you remember what you were like when you were in your twenties? Were you confident, self-assured, secure? Did you make wise decisions? I was an absolute mess throughout my twenties. I can honestly say that, though I'm older, my life is way better now than it was ten years ago.

Isn't that how it's supposed to be?

...ripples...

Sometimes, loving on another person only requires a moment of your time...

Wellspring Living is an Atlanta based organization whose mission is to confront the issue of childhood sexual abuse and exploitation through awareness, training, and treatment programs for women and girls. They have been entered in an IKEA contest to revamp their Life Skills and Therapy offices. To win, they need to have the most votes and voting ends tomorrow, March 31.

IKEA has made this process quite easy.

Click this link. Enter your email address. Type in the numbers. Submit. Choose store projects for Atlanta, GA. Choose Wellspring Living. Submit.

See how simple?

This idea of sexual abuse and trafficking has been weighing on my heart for some time. I want to see these young women rescued from this slavery and restored to society. I want to see their captors brought to justice.

It is likely that we will never meet these girls, we will never know the impact that this may have on their lives, but we will have made some ripples, and that may make all the difference.

Won't you please take a moment and vote for them?

To find out more about Wellspring Living, click here.

...fish fry Friday...

Not being Catholic, I've never experienced a lenten fish fry. Excited to expose ourselves to something new, we glanced through a website listing area fish fries and agreed on Holy Infant Catholic Church as it was closest to our neighborhood.

We arrived at 4:45pm, a fairly early time with less people (or so we thought) and moved into the line. It was much busier than we expected, though a man also waiting in line said that coming at 6pm would have been much worse. As I've been reverting back into my fearful self, the one that doesn't feel confident in anything, I just wanted to choose their take out option, and eat dinner in front of the TV. But I knew that wouldn't make for a great blog post, so, before I could change my mind, I determined we should stay.

We got our dinners (salmon, cod, grouper with the options of fried or baked and so many sides – definitely worth the cost) and then the most gruesome part of any cafeteria experience began. You all know what I'm talking about: the struggle to find a place to sit. It was middle school all over again.

Always thinking ahead, I was scoping out the tables as we stood in line. I chose two that I thought were viable and, once we had our dinners, I led Andy through the maze and to the first table.

Table 1. “Sorry, these seats are taken.”

Table 2. “These seats are taken. Sorry.”

My spirit was so dampened by the time we got to Table 3, that, had they turned us away, I would have marched straight up to the line and asked for two to-go boxes. Thankfully, there was room at their table.

They didn't speak much, and almost as soon as we sat down, they got up to leave, and Andy and I were left to sit quietly alone, when a young man with a bright smile approached us and asked if the seats at our table were taken. We were so happy for the acknowledgement, we invited him to all the seats. As it turned out, we had to add one more chair to fit in his whole crew.

This young man and his girlfriend were meeting each others parents (and a set of grandparents) for the first time. Though we were such a mixed bag of individuals, we were still able to find common ground and swap stories. Andy is so good at chatting. While I prefer to enjoy listening to a conversation, Andy jumps right in and participates. There are few lulls in any discussion when he is around.

They were such friendly and delightful people! We tarried there in the cafeteria longer than we intended so that we could chat with them a bit longer.

My favorite part of the conversation? The young man's grandparents had been married for 50 years and Andy asked them their secret. The elderly man said, “Never forget – love is not a feeling. Love is a decision that you make every day.”

I think that can apply to any relationship. Go choose love today.