My (awesome/amazing/over the top) 30th birthday

I turned the big 3-0 on September 18th. I just know what you're thinking..."how can she be THIRTY?! I mean, she's so young and fit and barely has any wrinkles!"

I get that alllll the time. (not)

Yes, I am 30 years old. I will never, ever, ever in my life be 20-something again. That's pretty crazy. The last 10 years definitely had it's ups and downs. College was fabulous and an awesome experience, but had it's share of heartache. Finding "the one" and getting married was exciting and being newlyweds buying houses and cars and traveling the world was so much fun. (Ireland...how I miss you.) And then having our first baby and becoming a mother and experiencing the immense joy that is Gwendolyn Rebecca Barntsen - gets me every time! My 20's were a time of growth, change, soul-searching, clinging to God, and some of the hardest and best moments of my entire life. It's bittersweet to say good-bye, but I'm ready to see what's in store for the next 10 years.

I had mentioned to Tom back in March that I thought it'd be fun to spend my 30th birthday with Becca. Well, he didn't forget that and she surprised me with the greatest 30th birthday present ever - HERSELF!

Let me start from the beginning....Tom came home from work and I could immediately tell something was up. He told me he'd been in a car accident (he can be a bit dramatic sometimes. Can't we all.) Turns out he was rear ended (on his way to pick her up from the airport, of all times) and so he was coming inside to grab the camera to go take pictures. I thought nothing of this and immediately wanted to see the damage myself. 

(I've had people ask...no, I didn't know he was videotaping. I knew he had the camera, but I never looked up to see that he was recording my every move.)

You can imagine my SHOCK when I finally realized it was my sister in the TRUNK! It was so great. Took a few seconds to register as I just stared blankly at her. Oh man. So glad we got that moment on camera.

This was Thursday, September 13th so I wasn't even thinking about my birthday at this point. We still had 5 days to go! I still can't believe they both pulled it off and I had no clue. 

Aunt Becca and "Woo-tang" (Becca somehow went from calling her Winnie to Woo to Woo-tang) watching "puppies".

Noodles & Company for my free birthday dinner! Woo was so happy Aunt Becca was in town!

Friday we headed to Stillwater for some shopping, lunch and ice cream sundae's, of course. Gwendolyn loved her first ever cherry. 

And then much to my surprise AGAIN, we rolled into the driveway after our little adventure, I looked down to turn the car off and looked up to see my dad standing right next to my door. My parents had driven up! Which is hilarious since I had JUST said to Becca, "does it make you sad that you can't see mom and dad while you're here? I wish they could be here." Ha!

It's almost too much excitement for me to handle. But it didn't stop there. I knew we were headed to Scott and Nikki's for dinner, but I didn't know that Tom had arranged for our sitter to come over so we could stay out late (11:00!) and have a bonfire - one of my favorite fall activities. It was so nice and relaxing to not have to tend to Gwendolyn (that sounds horrible, but you know how meals go with little ones) and then rush out to get her home for bed.

My dream come true - a power wheel I can ride! I always wanted one as a kid, and Jacob's new 4-wheeler did not disappoint. 

Scott made one of my favorite meals - his fish tacos and then out walks Tom holding an angel food cake with pink frosting and sprinkles.

Angel food cake with pink frosting and sprinkles.

Those are words I said every single year to my Grandma Stauffer when she asked what kind of cake I wanted for my birthday. I about lost it.

Ok....I did lose it.

You have no idea how much this meant to me. My grandma died 15 years ago and for a split second it was like she was back. The cake looked exactly like her's as her frosting is a special recipe and I haven't had it since before she passed away. I knew right away that it was "the frosting" and I could barely keep it together. I was already emotional with all the love being shown to me.

Turns out my mom and Tom worked together to make this happen. It made my day! And was so delicious. 

I finally got to meet baby Lydia too! (Nikki's "other" niece. *smile)

Bonfire time!! So great.

I woke up on Saturday morning to this sign from my dear hubby...

Are you exhausted yet? I was. So much fun and excitement and no time for naps.

What in the world could still be left?!

A day at the spa with my sister, of course! I mean, why not. You only turn 30 once.

And this was the real deal. Massage, facial, nails, hair with lunch included. Are.you.kidding.me?! I have DREAMED about doing this.

Our new haircuts! (Only one of us was brave.)

We came home feeling so refreshed and relaxed. Gwendolyn, on the other hand, was apparently still a little bit sleepy after her afternoon nap...good thing Aunt Becca had time to snuggle.

That night, Becca stayed home with Gwendolyn so Tom and I could go out for dinner (best mac-n-cheese EVER) and go to a movie (The Words.) Tom was iffy about the movie given the bad reviews, but he sacrificed for me. It had an interesting story line, but was definitely a renter.

Walking to the park with Aunt Becca.

Becca left on Monday, and we were sad to see her go but so thankful we could spend so much time together. At this point, I didn't care one bit about my actual birthday on Tuesday - I had been spoiled enough.

But then the doorbell rings and it's Nikki, Jacob and Nathan with chai tea and monkey bread from Caribou! God timed their arrival perfectly as I had just taken a phone call from Natalie who told me that Tom had passed out on the bus (he didn't have a cell phone) and had been taken by ambulance to a hospital. I immediately thought that if it had been bad enough to call an ambulance then there was something very wrong, so I was a bit frantic when they arrived. Nikki helped calm me down and after a few phone calls, we found Tom at St. Joe's Hospital. He was totally fine, praise Jesus. Gwendolyn and I went and picked him up a bit later and he spent the rest of the afternoon resting. It turned out to be an pretty eventful day after all!

Two still in pj's - cracks me up. I love these three.

I love yearly pics, so of course I needed one with my Scoots on my actual birthday like we had taken last year. Daddy was napping so we struggled just a bit...

Are we done yet?!

Finally daddy helped us out later that night.

She LOVED (I did too) the hilarious video John and Trisha made me and posted on Facebook. We watched it many, many times.

Sophie also got in on the birthday fun and surprised me the following Sunday with a balloon, lunch, gifts, and a card! I hadn't seen her in over a year, and she was in town with her mom for a weekend girls trip. We caught up quickly in an hour, and then they were off to visit one more friend before heading back down to Iowa. She currently lives in Washington, D.C. so it was totally random and out of the blue and awesome!

I'd say that was quite the birthday celebration. I felt so loved and thankful. Thanks to everyone who made it such a special weekend - it was a birthday I'll never forget! Love you all!

And Tom...you are amazing. You continue to outdo yourself and the way you lavish me with love and consideration is incredible. Thanks for all of your attention to the tiny details and going to so much effort. I'm so blessed to be your best friend and wife! I love you!