wow...it goes by fast..

... & its not just ANY birthday...

Its the day I have no more '3's' in front of my age... Hello 4's... 40... FORTY?  yep... 40 years old today. 

How can this cute little face be 40 yrs old?

I actually still cant believe it.  When people ask me my age, I honestly have to stop & think about it.  Maybe that's the first sign of old age - not remembering your age.  I use to automatically think, "I'm 18"... no joke... but as the years have passed, now when someone asks how old I am, I automatially think, "I'm 28"... not sure why.  I definitely don't think, or feel like 40.  Although on some days, when my arms & knees ache, I do kinda feel like I'm 60... again, this aging thing can bite somtimes.

30 hit me bad... I didnt think 40 would... I was wrong.  Something about that first number changing in your age that puts things in a reality-light that GLOWS way too brightly sometimes.

So for my 40th birthday, since it's a big "milestone" - I'm just going to think back of some of the big things in my life... the moments that are happy, memorable, that stand out to me...
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40.  Learning to knit... it changed all my free time :)

39.  My high school graduation... felt so proud & happy... & SICKER then a dog.  I had a 102 fever... but was determined to make it through the ceremony. 

38. Moving to our house in Greenville... I still am in love with our home...

37.  All my Steven Curtis Chapman concerts... & the meet & greet where I was actually a few FEET from him... & got to ask a question to him about his hair :)  (I'm a dork)

36.  Getting my first car with AIR CONDITIONER!!! It was a Ford Escort... never so proud of a car :)

35.  Roller skating... did it as a child every Sunday with my friend Julie... who knew I'd meet my husband at a skating rink years later... & still be skating today, teaching the grandbabies to skate.

34. My wonderful friends growing up...

33.  September 11, 2001... I'll never forget sitting at work watching it..

32.  Watching Alaina & Lindsay graduate from high school... then eventually Alaina from college... they were little girls when I came into their lives...

31.  The trip to Gatlinburg that Ricky, myself & Stephanie went on...  I dont think we've ever laughed so much in our lives...

30.  Our trip to Vegas in 1999 with some friends... any trip where you see Mike Tyson walking around has got to be a good one!

29.  Standing with Julie on her wedding day behind the closed doors, waiting with her to go down the aisle...

28.  Every minute I get to spend with the youth group in our church.... they bless me more then I could ever do for them...

Believe Gang of 2010

27.  Every young person I have ever baptized... such an honor

26.  Seeing Ricky get baptized. 

25.  The "Stephanie's" in my life... #1 & #2 ... if you are a Stephanie, you now qualify to be my best friend :)

Me & Stephanie #2

24.  Cameras... have always loved them & now, its taken on a new adventure for me

23. My lisp... I had to go to speech therapy in elementary school for it & I still catch myself (or others point it out) lisping... all this time later.  Call me Cindy Brady.

22.  First time I did Sign Language in my church

21.  Fall Festival in Dale, Indiana... we'd go every year.  Its where my dad grew up & my aunt still lived & I always looked so forward to it.  A parade that threw out CANDY?  Who DOESNT want to travel over an hour for that?  & by the way, when I was little, it felt like the trip took DAYS... & it was only like 65 minutes...

(me, Teenie, Tony & Dolly at my Aunt's house in Dale)

20. My first plane ride with my aunt to Texas... scared to death.  She still laughs about me "yelping" a little when we hit turbulence.  I found nothing humorous about it... at all...

19.  A family vacation to Gatlinburg where we went to Dolly Wood... the water ride with my brother was the funniest thing when he was the ONLY one who got soaked to the bone... & was the ONLY one who didnt even want to ride it to begin with.

18.  Meeting Isaac & Luke for the first time...

This is our trip to meet Isaac... where did his hair go?

17.  All my furbabies, from our first dog, Dolly, growing up... to all the cats we had in our home as a teenager, to Pandora, to our doggie gang we have now... they're all family members...

16.  Growing up with my brother's obsession to punch me & then take pictures of me crying... how messed up is that? Brothers... what can you say...

15.  My dad's "Special bread" he's make on the weekends for breakfast.  I now know it was just pancakes without butter or syrup, but I thought it was the coolest invention EVER & looked forward to it every weekend!

14.  Years & years of Kung Fu lessons with my dad & brother... dont mess with  me :)

13. Being with my grandmother when she passed away...

12. Working as a cashier in a grocery story in high school... there was no better job in the world to me.  I was obsessed with cash registers since I would press buttons.

11.  Having my gall bladder taken out a few months after I got married in 1996... my first surgery.  I was scared to death.

10.  Becoming a runner... never thought it would happen... but 4 Half Marathons under my belt.  A FULL marathon by the time I turn 50?  its possible...

9. The day I got baptized... fun fact:  I had a panic moment when I realize I didnt remember to bring underwear! haha!  Too much info?... I loved my time at Beechmont with my friends & my Pastor... Brother Jerry... or as I'd call him, Bro J... he was an amazing man.

8.  Game Days with my mom... she was always up to play a board game... anytime of the day.  During the summer, it would be nothing to play Yahtzee at midnight.

7.  The birth of my twin  nieces... I'll never forget holding them minutes after they were born.. & getting to carry Sophia up to the nursery.  I always tell her I took her on her first elevator ride of her life :)

6. Having a great job that I've been blessed to have for.. oh my... going on 20 years!

5. Beauty & the Beast... everything about it!  Seeing it at the movies, seeing it on Broadway, seeing it in High School Musicals... & getting a Belle dress!!! 

4.  Having a friend pass away at 18 of cancer... a friend pass away at 30 of cancer... & a friend in her 40's pass away of cancer... things that like change your view of life & fairness.

3. Getting the call from my dad that the things in his spine were NOT cancer.  I'll never forget screaming in my office.  It turned into church in my office.... I just kept thanking God.  That was a moment of pure joy!

2. Dancing with this young man at his wedding.... I'll never forget it as long as I live.

1.  My wedding day.... it was perfect.  I wouldnt change one thing about it.

Here's to another 40 years of memories...

... another 40?  I'll be 80...

Lord, give me strength :)