in my next 30 years...

So today I am 30!

I am not loving the idea of no longer being in my twenties... but what can you do about it?? nothing! I guess everyone is saying that 30 is the new 20 so I should take comfort in that - but it is not really working - there is something about my age starting with a 3 that seems so weird!

It is my golden birthday though...30 on the 30th!

The song by Tim McGraw - In My Next Thirty Years... has been going through my head for the entire month of August - (feel free to listen from my playlist while you read...)and it has actually led me to do some real thinking about the first 30 years of my life - and what will happen in the next 30!

(so in the words of Tim McGraw..."I think I'll take a moment - celebrate my age, the ending of an era, and the turning of a page"...or here is some more personal history)

I was born in Salt Lake City - the third child - first daughter to Richard and Janice Phillips. My parents did not have health insurance when they had me - so I was paid for in full by them - I am pretty sure that is why I am their favorite! We lived in Utah until I was five - I even started kindergarten there - but a few months after I turned 5 - we moved to Plano, Texas! So - Plano is the home that I have always claimed! We lived in Hanover Park (just outside of Chicago) IL for three years (3-5 grades) - but the rest of school was spent in Plano - I was a Plano East Panther - graduating class of 1996! I can take some comfort in knowing that most everyone who graduated with me has already celebrated their 30th!

After finishing high school - I headed for BYU- (go cougars!!) I double majored in elementary music education and elementary education and graduated in 2001! I loved my time at BYU - I made so many great friends and had some fun jobs - I worked efy for 2 summers ('98 and '99) and also worked at Hogi Yogi - (I don't think there is a more Provo job than Hogi Yogi)! I also met, fell in love with, and married my best friend- Devon in 1999! (see the previous post for more about that...)

Once Devon and I graduated from BYU - we moved to Columbus Ohio - (where we knew no one...) to start Optometry school at The Ohio State University - (go bucks!!) We loved living in Ohio - we became diehard Buckeye fans for life and made many great and life long friends there! I taught kindergarten until the twins were born in 2003. They were born just a few weeks before Devon's finals and a month before his first set of boards - good timing right?!?! When Devon graduated in 2005 - we decided to move to his hometown - Willard Missouri - so that he could open his own practice here!

In 2007 - we had Barrett - our sweet little baby boy - who is getting bigger everyday!

There are so many wonderful memories from the first 30 years of my life! I know that I am truly blessed! I have made so many great friends - I have such a great family - immediate and extended!

There are so many things to come in the next 30 years- even as I have been writing this post I have started getting more excited and less depressed - blogging is such good therapy!

Nine Years!!

It is crazy to think that we have been married for NINE years today!

Here is a little remembering - (for my own personal history...)

Devon and I met the first day of spring classes at BYU in 1997. He had just moved back to BYU after his mission - I had just finished my freshman year and decided to stay for spring and take a couple of classes. We both moved into the same ward - our apartments were right around the corner from each other. (Alpine #13 and Squire #6) We became friends right away! We had lots of fun that spring - and he was pretty much my best friend - we stayed up talking lots of nights on the stairs outside of his apartment.

It took us a few years...but we both finally figured out that we had so much fun together that we didn't need to keep dating other people...we should probably just date each other. Since we were already best friends - it didn't take us too long to decide that we wanted to get married. We both were already committed to work efy in the summer of '99 - so we decided that we were going to wait and get married at the end of the summer! Devon finished working the Calgary session on Saturday - got to Dallas on Monday - and we were married on Tuesday, August 24, 1999 in the Dallas Temple!

It has been a great adventure! In nine years we have...

lived in 3 states - Utah, Ohio, and Missouri

finished lots of school - BYU (me and devon) and Ohio State (devon)

had 3 kids - Cayden, Hadley, and Barrett

bought our first home

opened our own practice

watched the twins start kindergarten

and many other things...

I think the best part for me is knowing that I still have so much fun with my best friend! I still get excited when he calls me from work, or when I know that he is on his way home, or when we get to go on a date! He is still the person I want to be with the most!

I feel so lucky to be married to him - I love the life that we have together!

I Love you Devon (crazy 8's) - Happy Anniversary!

First Day of Kindergarten

Today was the first day of school! It is so crazy that the twins are old enough to be in kindergarten! They were both so excited! When we were putting them to bed last night - Cayden said he was tired but that he was probably too excited to get any sleep! They both did fall asleep and... we were all up and ready to go bright and early this morning. Cayden knew for a week or more what he wanted to wear to school for the first day... Hadley was a different story! She changed her mind everyday - sometimes lots of times in one day - but this morning she finally decided on her plaid shorts and her brown shirt! It was so fun to watch them get dressed and ready for the day!

I think that Cayden was most excited about his backpack - he didn't even want to take it off in the car. His teacher is Mrs. Peterson! She is great and Cayden loves her already. She showed the twins around the school during kindergarten screenings - so he knew her a little bit already -the best was that when we went to the school last night for meet the teacher - she came right up and said "hi Cayden" - it was a big deal to Cayden that she remembered him! He came home so happy and had such a great day!

Hadley started getting nervous about a week ago - she kept asking me what she was going to do when she missed me. I knew that when she got to school and was busy - she would probably not even think twice - but it started getting me a little bit anxious! Hadley clicked with her teacher right away - Mrs. Hambey - she gave Hadley a big hug when we walked through the door this morning! Hadley relaxed right away! She didn't even look up when I left the room!

I was still a little bit anxious when Devon and I left the school! I wasn't crying or anything - but I just wanted to know that the twins were going to have fun and be happy! I wanted to fast forward to 3:30 - and see them and know that everything had gone great! But.. I found a way to make it through the day with just Barrett - we ran errands, went to lunch, and did some shopping - (I really suffered through the day!)

The twins came out of school with smiles! They talked the whole way home about all the fun things! Then they were both ready to crash...I guess the excitement of the day wore them out! But - they can't wait to go back tomorrow!!

Here's what Barrett did during the first day of school...

Florida

We have really been home from Florida for about a week now - but between a funeral and getting ready to start school - my blog has been neglected! We had such a great time in Florida visiting my mom and dad! They were so great to us! Devon stayed for about 5 days and the kids and I stayed for 10! It was so nice to relax and be with my family! Kristen and Ann were home so the twins and Barrett loved spending time with their fabulous aunts! I think I took about three thousand pictures while we were there - I am working on a slide show - but that will have to be in the next post!
The weather was so nice while we were there! The days that we went to Disney were so perfect - it rained a little each morning - which cooled off the rest of the day! The days at the beach were also really beautiful! It was a little cloudy which made playing in the sand even more fun - without the sun blaring down on us!
I asked the twins what their favorite parts of the trip were - here are some of the answers...
flying on the airplane
Disney, Disney, Disney
the BEACH
sleeping with Aunt Kristen's tiger
swimming in Grandma and Grandpa's pool
getting shark water guns at Grandpa's work
feeding the baby alligators
seeing the really big and old tree
watching grandpa lead the music in church
Grandma's homemade pizza
Grandpa's chocolate chip cookies and his Mickey Mouse pancakes
the list could go on and on
When we were leaving to come home - Hadley and Cayden were both in tears in the security line to say bye to everyone - I think I was too worried about getting three kids and our carry on luggage and the stroller all through the security line and making it to the plane with everybody - but it was definitely hard to leave!
Thanks mom and dad for such a great vacation! We love you lots and miss you already!

I did post some (ok lots) pictures of Disney and the beach in the next posts!

The Beach

We loved the beach in Florida! The twins loved the ocean - they loved jumping the waves, playing in the sand, collecting sea shells along the beach, and just being outside all day! Barrett spent most of his time in the shade of the pack -n- play, but we did let him play in the sand for a little bit - he did not like the ocean - I think the water was colder than what he was used to! I think the twins could have stayed for days and days at the beach!

Disney World

We spent two days of our Florida trip at Disney - we went to Hollywood, Animal Kingdom, and, of course, Magic Kingdom. It was so much fun! The twins loved seeing all the characters and riding most of the rides.

Hadley did not like Tower of Terror - and so it took her sitting out a few rides to get her courage back! She did love all the little kid rides - like the magic carpets, the flying dumbo, and the teacups! She was most excited to meet the princesses again - and loved seeing Tinkerbell fly across the sky in the night show at Magic Kingdom.

Cayden was my super brave boy! He loves roller coasters (like his dad) He even rode the new Everest Ride at Animal Kingdom - when he got off I asked him if he wanted to ride it again and he said, "not right now - I am a little dizzy!" But then he kept talking about how awesome it was!

Barrett was great - he rode around in his stroller all day and was so happy - he even cut his first tooth the first day we were there!

I think I took a million pictures, but here are some of the favs!