{"id":2672,"date":"2011-07-28T06:47:07","date_gmt":"2011-07-28T06:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/?p=2672"},"modified":"2011-07-28T13:29:00","modified_gmt":"2011-07-28T13:29:00","slug":"happy-birthday-to-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/happy-birthday-to-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday to US!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Last week I celebrated&#8230;a birthday.\u00a0 It hurts to admit it, but I guess with 3.5 kids I&#8217;m hardly 23 anymore.\u00a0 I&#8217;m now 30-3!\u00a0 I still feel like I could jump back into college (except for the 3.5 kids thing) and I have to say I do love my crazy, wonderful life&#8230;even if it does mean I&#8217;m &#8220;IN my THIRTIES!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Deep Breaths! :)<br \/>\n.<\/p>\n<p>The day of the party, I <a href=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/pooh-and-blueberries\/\">picked blueberries with the kids<\/a>, and Brad had scheduled a massage for me for that afternoon.\u00a0 I ran home nasty, hot, and sweaty from picking berries, jumped in the shower, dried my hair as fast as I could, kissed my babies and my wonderful hubby goodbye, hopped back in the car, drove like a mad-man to the spa, and busted through the doors of the spa (late, of course).<\/p>\n<p>THE SPA!<\/p>\n<p><span>Oh, it was like another land&#8230;a land I rarely enter.\u00a0 A happy place.\u00a0 Everything was beautiful and peaceful and quiet, wi<span>th<\/span> the sounds of dainty, calm harps playing next to a bank of trickling water.\u00a0 Their was a delightful aroma of lavender, eucalyptus, and mint.\u00a0 There were no smells of old milk or macaroni and cheese or <span>Totino&#8217;s<\/span> pizza.\u00a0 No one was fighting or screaming or whining or calling some obviously crazy lady named &#8220;Mama!&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>When my time in this happy land was complete, I hoped they wouldn&#8217;t notice if I hung out in the women&#8217;s lounge a few extra minutes on their soft white couches in the sunlit room, drinking some lovely orange juice concoction.\u00a0 However, I felt like there was a different kind of happy land that needed their crazy mama back.\u00a0 I slowly made it to the car and back home&#8230;relaxed and rejuvenated.<\/p>\n<p>It was a nice, generous, much appreciated break from reality!\u00a0 Thank you sweet, wonderful husband!<\/p>\n<p>I was greeted with the warm welcome of 3 wild maniacs running at me with their arms wide open calling, &#8220;Mama!&#8221; as if I had been gone for days.\u00a0 Then I realized I was <em><strong>in <\/strong><\/em>my happy place.\u00a0 I belong with these crazy people.\u00a0 I belong in this messy house, with these 3 loud kids and this maniac dog and this wonderful man.\u00a0 A SPA break is an extra special treat, but I am truly so thankful for this crazy, wonderful life in which I&#8217;ve been so richly blessed!<\/p>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<p>So after my relaxing massage I wrestled kids for a little while, then it was time for dinner.\u00a0 I hate washing my hair, and I was determined I was not going to do it twice in 4 hours, so i didn&#8217;t.\u00a0 I&#8217;m sad my hair is in my &#8220;mom&#8221; ponytail for my birthday dinner, but the massage was worth the pony. :)<\/p>\n<p>We had dinner and cake, played putt-putt, then had more dessert.\u00a0 It was a fun evening with friends!\u00a0 (We were missing one fun couple.\u00a0 Brad had a crazy week and realized an hour before the party that he forgot to call some of our dear friends, Michael and Amy!\u00a0 I&#8217;m so sorry, guys!\u00a0 We love and missed y&#8217;all!)<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t have many pics, because I was apparently taking pics in Manual Focus instead of Auto and didn&#8217;t realize it.\u00a0 Here are a few&#8230;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The birthday girls<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-034.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2674\" title=\"Happy Birthday to ME 034\" src=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-034.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"575\" height=\"383\" srcset=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-034.jpg 639w, http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-034-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a>The girls (minus Elicia, who had run home to put our cake in the fridge)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-013.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2675\" title=\"Happy Birthday to ME 013\" src=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-013.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"575\" height=\"383\" srcset=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-013.jpg 639w, http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-013-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a>But here&#8217;s Elicia, in true form.\u00a0 She found a jet ski machine at Putt-Putt.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-015.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2676\" title=\"Happy Birthday to ME 015\" src=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-015.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"575\" height=\"383\" srcset=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-015.jpg 639w, http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-015-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a>Meredith had a hard time.\u00a0 She ALL-Most got a whole in one.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-022.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2677\" title=\"Happy Birthday to ME 022\" src=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-022.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"383\" srcset=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-022.jpg 640w, http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-022-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/a>Then her ball got stuck under an obstacle. :)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-031.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2678\" title=\"Happy Birthday to ME 031\" src=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-031.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"575\" height=\"383\" srcset=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-031.jpg 639w, http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-031-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a>Love you, Mere!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-030.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2679\" title=\"Happy Birthday to ME 030\" src=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-030.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"575\" height=\"383\" srcset=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-030.jpg 639w, http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-030-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a>Beautiful Dominique and her sweet hubby, Jeff.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-023.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2680\" title=\"Happy Birthday to ME 023\" src=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-023.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"576\" height=\"383\" srcset=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-023.jpg 640w, http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-023-300x199.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 576px) 100vw, 576px\" \/><\/a>I&#8217;m sure I&#8217;m giving Brad some amazing pointers in this pic!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-029.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2681\" title=\"Happy Birthday to ME 029\" src=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-029.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"575\" height=\"383\" srcset=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-029.jpg 639w, http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-029-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a>Thanks to Jeff and Brad for a wonderful night out for our birthdays! Thank you, Dominique for being a precious friend!\u00a0 Happy 29th (wink, wink) Birthday!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-0341.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2682\" title=\"Happy Birthday to ME 034\" src=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-0341.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"575\" height=\"383\" srcset=\"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-0341.jpg 639w, http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/07\/Happy-Birthday-to-ME-0341-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 575px) 100vw, 575px\" \/><\/a>Thank you babe, for the massage and the great game of Putt-Putt!\u00a0 I love you!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong>&#8220;He who walks with the wise, grows wise&#8221; -Proverbs 13:20<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>.<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week I celebrated&#8230;a birthday.\u00a0 It hurts to admit it, but I guess with 3.5 kids I&#8217;m hardly 23 anymore.\u00a0 I&#8217;m now 30-3!\u00a0 I still feel like I could jump back into college (except for the 3.5 kids thing) and I have to say I do love my crazy, wonderful life&#8230;even if it does mean [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2674,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2672"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2686,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672\/revisions\/2686"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2674"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/therealhousewife.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}