Ramble Ramble

Today is my 30th birthday!

It definitely will be a low-key affair today. No big blow out parties for me to mark a new decade—heck, I don’t even get to have a drink to celebrate! Instead, I’m getting a manicure and a pedicure, going to have a nice dinner, and have been offered baked goods to round out my day. Oh, and I got to sleep in this morning (meaning, both the cat and the kid allowed me to sleep instead of their normal disco on and in my belly at 6:30am)! It may not be a big affair, but seems like the perfect way to usher in my 30’s.

It’s weird to me that I’m 30. Not bad–I’ve never really gotten caught up in the number–more just weird. Since I still feel at times like I’m the same person I was at 16, it’s sometimes hard to recognize that I’m definitely getting older. Of course, other days I’d swear I was closer to 45 than my actual age. Maybe that’s why I’ve never really cared about the number–I’ve always sort of acted older than my age, and I sort of feel like I’m finally catching up to myself.  Whatever the case, I think my 30’s are going to be good to me (not that my 20’s weren’t). Here’s hoping!

I’m excited to see what the next decade of my life looks like. When I turned 20, I would never have guessed that I’d move to New York, or marry the guy I was dating at the time, or make myself a decent career in marketing of all things. So I can’t wait to see what my 30’s bring me–what changes in my life are yet to come. It’s exciting to think about!

So bring on the 30’s–let’s see what’s to come.

Today marks the first birthday of my baby blog!

Woohoo!!

A year ago I wrote this post announcing that I was joining all the cool kids and starting a public blog. I think my husband might have been the only person who read that first post that first day, but it didn’t matter–I needed this place, as an outlet for me. I wanted a place for my burgeoning interest in photography, and for a place away from the spotlight that shines on my husband (fantastic though he may be). I didn’t know if I would ever have any readers, or ever get a comment, or ever do anything more than just ramble away into the void, but I wanted a place of my own.

A year later, I can say honestly that I love this place. I know I’m not here as frequently anymore, but I would no more give up this blog at this point than walk away from my husband or my job. I’ve “met” some amazing people through this weird little place. I’ve been given comfort and support and laughter and encouragement. Even though Ramble Ramble has morphed in ways I would never have expected a year ago, I’m so thankful that I have this little corner of the web to call my own. And I’m so thankful for all of you who I’ve met along the way.

So, in the spirit of getting another year older, lets look back on the year that just passed with some of my most viewed posts and a few that are just my favorites!

• 14 songs that move me
• A few of my favorite things
• Before we all burn
• More evidence of my infatuation with the macro setting
• 6 surprising things about pregnancy
• Age is one ugly bitch
• Lessons learned
• Crazy neighbors

My birthday ended up being both really awesome, and totally sucky. Bad news first: I ended up with a pretty wicked toothache, so I ended my day with a hydrocodone and bed. Wait, I guess that finished the day off pretty well actually. The toothache bit sucked though, pretty much rendering me grouchy and pissy by the time the day wore down.

Now the good news: After a happy dinner at Chic-fil-A, and some mild grouchiness by me, I came home to something completely undeserved and awesome. My hubby totally rocked in the gift department, going way above and beyond what he should have. Meet my new friend:

Not what, 2 days ago I posted about learning photography and my crappy point and shoot and my dreaming of an unaffordable new camera? And then, bam, as a consolation prize for being older than him, N.C. gives me this little guy. See what whining on the internet will get you?

Seriously though–N.C. knows that I’ve been slowly getting more and more into photography, and more and more frustrated with our little camera. He worked with a photographer friend of ours to pick out a “next step” camera that would let me learn, give me more options, and give me a good basic grounding, but wasn’t quite as crazy expensive, expansive, or overwhelming as the DSLR’s I’ve been coveting. And honestly, I don’t know enough about the medium to justify a DSLR. Hell, I think this camera is going to be challenging enough to learn and more expensive than I think my birthday (or our finances) warrants.

But I’m sure as hell not giving it back.

I have about 5 posts waiting in the wings, but they’re all very introspective, or moody, or melancholy (oooh, aren’t you all excited now?). But today is my birthday, so damnit we’re going to be chipper around here instead!

Everyone keeps asking what I’m doing for my birthday, which honestly has flummoxed me this year. It’s a rather non-numbered birthday, on a Tuesday. I’ve never been a big party type person, nor am I a “get your drinks on” bar kinda person, so birthdays for me are generally a small group of folks going to dinner…maybe something like a movie or mini-golf. But this year, I’m rather…eh, about the whole thing.

It’s not the birthday itself–I don’t really have any problem with getting older. I’ve always been a bit of an older soul, so I feel like my body is finally catching up to where my personality has been. Plus, I’m a firm believer that you’re only as old as you act. Because of this, my mom, a total spit-fire of a woman, has been younger than me for years!

It’s really just the celebration. Look, we went to the beach on Friday and had a barbecue at the house on Saturday, neither of which were my birthday or specifically for my birthday, true. But it’s close enough, yeah?

So tonight, in honor of my birthday, I fully expect that I will go home, put on my jammies, make myself a beer (one day I’ll share my recipe for the yummiest way to drink Corona), and maybe treat myself by catching up on Mad Men. And though a lot of folks might not agree, I really would call that a fabulous birthday.