My husband Kenny turned 30 today, which makes me very proud. I mean, how many guys can turn 30 years old and still have so much Awesome? Very few, which makes me glad again for how lucky I am to be his. We spent the remarkably glorious day watching a movie at Bridgeport Theater, eating Korean food outdoors, and cruising around in search of tactical gear and cheesecake (what a combination, eh?), then hit the town at night for some serious dining with my folks at The Claim Jumper. We first went to this restaurant for our "rehearsal" dinner the night before our wedding, right after it first opened. Like then, the service and savories were outstanding. We all proclaimed ourselves too full from dinner to have our cheesecake, thus sparing our tummies the slices of deliciousness that will just have to wait until tomorrow. Cards and presents followed, then a later-than-usual bedtime for the Birthday Guy (after nine o' clock - what a party animal!) and more frivolity to follow. Tomorrow, cheesecake and birthday candles, then Saturday we are going to the University of Portland vs. BYU game to cheer on our Cougars for both Ken's and my mom's birthdays.
As Kenny mused today, 20 - 30 years old has been ten years of so much change and adventure: moving away from home to attend school all the way across the U.S., receiving his endowment and serving a mission for the LDS Church on the west coast, getting married, graduating college, and then moving "all over." "Mostly good changes?" I asked, thinking about all the whirlwind adventures, rapid-pace changes, and head-turning changes I experienced from age 20 all the way to age thir-HEY! Woah, woah, WOAH! I'm twenty-nine. Don't get all carried away there! I've got time left to not have a three in my age. The last time I had a three in my age freaking rocked (I came back to BYU from my mission, got pretty darn good grades, wrote to Kenny on his mission, eagerly awaited all his letters, and went to I.t.a.l.y., the most magical place on earth!). Hmm, maybe the next time I have a three in my age will rock, too. Let's toast to that! And making that true for my sweetie, too! (Kenny said yes, by the way. Just about all good changes.)
At any rate, no matter what the unknown, uncertain future holds, I am so glad to have shared just over nine years with the incredible guy whose birthday I helped celebrate today. I met Ken in January 2003, a month before he turned 21. I made him his twenty-first birthday cake, a lemon cake that turned out way better than several vanilla cakes I have attempted since. (No wonder he likes his birthday treats from The Cheesecake Factory so much!) We dated in the giddy, splashy spring months of BYU Winter Semester and Spring Term, broke up during the summer, and Ken bid me what I felt was a heart-wrenching goodbye as I left for a mission in a bleak January of 2004. But he followed me still, and despite my silliness and willful heart, I got the chance to retrace some poorly-trodden steps and find my way back to him. Despite twists, turns, and continents apart, we arrived together in New York in the late summer of 2006 and never said good-bye again. "Good night" is a totally different story.
So is "Stop snoring." But that's okay - I don't really mind saying that one!
I love you, sweetie! The happiest of birthdays to you, Kenny, and may these next ten years bring even more wonderful adventures than the last ten have!
Love,
KT
Happy birthday to Ken!
Light it up!
This greeted him at breakfast:
Why we didn't have room for cheesecake:
But the nice waiter brought a red velvet cupcake - how cool is that!
6 comments:
I like the pair of giant red balloons and the red firecracker awaiting you at breakfast, Kenny--birthday innuendo! Happy 30th birthday to you! Birthday wishes from my entourage will soon appear on the blog (once technical difficulties have been overcome)!
I had to giggle while taking pics of the balloons. There probably should have been three. At least they weren't blue, eh?
looks like a fun birthday!
It's so weird that you are turning 30 this year. We are the same age and I am NOWHERE near 30. Strange. :)
Actually, Miss Meredith, I'm turning 28. And then next year, I'm planning on turning 27! So hah. You're invited to party with me!
OOOHHH, I like your plan better than mine. I said this is my first anniversary of being 29. People who are 30 always seemed so old when we were younger. I just have a hard time believing that it will be me. You know, in ten years or so.
Ken - Happy Birthday! And remember - if you don't behave, I am taking you kayak fishing...
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