{moments}

Do you ever stop in the middle of your day and just look around? Do you immerse yourself in the beauty of any given moment? Do you see the hand of God in all that surrounds you? On occasion, I do. I've vowed that I will make more occasions to do so. To try and live in each second. To embrace the everyday miracles that swim all around me.

{i survived}

Vegas. My 30th birthday. All of it.

{i'm officially thirty}

And, believe it or not, I'm okay with it!

It has been a wonderful morning. I walked out my front door to a package from my wondreful crew of friends and a huge bouquet of balloons (I LOVE balloons). Then, when I picked up Erin for work, she and Justin presented me with a very large hot pink feather boa, "diamond" tiara, and earrings I have to wear tonight when we go to Vegas. I wore the boa driving to work and it was hilarious watching people 'rubberneck' to look at me. As if my car isn't conspicious enough, now there's a crazy woman wearing a hot pink boa at 7am driving!

At work, I opened the package my very funny mother sent me last week and forbade me to open. I'm pretty sure it was her idea of torturing me. She also sent some cute cards and some serious cash (THANKS 'RENTS)! A co-worker gave me a lunch pail full of my favorite candy, some markers, notepads, and, the best, a pair of red sparkly devils horns. I wonder if they'll clash with the tiara?

All in all it's been a wonderful day. And it's just beginning. Vegas is going to be a riot tonight. Woo-hoo!

{i feel pretty}

Oh so pretty, and witty, and bright...and broke! In the past 7 days I've had a facial, my teeth whitened, done the whole "artifical tanning" thang, had my hair cut and colored, my eyebrows waxed, a manicure and pedicure. Don't think I look any prettier, though. I'm still the same 'ole me.

It's raining. Again. I love it. I woke to thunder and lightning and just wanted to stay under the covers all day to read. It's one of those days. I think, because of all the flooding, I need to invest in a pair of bright yellow rain boots.

I think I've come to terms with 30 and had a kind of epiphany. Tuesday night I finally picked up a book I bought quite a while ago but never read. It's entitled SHE by Kobi Yamada. It's a wonderful little book. There are a couple of quotes that really spoke to me:

She woke up one day and threw away all her excuses.

and

She discovered that she was the one she had been waiting for.

And I realized, in that moment, that I am pretty happy with who I am. I may be turning 30 but so what? Don't they say life begins at 30? Why in the heck am I whining? I should be, and am, grateful for all I have. My family, my friends, my health, a wonderful career and opportunity to get my degree for free, a snazzy little Beetle, a home I have created to be a haven, I live in a free country. I am truly blessed. And that is what I am going to focus on. I'm not a child anymore, nor am I a young girl. I am a woman and I need to accept, and embrace, that. Time waits for no one and I'm through feeling sorry for myself simply because the first number in my age is going to be a three.

{bliss}

Do you know what this is?

It's my very own star! Yep, I now have a star. This is very cool. Thanks H!

{cowgirl up}

Payson rodeo. Saturday night. Aw, the smell of leather and horse manure. Can't beat it.

{one week}

One week from today I will be 30 years old. It sucks.

{clouds}

I love this time of year in Arizona. Monsoon season. I don't like to fly in it, but if I'm on the ground it's okay. I love to put the top down in my car and drive out towards the Superstitions. I simply cannot get enough of the desert right before it rains. The colors amaze me: deep dark blue and earthy red. I'd have to say it's my favorite color comibination.

Last night I just had to pull over on the way home from the grocery store and take these pictures. So incredibly beautiful...I got tears in my eyes. I'm a dork. I know.

{huh}

* Why do employers make employees do self-appraisals? Do they really think we'd bad-mouth ourselves? All I have to do is just copy and paste one phrase over and over..."Practically perfect in every way."

* Woo-hoo. Yellowstone in the fall. Nice. Can't wait for that!

* Two weeks 'til Vegas. Just got these: (It's a goal of mine to dance on a bar before I die)

* I want to go race go-karts. How fun would THAT be?

{tired}

I'm sitting in my office trying so hard not to fall asleep. I've not slept for more than 3-4 hours a night for over a week now... and I'm feeling it. I'm tired to the point of tears.

Last night I just could not go to sleep- my mind was going a million miles a minute. Perhaps that is because I had the need to torture myself and re-read letters from an old crush.

I am stopping on the way home to buy Tylenol PM then taking the phone off the hook tonight. Drastic situations require drastic measures.

{it's a monday}

I. Need. Sleep. Had a fun weeknd in Safford but I'm craving a weekend to myself to clean and 'chill'. I REALLY need to slow down! I've been Little Miss. Social Butterfly this summer and it's starting to wear on me. I've done some incredible things, seen some amazing places, and spent quality time with family and friends. It's been wonderful. But things have slipped through the cracks. My apartment, though clean, is full of clutter. I need to take a weekend to de-clutter and give it a deep cleaning- clean the carpets, wash the window coverings, oil my antique furniture, sort through all my art stuff, etc.

When I checked my e-mail this morning, I had a wonderful surprise. My AMAZING best friend and her husband are taking me to Vegas for my 30th birthday and I received our flight itinerary. So excited to go and spend time with two of my favorite people!

Things to do before I'm 30:

* Lose 10 pounds
* Clean and organize my apartment
* Have a facial (already scheduled the appointment)
* Pay off just one more litty-bitty credit card
* Have the Beetle windows tinted (it's entirely too hot not to have this little luxury)
* Buy a new bookcase (and assemble it...not leave it in the box in my room for a couple of months)

That's a doable list for three weeks, right?

{}

It probably says something profound about me that I adore this picture, but I don't care.

{random stuff}

* I want one of these stamps to personalize the books in my library.
* Just finished TRY by Lily Burana. Good book. Raw and real.
* It's officially my birthday month. Not sure how I feel about this...
* Only 29 more days until I see WICKED.
* I think I might have to buy me this Fossil watch.