RIP Jeep. Welcome to the Family Toyota

So... I know I have been a little quiet these past few weeks. It's not that I haven't wanted to write; in fact all I really would prefer to do right now is to write.  Writing would help me process so much of what is going on in this crazy brain of mine.    A LOT has happened since I've turned 29, but I'll ease you into it slowly.

Thank you all for the warm wishes on turning 29.  It was a good birthday.  Very good birthday!  My birthday girl's night out was a success.  (as you can see from this post)  Then my husband got his sister to take the boys over night the next day and we had a great evening together.

My husband and I are huge movie buffs so we did a double feature and saw "Planet of the Apes" and then saw "The Help" right after that.  Both movies were amazing.  Believe it or not, I think Planet of the Apes was my favorite.  It was such a phenomenal movie.  Cried a bunch and CAN NOT wait to see what they do with the next one.  The Help was pretty awesome too.  My BFF came with us to that one.  I was so excited she could come out with us.  I cried a lot in that movie as well, and really would recommend both those movies to anyone.  Jesse and I then went out to get a bite to eat and then went back home to a quiet house.  It was a fantastic week to say the least. 

However my birthday DAY was uneventful besides the visit from my Bestie and SIL with some pretty flowers and a really yummy chocolate cake.  Oh yea.... and the call from my father saying that he had just gotten into a car accident with my car.

Thankfully he was not hurt and in no way was I mad at all that it happened.  Accidents happen, right?!  He was so upset with himself, I felt more bad for him then my car because he thought he had ruined my birthday.  Far from it!  He was safe, no one was hurt... a car is a car, it can be fixed or replaced.

When he got home all you could see was damage to my back passenger side door.  It really didn't look terrible.  The worst I thought it would be was replacing both doors.

After a week of not knowing what was happening with my car and getting no answers, the place supposedly fixing my car finally called me to tell me that they were up to $7500 of damages and the insurance company was going to call it a loss.  This was a shot out of left field.  Didn't expect that to be the case at all.  I learned a lot of lessons that week.  1.  Don't have a $1000 deductible.  2. ALWAYS have car rental on your policy because it SUCKS being stuck at home with no car.  3.  Losing and finding a replacement car in a matter of weeks takes a lot of time and hard work.  I can feel the stress building up in my back.   

Thankfully a few months back Jesse and I threw around the option of trading in my Jeep for a minivan, so I had already done a lot of research on minivans and I knew what I wanted.  I just needed to find the best deal for our pocket.  We got some money back from the insurance company (more than I expected to get) and my parents paid for the deductible so we could put a good amount down.  After all the searching and looking I found a great deal on a 2004 Toyota Sienna. Everything I wanted!  Perfect for a growing family.

I have to say that I'm pretty darn proud of myself  ~ Last week my husband was SWAMPED with work.  Crazier than normal with work issues so most of the time I was on my own to find us a car.  I did all the work, even test drove cars all by myself.  When I found the one we wanted, I even negotiated by myself and get this.... I got him to come down $2000!!!!  I learned a lot through this process.  I learned I am smarter and tougher than I look.  I knew what I was talking about when I went in there and most of the car guys were impressed with the questions I asked.  I didn't just find a pretty car and say "I want this."  I looked at a lot of cars, a lot of deals and I feel that I got a great one.

And on Saturday, we finally had a car!  We bought the best car for our family and I'm thrilled that I put so much work into finding it.  It makes driving it that much better, knowing all the hard work I put into getting it.  To some a car is just a car, but for me it's something more.  I plan on having this car for a long time. It's the car I will take my kids to school in and pick them up in.  It's the car we will take many memorable family vacations in.  This car is something that will keep my family safe when driving... and I feel safe in it.

What do you think?!

So that is where I have been for the past two weeks.  I have hardly had time to even process all of this, but wanted to let you all know where I have been.  Forgive me for being so behind.  I even missed blog posts two of my friends wrote about me on my birthday and didn't see them until a week later.  FAIL! I will make some time today to catch up on all your blogs.  Miss reading all of them and excited to have a little more time in my day now.  Hope you all have been doing well!  

Last Year In My 20’s

Today, I turn 29. 

Why does that sound so old?! 

I know it’s still young and I’ve been told that your 30’s are pretty remarkable. I guess I’m just wondering where my 20’s went! However, every birthday I have had for the past few years I have loathed. So this year I took a new outlook on turning 29. I’m going to celebrate the last year of being in my 20’s. Why not?! I could be depressed and claim I’m going to die soon… but the bottom line is that I’m not and I have had a pretty fantastic life up until now. So I want to celebrate that and make my last year of being in my 20’s that much more incredible. 

I started off the celebrating by going out with my best girls on Friday night - hanging out with the ladies who have been there through all of my 20’s and have spoken so much over my life in the past 10 years. It was wonderful. I wanted a night of dancing and fun and that’s exactly what we did. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. Thanks to my sister-in-love, Katie who grabbed my camera and documented what she could of the night!

Started off the night with some drinks then went to one of my favorite spots in West Chester, Landmark and had a fantastic dinner. 

 We then wanted to get some picture of the group, but the restaurant was so dark so we ended up taking our food back to our cars and while we were there Katie just started snapping away. (i.e that’s why most of our pictures are taken in a parking garage.) My friend Cara was ready to dance and apparently so was this random stranger … so they decided they would bust a move out there in the open with absolutely no music. It was hysterical. 

 I then had a breakdown. (You see... you can’t do anything with me without having me go all hormonal on your butt). Don’t get me started… I’m an emotional freaking roller coaster and my poor friends had to deal with it. I felt SO stupid! However, they recovered my “falling apart self” pretty quickly by loving on me and then making me take silly pictures. I got a picture with each of the girls…

 And then decided I was ready to hit the dance floor. 

 However, we didn’t do much dancing. We had a few drinks, took a few more pictures and then around 12 I kind of pooped out. CAN YOU SAY OLD?!?! Honestly, it just showed me that I would much rather go to one of my good friend’s house; dance it up there with people I know (instead of feeling like I was a piece of meat, because frankly I'm too old for that) and hanging out with friends. BUT… I did like dressing up. I think all girls like to dress up, so that was pretty awesome! 

This has gotten to be too long, so I’ll tell you about the rest of my weekend later this week. 

I did however want to say my 20’s have been pretty epic. I got married to the love of my life, bought our first house together, and made a family. I had two amazing little boys who light up my life and make being a mommy the most amazing thing ever. I have had the most amazing friends and family to make my 20’s that much more memorable! I went on so many wonderful trips with my bestie’s and had opportunities I never thought I would have by working at my last job. All in all; my 20’s have been amazing. I couldn’t be any more thankful and I’m hoping that this year will be just as awesome, if not better. 

Here’s to having the best year of my life!

Two More Years Till I'm 30!

Yesterday I turned 28... wow, two more years till I'm 30! That's a scary thought! I'm not a girl who normally likes my birthday. but these past few years have gotten a ton better. This year was special because I had practicly a whole weekend with just me and my hubby! We had so much fun together, it was like we were dating all over again. No kids, just me and him out on the town doing.... whatever we wanted!

Friday night, he had his sister take the boys over night. I was a little worried for a while because I didn't know how Ian would be. I had a moment over "mommy guilt" because I didn't want my kids to be a burden on anyone. But we dropped them off and headed out for a fabulous evening of dinner and a movie! Then (my favorite part) went home to house with NO KIDS! We were do excited to sleep in and just be with one another.

Unfortunately, Jesse had work the next day so we had a quick breakfast together and then I went and picked up the kids. It was good to see my boys and give them a hug... I took them home, spend some time with them and then packed them up to go to their next destination for the weekend. My good friend Cara wanted to take them and was super excited about it. Last time she had an infant was 8 years ago, so it was nice to have a little one around (her words... not mine).

After I dropped my boys off I needed to wait until Jess got off work, so I took the gift certificate that I got for my birthday and went SHOPPING! LOVE shopping without kids... But didn't stop me from spending a little of that gift card on my boys... I mean look at these, I could resist!

Then Jesse and I headed into West Chester for the night. We had a great time and my cousin Jeremiah even joined us for a bit and bought a round of drinks! Yep... not going to say no to that!Sunday, my actual birthday day was very low key. Church, volleyball practice (which I FAILED miserably at) and then ate a quiet dinner at home. Not much going on but got a ton of love from Facebook, texts and even got a phone call from my bestie in Africa. That really made my day! I also got my traditional poem that my Sis-in-love writes me every year, that always blesses my socks off.
Needless to say, I had a pretty darn good birthday and God has blessed me so much!! I am a lucky girl!! Thanks to all that made my day so very special!