We turned 30!

Despite my husband's emphasis on my turning 30, he actually turned 30 also this year, and only A FEW weeks after I did.

For my birthday:

Aaron tried to surprise with an early birthday present of stand up paddle boarding (which I've been wanting to do since the first time I heard about it), but the people he tried to arrange it with, never got back to him.  So we went to a horse race instead (unfortunately we lost those pictures in the water that destroyed Aaron's computer back in April.

We also stayed at one of the nicest hotels in the city....which was super nice (tv in English!!) until we woke up the next morning with Aaron's clothes soaked through because of a leak in the ceiling.

The night before that, though, we enjoyed a walk by the river, eating at one of my favorite restaurants, and having an Arrested Development marathon (since the new season had just been released).

the last picture of me in my twenties

In between my birthday and Aaron's birthday we went home to go to Isaac and Caroline's wedding!

One of our friends blessed us with buddy passes on Delta to fly home, and we ended up getting to sit in Business Elite on the long flight home!!

 In Business Elite, your seats fold down into beds, so I slept longer on that flight than I ever have before.

Thanks Lindsey!!

We came home for these two to get married.  The wedding was beautiful!

And then Aaron worked it out that we actually did get to go SUP, once we got to America.  And I think it was even better than the original plan, because we got to do it with almost all of his siblings.

Classy tanks.....and no Hannah's not really pregnant

And then again later with his parents and Josh!

At home we celebrated both of our birthdays with our families:

At the birthday party with my family it turns out I took more video than pictures...it involved a piñata, how could I not take video of that?

that's me dominating my brother in corn hole

with my grandparents

first time i've ever celebrated a birthday with july birthdays

At the end of our time at home, I surprised Aaron by letting him know that one of the other perks of the buddy passes that we received, was that on our way back to China we were stopping in Japan to hike Mt. Fuji to celebrate his birthday!

Pictures of Japan to come....

Stacy's mom has got it going on (It's true)

Happy Birthday to my beautiful Mom! (Belated post - her birthday was actually Sunday).

so 80's. so cute.

I love you and hope you had a great birthday!

Golden Birthday review

I turned 29 on the 29th of May.


This is the first birthday where I officially feel old - leaving my twenties in just a year.

To kick off the last year in my twenties, we decided to go big.


I woke up on the morning of my birthday to a collapsing tent under the weight of the snow from the storm the night before.  We kicked the snow off, ate breakfast, then set off for climbing a glacier.  It actually wasn't as hardcore as it sounds - I mean I didn't throw up like I did hiking Tiger Leaping Gorge (which according to our friend Jarred whether or not I am throwing up is his new litmus test for if something is hardcore).

We came back to the city a couple of days later, where Aaron and I got caught in a rain storm heading to one of my favorite restaurants to celebrate my birthday.....only to get there and discover it was closed.....so we had McDonald's for dinner instead.


The next night Aaron took me out on a date to the nice Italian restaurant he took me to for our anniversary.

AND then the next night he surprised me by taking me to the previously closed restaurant for a surprise dinner with some local friends.

It was a good birthday.  I think it's going to be a good year.

the year of the peace sign.

The invitation to Aaron's party

Every year I really look forward to Aaron's birthday. It's really fun to think of things that he loves and surprise him with them on his birthday. This year for his birthday, I decided that I wanted to get him a grill....then Aaron made it his quest for the summer to learn how to make North Carolina barbecue, making the grill the perfect gift, so that he could learn to smoke a boston butt on a charcoal grill. Family helped by ordering him a boston butt, grill accessories, and surprised him with a sling box so that he won't have to miss a single Carolina basketball game next year. We spent the day after his birthday preparing pulled pork, baked beans, coleslaw, hushpuppies, and sweet tea for a pig pickin' in honor of his birthday. Here are pictures from one of my favorite days of the year.

Start of the day

His request - chicken biscuits at a local western restaurant for breakfast 

1st gift - hickory chips

3rd gift - the grill to cook his 2nd gift, the boston butt, on

putting the grill together

"butts rubbed nightly" - that's the slogan from one of my favorite barbecue places
and happens to describe what's going on in this picture.

candid peace sign while eating dinner at our favorite japanese restaurant

mochi - a newly discovered love of mine and an ole favorite of Aaron's

starting the charcoal.  i love him and that peace sign...ridiculous.

waiting on the meat, and getting the house ready

finished product

the spread

enjoying sportscenter on the slingbox after the festivities