David's 30th

My husband reached a milestone this month: On Feb. 24th, he turned 30. I'm delighted that at long last he can stop harassing me for being 30 (nearly 32 now!), because he was comfortably entrenched in his 20s. We are—for the next 8 years—on even ground again.

I couldn't possibly let such a momentous occasion go by without celebrating... once, twice, three times!

Early in the month—the day after our first February blizzard—I (sort of) surprised him with a dinner birthday party at Old Bag of Nails in Westerville. Several friends were able to join us, despite the 8–12 inches of snow we received the night before. Thank you Kristen, Clay, Will, Kristen, Tomasz, and Em for joining us that night. Though I had to spoil the surprise earlier in the day, I know David still enjoyed himself thoroughly (especially when Clay helped him carry on the celebration well into the morning). Thank you, Em, for the pictures!

Will, looking so grown up in his polo shirt!

Em & Kristen J.

Our little family

Last weekend, I pulled off the biggest surprise I've ever attempted: flights to Philly, travel to Lancaster, tickets to the Central Pennsylvania Warrior's Challenge—a mixed martial event—and an overnight stay at a posh Marriott (seriously, this little Marriott in the middle of Amish country was one of the trendiest, nicest Marriott's I've ever stayed in!).

David inadvertently did everything he could to ruin his surprise.

• I snuck behind his back and arranged with his colleagues/boss to get him a half day off on Friday, and then he went and asked for a half day off too!
• I asked his mom to watch Noah overnight and set up a meeting point, and then David called her up and asked her to watch Noah too so that we could have a night out.
• The night before we left, I had hoped to surreptitiously pack and prepare for our trip, and David the evening into family movie night in our bedroom (which made me hopelessly behind schedule Friday morning).
• As I hurried about on Friday morning, he lollygagged his way home, making us a bit tight on our flight departure time.

But, all's well that ends well. Travel delays got us to the fights an hour late, but we were in plenty of time to catch the remaining 10–15 bouts that were left. I admit that I wasn't sure I would get into the action; UFC fights on TV normally leave me a bit queasy. Being there—with the lights and music and action and perhaps a beer or two—can really change one's perspective. It was an utterly manly event, but it was absolutely enjoyable. And I have no doubt in mind that I chose a really, truly cool gift for my husband—a feat I don't usually accomplish.

Gleeful smiles in the airport. Not only are we flying somewhere, we're going to see MMA action!

It's hard to make out in this picture, but there's the octagon cage. We were just six rows back, so we had a great view of the action.

He doesn't look happy, but he is.

And now that a ring girl sat down next to us, his smile reappears.

After two big surprises, David waited anxiously on his real birthday, which fell mid-week, for me to spring something else on him. But, my last celebration included just one small, silly thing: I bought for him his first ever ice cream cake! Can you believe he's never had it?! He even worked at Dairy Queen back in the day, for cryin' out loud.

In our house, Noah gets to blow out the candles... always.

Daddy & Noah

Welcome to the world of 30-somethings, David. I think you'll find it's not so bad after all. And now that you're here, I feel better about it already!