30 has Started Off Well

Saturday I turned 30.
Really? I am 30?! Saying it & seeing it in print feel odd. But not a bad odd.

The day was wonderful. My father-in-law came super early to pick up the boys (as in he was at our house at 7:45 in the morning! And they live an hour away!). They were beyond excited and ready to leave Pat & I. They stayed the night with Pat's parents, and apparently didn't miss us too much.

Shortly after the boys left with Buppa, Pat & I hit the road. We traveled the Ohio Turnpike and went to Pittsburgh, a city where we have many fond memories from our college and dating days.

The weather wasn't nice.

Cold, rainy, windy...but we had NO KIDS! We talked in the car without interruption (even though after a bit, we missed those interruptions;). It's amazing how little food & drink you bring in the car with you when you have no kids. And how making it to the potty isn't as big a deal.

We drove straight to the Strip District downtown Pittsburgh, arriving in time for lunch at Primanti Brothers. I do believe it's one of the world's thickest sandwiches.

Your mouth gets a workout just eating it! It was fun. We ate at the original, ordering the original sandwich, too. (in case you're unfamiliar, Primanti Brothers is famous for the area, having been featured on the Food Network and Travel Channel).

We drove around downtown Pittsburgh, finding the places where we used to go, reminiscing, seeing how it's all changed. Carson Street looked much the same, all the yellow bridges did, too. Driving through the tunnel was great...so many memories.

We headed to Robinson Township and found a place to stay-Springhill Suites. It was right in the middle of everything-shopping, restaurants, and my personal highlight-Half Price Books. Why don't we have one of those around us?
We checked in and enjoyed going to the bookstore, picking up surprises for the boys. I was super excited to find ONE copy left of Boys Should Be Boys, excellent condition, and only $7.98! I snatched that up for myself. We bought Magic Treehouse books for Aidan, and a gigantic school bus puzzle for Brennan.

Traffic there was crazy--worse than Greenville's Woodruff Rd area during Christmastime.
I was craving Mexican for dinner, and knew I wanted a daquiri. So we opted for Don Pablo's for dinner. It was delicious. I had my strawberry daquiris, bean dip, and steak fajitas. SOOOO yummy.

The weather wasn't getting much better, and we were kind of tired (must be that old age of 30;), so we were in for the night. It was nice to have some time just the two of us. Long overdue!

Sunday we drove home via Steubenville, the town where we went to college.
The place where we met. :) It's been since October 2003 since we last saw the campus (driving to John & Erin's wedding!), and WOW has it changed! Sure looks like some alumni are making nice donations.

Our weekend concluded with our niece's 4th birthday party in Michigan. We also got to meet our new niece, Mackenzie. She's just precious!
It was a great weekend.

If my 30's have started off this well, I can only count on it being a good decade.

*I had more pictures to include, but blogger's upload kept failing. Boo to blogger*

Why I Love Him

My husband can be really great. I know-it's easy to think "gag me", right? I'm not too into the mushy talk, either, but it's true. In most cases, my husband is more patient, more calm, more creative...and other "mores", I am sure. He is an incredible father and husband. I actually mean it, too. All the qualities you'd write down on a list for a husband & father-he's got 'em. I know he doesn't walk on water, but he does what he does well.

We don't get out much just the two of us. Most of the time we're ok with that. Shoot, even if we knew of a sitter around here, the cost to go out after paying money out for the sitter would feel like a burden.
Every once in a while, though, we can tell we need a date. You know, that age-old ritual of actually having a conversation with each other, alone, minus the interruptions of 2 & 3-feet mini people. Those dates are good to remind you why you fell in love with this person to begin with.

So the other night I was given a note that asked me if I'd go on a date.

Let me interject here with a description of a date I'd choose. If up to me, it's always dinner & a movie. And that is fine and fun, but requires leaving the house. And finding a sitter. And paying money out. Add that all up, and you have three things we didn't want to do, nor should.
Unlike my husband, I am terrible at coming up with in-house dates.

This is why I love him.

The other night we got the boys to bed, and then he told me to leave the room while he got our date ready. Fighting my curious urge to peek, I left the room for him to set up. A few minutes later he knocks on the door, inviting me to our date. He escorts me into the living room, and it was so stinking cute. Mr. Man here created a Starbucks of our very own, complete with freshly brewed flavored-coffee, biscotti, muffins, candles, new trendy coffee mugs, music...everything. It was so cute and sweet! He transformed the room, and it really felt like we were in another place. No kids. No phone. No tv. Just the two of us, on our Starbucks-date, drinking yummy coffee with biscotti, at home. All because of him.Had it been up to me, we probably would have played some cards, then rented a movie with a frozen pizza or something. He is clever and fun, though.
This is why I love him. It was so sweet and fun. Date night is good.