34 & Feelin' Fabulous

Today it is my birthday and I sing to let you know, that I will be Queen for the WEEK, whatever I say goes!!

Yeah, I totally stole that line from Barbie and the 12 Dancing Princesses.  I sing it to my girls every year on their birthdays, but today I will sing it to myself.  Hopefully this won't make me seem self-absorbed or self-centered, but I feel like I never toot my own horn and today I feel like tootin' it!!

I am 34 years old today and I am loving every second of it.  Nothing miraculous has happened today.  Nothing has changed since yesterday.  I've talk to some amazing friends on the phone, received some early morning texts, and through the social network power of Face book, I 've been made feel so special.  All of this is fabulous.  I am having dinner tonight with my family, dinner tomorrow night just me & my hubby (I think), and a lunch with the most amazing women in my life on Thursday.    Thursday night I get to watch on television WSU vs UW in the PAC 10 basketball tournament in LA that my sister just happens to be cheering at.  How cool is that?! 

Does it get much better than this?  That's what I realized when I woke up this morning.  Life is good.  All previous birthdays have led me to this one today and I am SO happy.  I have the best husband ever, really great kids and friends that keep me feeling like I'm 18 not 34.  I don't know what I thought 34 would feel like,but it feels good.  I'm thankful to all those individuals who've help mold me to this 34 year old woman that I am today.  I like me and I like where I am in my life.  Here are a few things about me you may not know.  Fun facts and thoughts from the 34 year old me.

• I LOVE chocolate.  Like truly.  I want something chocolate after EVERY meal.  Chocolate in any form.  With or without nuts.  Crunchy or chewy.  Melted or solid.  Milk or dark.  Doesn't matter I love it, I want it.
• I am a sports FAN-atic.  I truly enjoy watching sports on television or in person with my husband.  I love to compete.  I love to see athletes excel at their best.  I hate that there has to be a loser and I always feel bad for the team that doesn't win, but when my team wins its an elated, exuberant feeling.  I love to trash talk, to the television of course and I love to yell at the refs/umps when they get a call wrong.
• I love music.  ALL music.  From Garth brooks and Taylor Swift to Black Eyed Peas and Chris Brown.  Broadway hits and Michael Buble.  Ingrid Michelson and Metallica.  Mercy River and Mindy Gledhill.  I love a good Tejano Cumbia or a country line dance.  Music and dancing make me happy.  I am not even ashamed to admit that I still love to listen to music from the 80's and 90's like, oh, I don't know, The New Kids on the Block.  Yeah, I said it.  You read that right.  I'm still a block head after all these years and am ubber excited about my VIP & Meet-n-Greet passes that my cousin and I scored for their concert coming in July.  Don't judge me and don't hate on me.  You know you are jealous.  Did I mention the Back Street Boys will be there, too?  Yeah, you're jealous.
• We belong.  Last month as we sat in Stake conference with the rest of the Pasco Stake awaiting the changes we were about to receive I felt pure excitement.  As our new stake boundaries were announced and I learned that we were a part of the new Pasco North Stake, I had a calm, comforting feeling come over me.  I looked at Kevin and while fighting back tears I said to him, "This is where we are suppose to be.  I know it.  I fee it."  He did too.  He smiled and nodded.  That was a huge testimony to me.  For so many months we felt displaced and like we were wandering.  We found our permanent new ward boundaries and our new home in the Pasco North Stake and we couldn't be happier.  We are surrounded by so many friends that we love and even those friends who aren't in our new stake are just across the freeway.  We are settling in to our new callings and we feel like we are home again.  Like we belong.
• I have become a Cake Boss and Kitchen Boss junkie.  I LOVE Buddy Velastro.  I watch every episode.  Even it its one Ive already seen, I'll watch it anyway.  I want him to make be a cake, Hoboken style baby!!  I tried some of his recipes from Kitchen Boss and they are all fabulous.  Kevin did not complain one bit when I made chicken cutlets over spaghetti with Buddy's Sunday gravy (marinara/spaghetti sauce).  It. Was. D. Licious.  I need to go to New Jersey and visit Carlos' Bakery.
• I love musicals and plays.  I've only been to a few in person and they were magnificent.  I dream of watching some shows on Broadway some day.  Les Mis, Phantom, Lion King, Chicago, Wicked.  Oh to watch them all live.  It seems like every time a show has come close to me I have not been able to attend for one reason or another.  I wish I had the talent to be in a show.  How fun would that be?  They lucky thing for me is that as much as I love watching sports, Kevin enjoys watching musicals with me.  Hopefully very soon we get to go watch a show in person together. 

Wow, look at that list of completely random stuff.  That's me.  Well, some of me.  Hmmm.... I wonder what the next 34 years has in store?  Bring it on.