30 for 30

I turned 30 on Sunday, and it hit me Sunday night -- I will never be in my twenties again! Ah! That's a bit depressing, but then I made myself turn towards the brighter side and get excited about the years to come.

Thirty years is a long time. Think about it. As a kid, did you ever think you'd be thirty? As a teenager even?
Here are thirty of my most "vivid" life memories (in no particular order):

1. Making peanut butter fudge for elementary school bazaars.
2. Going to early mass with my dad and grabbing donuts afterwards.
3. Playing "same shirts" with my little brother.
4. State runner-up Soccer at VCHS
5. Singing "God Bless the USA" with my Pitos
6. Decorating for Christmas AND Halloween (Jeffie!) on Bittersweet
7. Looking for "Pete's Dragon"
8. Watching Jerry Maguire every night for about a month
9. Reading The Witching Hour in 11th grade (Mrs. Manns is one reason I'm a teacher today)
10. Getting married -- BEST day of my life by far!
11. OSL 2002 Baby
12. Bringing home the Sheriff
13. Learning how to measure flour and brown sugar when baking with Mom. Don't know why this stands out, but it does
14. Participating in summer reading contests at the library.
15. Not wanting to be a Pilgrim girl in 1st grade and then lamenting the day of the celebration that I was an Indian instead. The Pilgrim costumes were much better!
16. Tearing my left ACL. (and a special thanks to Shelly for all the exercise help.)
17. Tearing my right ACL. (Especially screaming at my coach in pain and the car ride back to Tech with my mom)
18. Drives to Houston for visits to see Cowboy while I was still at Tech
19. My first day of teaching. Yikes. Maybe I should block that one.
20. Steubenville South in Alexandria and prayer group at VCHS
21. My mom pulling away after dropping me off at Tech. I was so homesick. (I'm sneaking another one in here--my mom sending me goodies because she knew I was so homesick!)
22. Hanging out on the balcony with Cowboy in all our apartments
23. Baking cookies with Sara and Suzanne. Speaking of Suzanne--this one's big and must be included. Playing dress up and outside in the flowers at her house.
24. My first Valentine's Day with Cowboy
25. Learning that I was accepted into Rice's MAT program. Was at Pat O's at the time. Yes, hangover ensued.
26. Learning to drive a bus
27. Hitting the toll booth the first time I drove my girls on the bus.
28. Coach Cat and Coach Frank and lots of gymnastics!
29. Swim-team summer -- My carpool included the older kids, thus I did my best to complete their practices. Tough!
30. Mardi Gras on dad's shoulders -- Throw Me Somethin' Mister!

So many great memories and experiences that make me, as cliche as it sounds, "me." There are so many more I could include