So Saturday August 3rd, hubby and I took off for St. Louis for vacation. It was a much needed vacation for the both of us. We got in late Saturday night so we checked into the hotel and then jumped on the Around Me app to see what restaurants were within walking distance.
One of the first ones that popped up and one we saw when we were checking in happened to be TIGÍN Irish Pub & Restaurant that was in our hotel. We’d never eaten at an Irish food restaurant so we thought we’d give it a go.
You could enter through the outside, or through the hotel. When we entered through the hotel side, we wound up walking through someone’s party I guess because they had someone on a microphone that announced us and the other 2 groups of people who walked in. It was a bit embarrassing in my opinion….
I’ll be the first to tell you, I was totally dreading my 30th birthday. One thing about it though, it seems like everyone has told me that my 30’s will be way better, so I’m totally looking forward to that. There is quite a bit that happened good in my 20’s that my 30’s will have to compete with. But enough of thinking that way, let’s move back to my actual birthday. That and I finally found the photos from my birthday… Minor detail!
Tbug and I woke up that Tuesday morning and it was raining. We’d been debating if we’d like to go to Silver Dollar City or not. Around 9am we decided we’d at least head to Springfield (30 minutes from SDC) and go to the movies if nothing else. Once we got to Springfield, it was cloudy but dry so we decided that we’d like to head that way. We ran a few errands, got a late breakfast/early lunch and headed out toward Branson.
We got just outside of Ozark and it started raining. In fact, it rained all the way until we got to the parking lot of SDC and it let up. Heck yeah. Even better was not only was it a Tuesday but the rain kept other people home and we had a blast. We hardly stood in any lines and got to ride a few rides without getting off because no one was waiting.
We left there in time to head back to the house, change clothes and meet up with my parent’s and grandma over at Longhorn Steakhouse for dinner. Now the cool thing is I was born on my grandma’s birthday, so we were there celebrating my birthday as well as hers!
Hubby kept wanting to give me my present early, but I wouldn’t let him. He tried his darndest to confuse me, especially when he told the waiter that he would like what I was getting.
Dinner – a White Cheddar and Bacon stuffed Medium Rare Steak with Steakhouse Mac & Cheese. YUM!
And when they found out it was Grandma & my birthday we both got ice cream plus, they didn’t sing to us. Yey!
Grandma’s 81st birthday and my 30th Birthday.
and my sweet little family on my birthday.
Okay, so the day of my 30th birthday wasn’t toooo shabby at all 🙂
Ah!! It’s morning. What does that mean?!?! Breakfast time!!
Okay, well I wanted to do these in order, but that hasn’t been working to my advantage here lately, so I’m just coming out with it… hubby and I are now Scuba Certified. That means, we can go scuba diving! It all happened the 13th and 14th of July. After we got our certifications, then we were allowed to go out on our own. Oh and just a side note, later that week I went and picked up our cards. Hubby and Pokey were 2 of 7 who were accidentally put in as junior divers. Junior divers are 10-16 years of age, lol. Hubby called and asked how old he needed to be to be a full time diver since he was 30 :).
Here are photos from our first dive. Hopefully you enjoy.
Since you can’t really talk under water, this is the symbol for “I’m ok”
Here we were doing headstands. Now a few weeks prior to all of this I got a huge ear infection so hubby found special diving ear plugs for me. They worked great until that Sunday when I did my headstand. I got a little water in my ear. It only took me about 4 weeks to get over the ear infection. It sucked!
I finally came up because other students needed my gear, while hubby and JT went down for a dive. So I was sitting around yacking with everyone when they got the fun idea to write on D the Man’s back in sunscreen 🙂
And mommy Diver Girl taking care of everyone!
With summer drawing to an end, I just wanted to talk about one of my favorite sandwiches to have, especially in the summer months. The classic BLT! Bam!
Start with Bacon. If you’re cooking a bunch of bacon at a time, the easiest way is to place it in a single layer on a cookie sheet or jelly roll sheet and put it in the oven.
350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes until it is to your desired doneness. (btw, is doneness a word??) (more…)
While Tbug was with us last week we met my parents for lunch. When we left them she and I had a few errands to run and we passed by Deluxe Creamery. I asked her if she was interested in Ice Cream and she told me, “Yes, please.”
Hubby and I have driven by here many times, but usually we’re on a mission when we pass by so we’re never able to stop. I really wanted to try it so when I asked Tbug if she was interested and she told me yes I knew we had to whip it around and stop.
They have at least 16 different flavors of ice cream. If you find one you want to try, they’ll give you a sample so that you can get the best one for you.
Top 5 Posts of the Week
Pioneer Woman’s Sour Cream Noodle Bake
10 Things to Smile About – July – This is a monthly Mem that Emmy Mom puts on. It’s a lot of fun to look back over the fabulous things that happened throughout the month. Hello Baby Nicole.
Incredible Pizza – Springfield, MO
I’d like to say that I took turning 30 with a grain of salt. Like it didn’t bother me at all. Like it was just another year. Sadly though, if I told you that, I’d be lying. Now, I will admit that I took 29 even worse than I took 30 but 30 hit me really hard. I am no longer in my 20’s which scares the crap out of me. I’ve heard a lot of people say that 30 rocks and it’s much better than 20 even thought about being, but still, there is that 3 in front of my age instead of a 2.
My 20’s brought some highlights and they brought some lowlights. I guess truthfully that’s to be expected with any age, right? Please tell me I’m not completely batty with this thought.
Let’s focus on the highlights first:
And there was sooooooo much more, these are just some of the highlights.
There were lowlights too. You know with the good comes the bad and the ugly.
It’s crazy to look back and see just what 10 years has done to me and my life. What a difference 10 years can make. There are a lot of times I wish I’d have made different choices. Gone a different path or a different road, but then where would I be today? I may not even be the same person. I know it sucks in a way to be glad for all the pain and misery but there were a TON of joyous moments in there as well. That’s what we need to focus on here. Like I said, all of this has shaped and molded me into the person I am today.
So this is what was on my mind. Sorry, I just had to share. I’ll leave you with a few photos that were me over the last 10 years. Here’s to my next 10, 15, 20 and even 30 years!
