A Year Older

As mentioned in previous posts I love birthdays. However, I have always regarded mine as different. I think it was when I turned 25 that I started to have those scary thoughts of "I'm getting older". In many regards I am not where I thought I would be and have yet to accomplish much of what I would like. However, in my 28 years I have experienced, grown, laughed, cried, and made some pretty incredible memories. So in the style that is very much me, here is a list of the 28 most important/proudest/happiest moments of my life so far (in no particular order)

1. When I graduated from college (both MBA & BS)
2. The day I said "I do" to my best friend Bret
3. The day Emily was born
4. The day Palmer was born
5. When Bret took his oath to become a doctor
6. The day Bret asked me to marry him
7. When we bought our first house
8. When I found out I was pregnant with Palmer
9. Bret, Emily, Palmer, and I went to the beach just the four of us and spent the day running through the waves and playing in the sand
10. When we found out Palmer was a boy in our first sonogram
11. Emily's first dance recital
12. the father daughter dance at my wedding...the first and probably only time I danced with my dad
13. My 18th birthday when I got my purple neon
14. When I got hired at WSU over an internal candidate that was probably more qualified
15. When we took our kids to Disney World and they met their hero's
16. I broke into semifinals at the national debate tournament and got a metal
17. Qualifying for nationals in student congress my senior year
18. When my girlfriends and I went out and got so drunk our husbands had to come pick us up
19. When we rushed the Kstate football field b/c we beat Nebraska for the first time in a long time
20.When I realized how much Bret loved me b/c he was willing to give up everything to go back to KS so that I would be happy
21. The first time each of my children told me they loved me on their own not because I said it first or they were coaxed too...but b/c they knew what it meant and that they felt that way towards me..their mom
22. When I realized that if I stopped fighting God's plan and started to embrace it...the load really did lighten
23. When my sister and I stopped fighting and resenting each other and became best friends
24. Watching Bret try and make my birthday special each year (this year he and Emily made an angel food cake)
25. Buying Bret a surprise truck for med school graduation and seeing his reaction
26. Meeting each of my close girlfriends
27. The day my grandmother held Emily for the first time and cried tears of joy
28. The day I over heard Emily telling her friends that her mom was "the best cooker ever"