The Bestest Kickball Party Anyone Has Ever Had Sat. July 25, 2009 my life
This is my fiancee, Jeff:
Isn't he cute when he's all aggressive at kickball?
Before I met Jeff and after I realized I might not ever get married, I had this idea that for my 30th birthday, I was going to throw myself this huge fancy party at a hotel down in Laguna Beach like the Ritz or the St. Regis, and I was going to buy a fancy dress and register for kitchen things and other cool stuff you get when you get married.
As things turned out, this will be the year that I get married, and there are so many festivities that go along with that (not to mention expenses that go along as well), that I decided just to skip my 30th birthday and have another one next year :)
Jeff wouldn't have any of it.
He and Victor threw the idea of a kickball party out to me, and I thought it was a fabulous idea! I love anything offbeat, quirky and fun, and this fit the bill on all three counts.
Jeff decided it would only work if everyone went all out, so he got us all uniforms, sweatbands, and eye black so we would look like a professional kickball team. At least four of the guys wore their cleats. Dane Sanders spiked his into my ankle rounding third base. I have a nasty bruise.
Anyway, here is Jeff helping his brother, Michael get his game face on:
Of course I needed to get mine on as well:
As you can see, I can be either nice, or quite intimidating:
Victor was the captain of the other team, the Pink Fluffy Monsters. Here he is reading out the lineup and prepping his starters. Jeff was the captain of our team, and he is rearranging the lineup to stack the top of the order, which gave us the early lead:
The competition between them was fierce, Michael shot this one:
Here's our official scorekeepers, Lindsay & Jana:
The third pregnant one, Candice, decided to go for the win and played:
Here's me about to knock the ball out of the park:
The catch of the day--Jasmine played catcher and more or less just chitchatted with our team through most of the game :) Tom kicked this ball foul, and in a burst of unexpected commitment, Jasmine went running. She actually caught it!! As you can see, everyone was equally surprised:
In the last photo, can't you just hear a stream of Becker's smack talking comments?
After the game, I got to run through the tunnel, since it was my birthday :) Jasmine shot this photo:
The teams. Our team obviously looks more professional. We only didn't win because 4 or 5 guys showed up a bit late and all somehow ended up on the other team.
The other team didn't seem to all get the message that the team photo should be serious:
Seriously, they couldn't even hold their pyramid, how did they win??
A few photos of some of the couples:
We had a great bonfire & cookout after:
This was the best kickball/birthday party ever! We are now practicing twice a week and having monthly rematches :)
It's already July 22 on the East coast where I was born, so I'm considering it my birthday now :)
Today I turn 30.
The truth is, I had a much harder time turning 29, and I've been quite looking forward to my 30th for some time now! I felt like I was just hanging onto the 20's by a string, and now I'm one of the youngest 30's possible, which I feel is a nicer spot to be in.
It is not the only nicer spot I am in.
Last year on my birthday, I NEVER NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS would have thought that I'd be where I am exactly one year later. In the past year, I feel that I've grown up so much as an individual, which oddly does not conflict with my having found the person I'm going to join my life with. Where last year I felt discouraged, out of place, and disrupted, this year I feel so much calmer, more positive, and as content as I'll ever be. I think there will always be a part of me that feels restless, which is the reason I'm always taking on a new project and finding ways to grow my businesses. Getting too content just makes me feel tired and lazy. But I digress.
It seems so strange to me that one year ago I could have felt so differently about life in general. It just goes to show that you never really know what's ahead of you, even when things seem kind of bleak. I wish I'd known that such good things were in store for me--I could have saved myself so much time and frustration if I'd known that things were only temporary. Funny that I couldn't realize that at the time. I guess I'm just much smarter now that I'm 30 :)
I was twittering yesterday (click **HERE** to follow my twitter), about how the eve of my birthday felt like the night before Christmas and needed a snack and a story (and some presents). My mom follows my twitter (so does my dad--they twitter themselves once in awhile and it's really weird), and she wrote out and sent me the story of my birth. I figured that today would be a good day to post it, so here it is--thanks mom!
JESSICA'S BIRTH STORY (as told by her mother, Wendy)
It was the hottest day of the year, July 22, 1979. At that time, we had alternate days to fill up our cars with gas because of the shortage of fuel. Jess' Dad and I always had one car filled with gas so we could get to the hospital on time. And so, on a very hot summer morning, the signs came that it was time to leave for the hospital. Now, for those of you who don't know NYC very well, parking is a challenge. We were able to fine a good parking spot, however it was 3 blocks away from the hospital. Her Dad said I could tough it out because the car would be good there for at least 2 days! Inching my way to the front door of hospital and holding on to parking meters, I finally made it.
Jessica was born at 6:00 in the evening. I remember so well her big blue eys and red hair as she laid in my arms. While the wars somewhere were raging, gas was impossible to get, Jimmy Carter was President and Pac-Man was all the rage, I was busy planning her wedding! Jessica was every mother's dream. She slept when she was supposed to sleep, ate when she was hungry and had the most adorable dimples. People would stop me on the street to admire her beauty. Born with both a stubbon streak and a zest for life, she has given me such joy in my life that words cannot possibly express. Intelligent, creative, emotional, head-strong, tenacious and loving are the key words that describe her. I love her more now than ever before and so excited she will share her life with Jeff.
You will always be my little girl in the green sweater! Happy Birthday!
(thanks mom)
My good friend Chenin Boutwell shot some photos of me this past week for shootsac, and I think it's nice to have a record of what I look like on my birthdays. Thanks Chenin!
As you can see, you can never be too old to have balloons and bubbles :)
These are all looks that people who know me well see from me often:
I just think these are cute. Also, possible hairstyle for the wedding?
Last one:
I am seriously so blessed and lucky to have the life that I have. I don't take it for granted for a single second.
Now I must go get ready for my birthday and the killer KICKBALL party I'll be having on Thursday. 30 is no reason to act old!
my life
