Amberly Turns Thirty

Time and Tide wait for no man, but time always stands still for a woman of thirty. ~Robert Frost

            I wasn’t totally thrilled with the idea of turning thirty at first, but it began to grow on me. Maybe now that I’m married and own a home, I feel more ready to be thirty. I feel more like myself, like I’m on my life’s path. It took a couple of painful years of the Saturn return to get me on my path, but here I am and it feels great! Someone very dear to me recently told me that, “thirty is when a woman comes into her own.” I can definitely related to that sentiment!

            My sister-in-law invited me to go to the beach with her and her three sons (my new nephews) for four days before my birthday. It was such a renewing way to ease myself into my thirtieth year. I’ve always been a fish out of water, but it’s been years since I went to the beach. Being in the water and under the sun was so soothing. I also learned the lesson that the concept, “all things in moderation,” truly means ALL things in moderation-including the sun! So I entered my thirtieth year with a reminder from the folly of my youth to reapply sunscreen. I also discovered sunburns don’t heal as quickly as they did when I was 19. Ah…the great lessons life has in store for us. Despite the sunburn, the trip was great. I enjoyed spending time with my sister-in-law and nephews, and had plenty of time to read the day I was stuck inside, in bed, healing from too much sun, not enough reapplication of sunscreen.

            We returned home just in time for my birthday, literally. We hit loads of traffic on the way back, so it was after 11pm when we arrived home. Robert and I spent the following day in typical Amberly birthday style. We tried out the Flying Biscuit for the first time and loved it! We did the traditional trip to the bookstore and Italian food for dinner. We also watched P.S. I Love You as a tribute to my love of all things Ireland. It’s a good movie, but I definitely recommend the book by Cecilia Ahern, which is very different from the movie. The whole book is set in Ireland, and it tells an interesting, moving story.

            The following week, we celebrated my birthday with family at my sister- and brother-in-law’s house. We grilled out, visited, and had cake with a candle worthy of a thirty-year-old.