2 and 1 days to 30

wow. tomorrow is the big day. how quickly 30 years go by. i don't feel mature enough to be 30. i remember when i was a kid that my parents were in their 30's and they seemed so old :) how can it be me already. the circle of life continues and stops for no one, not even me :) it's been nice to go back and think about some of the key components of my first 30 years. there's no better way to end than to give a shout out to my 5 amazing siblings. i feel so fortunate to have been raised in a family where i had brothers and sisters surrounding me at all times. holidays were awesome. i absolutely loved our tradition of all sleeping in the same room on christmas eve and staying up really late watching movies and playing games. i loved the sibling gift exchange on christmas day. we would play baseball in the basement using socks as the ball and a rolling pin (the same one my mom still has) as the bat. of course there were fights. carrie, missy and i would fight about taking each others clothes ALL the time. i have a great memory of trying to leave for school with missy driving and me in the passenger seat and trent coming out and sitting on the hood, refusing to get in the car until i got in the back so that he could sit shotgun. since me, troy and kiley were the "2nd round" we got to go on more trips together than the older kids did. we have the great 1994 wardwell family vacation on video and it's a classic and really captures the spirit of our family...lots of laughter and sarcasm is how i would describe us. we truly were lucky to have each other and i can only hope my kids are as fond of their siblings when they're adults as i am. trent-the oldest so he was the first to fly the coop. he was such a great example as an older brother. he left to serve his mission so willingly and he would write all of us individual letters consistently throughout his mission...that meant so much to me and i still have those letters. he's the rock. missy-she is the laughter. she's always been the most sarcastic and the one to crack all the jokes. i totally idealized her as a youth and thought she was so cool. she has a good heart. she knows how to lighten moods and bring smiles to our faces. she's got the most famous line in wardwell history..."we've been through rain, snow, heat" "dad" no one else will understand that but all of us will and we'll all smile when we read it. carrie-she is the quiet and steady one. she's always been good. she's never faltered. she's fun and serious. she's the best example of a mother. before i had kids i always said i want to mother them the way carrie does for hers. she's the picture of steadfastness and takes all the bumps that life throws her and continues strong. troy-we call him the "chosen" one. i'm not really sure why that started but it just kinda did. we all joke about how he's mom and dad's favorite. :) troy is a great combination of all our personalities. he's serious and strong but he's also hilarious and sarcastic. i loved how our relationship strengthened as he and i both got older. he's always been a great example to me and he's one of the reasons i decided to go on a mission. he's the one mom and dad NEVER had to worry about. kiley-she's the selfless one. she's the one that would drop anything to help any of us. she is truly amazing that way. she never asks for anything in return. it's only fitting that she was the one who had to make the most selfless decision that anyone could ever do in this life and she did it with courage and strength and all due to her love for another. i loved being able to watch her play her high school sports and follow her career. i love them all so much. i've been so lucky. happy 30th to me. i only hope my next 30 years bring as many blessings and happiness as the first 30 years have.

5, 4 and 3 days to 30

i've missed some days but this will be a big post so we'll all get over it. as previously mentioned, my family moved around a lot. i spent junior high in indiana and then high school in georgia and then college in idaho and virginia. i hated moving a lot when i was younger, of course. it was always so hard to leave all my friends but of course i was always able to make new friends. as an adult, obviously, my perspective has changed a lot and i consider myself very lucky to live different places but also to have so many different friends. i have had so many different great friends at different times and all of whom played great roles in my life during that particular time period. it was always hard to move on but i absolutely love the memories that i have with all of them. here's some of the incredible friends i've had a privilege of knowing. Indiana (lived here from 4th-9th grade) and had a great group of close friends and we all played basketball and softball together...it was awesome. these friends helped get me through my "awkward" years of junior high...man i struggled finding my "look" ha ha it's hilarious to look back on now but i do wonder sometimes how my mom let me out the door. i went through the grunge stage and then trying to be preppy and just took quite a while to get it right :) these girls were so fun. i have good memories of tubing on the lake and driving golf carts around and mostly of playing softball and basketball. rachel, jyl, lindsay, laura, emily

lindsay, rachel, katie nicole

caitlin, rachel

I lived in Atlanta during my ever important high school years. moving there was really hard because i had such great friends in indiana that i'd had for a long time. the first people to really reach out to me were the kids in my church ward and they really stepped up and befriended me and it meant a lot.

After time i started to make some great friends and first and foremost was susie shelnutt. we played bball and softball together and we really clicked. she still makes me laugh like crazy. i actually got to see her a few weeks ago and she's the friend that we can go years without seeing eachother but then when we're together it feels like things never changed. then there was kim noah who was by far my best friend for a few years. kim and i were those friends that were just always together. we just made sense. we did everything together and we stayed close through our first years of college but then drifted apart. it's been so many years but i still think about her all the time. she meant so much to me. she was truly my best friend. i told her everything and we shared everything. i still miss her so much and i hope she knows how big of a role she played in my life. these 2 were the most influencial people during high school but i was so fortunate to have several really great friends. amber, kim, meghan, jenny

kim

kim and susie

susie, kim, maureen, morgan and sarah

my first year in college was at ricks in idaho. i had some great roommates and they really helped me get through that rough first year of being away from home. britni, annalisa, court and shelly

my other college years were spent at svu which i have posted about and made my feelings about very clear. i made lifelong friends at svu. i am so excited to get together with some of these girls in the colorado mountains just 2 short months from now to have a "reunion" of sorts. carlie wiechman was my best friend and she was the ying to my yang :) she is quite possibly one of the funniest people i've ever met. living with her was the most fun year of my life. we did everything together. we loved the same movies, tv shows, music...she was so great and i'm so glad we're still friends now that we're both old moms :) svu truly gave me some great friendships. some great girls that i'm meeting soon in colorado. diana, brindi and jessie

diana, carlie and shae

diesel

carlie

diana

kim, susie, carlie, stacie, jeanie, tania, heather, boo

6 to 30

tonight i'm feeling rather lazy so i don't want to create a whole post. i'll just say this...the kids were pretty awnry today, they had a lot of excitement yesterday and went to bed really late and then we had church so they didn't get great naps so they were both fairly difficult and made it a rather rough evening...however, as difficult of a night as it was...they are now in bed, there is peace in the air and bottom line...i've never seen anything cuter!

7 to 30

as a young child and into early adolescense (and if i'm honest...even now as an adult :)) i had an obsession with legos. i don't know why, i have no real explanation for it but i just love legos. i loved building them and playing with them. at a certain point i had quite a collection. i still remember when i decided i was too old for them and decided to box them up but i insisted that i would keep them and that my children would play with them one day...low and behold 15-17 years later i still have those legos and i am waiting for the day when i deem my children "responsible enough" :) to handle my lego collection. here's a couple of my favorite sets i have :)

8 to 30

It's about time i give a shout out to my wonderful daddy. my dad has always been the most supportive person and my number one fan. i hardly remember a game or activity that he wasn't at even though he traveled consistently for his job. the few times he actually wasn't able to organize his work schedule around my games he actually shed tears when he told me he'd be unable to be there. even when i was in college and playing all over the east coast he would drive hours to get to several of the games and then leave right after to get back to work. he was always so amazing with his support. my dad is human, he has faults and he's made mistakes but i love that he fights through and is continually striving to be a better man and father to all of us. he has always had such a great testimony and he is has never been shy to share it. i respect that so much. i love my dad and i'm so grateful to have him in my life.

9 to 30

i love pets. i have always had pets. growing up we had a dog and a cat and we also had pet rats for a long time. as i type this my cat is laying on my lap. i love the comfort and companionship that you get from pets. i ove that they depend on you and you can depend on them. as corny as it sounds, i've had pets help me get through some really hard times because they're always there and they just always comfort you. i just love them.

10 to 30

Today i get to write about my Kayhlen Melissa because it also happens to be her 4th birthday. kayhlen made me a mom for the first time. i still remember when mike told me he was ready to have a baby (i was ready long before him :)) and how excited we were when we found out i was pregnant and then how shocked we were when we found out it was a girl. i was convinced it would be a boy so much so that i had already bought a bunch of boy stuff. i was a little scared about having a girl because i felt like i'd be able to handle boys better but i'm happy to say i think we've done quite well at having our little girl. kayhlen was a very stubborn child and still is in many ways. she put us through 2 years of intense breath holding spells where she would hold her breath for so long that she'd eventually pass out...there were times where she'd do it 5 times a day. she went through a long phase where no one could hold or touch her except mom (i actually didn't mind that too much :)) kayhlen has grown into a beautiful young girl. she is a total sweet heart. my mom had surgery over 6 months ago and kay still asks her about her feet every day. she has become such a great helper and is always happy to get things for me, to help me unload the dishwasher and to swivel sweep the floor. she is extremely shy and bashful...she doesn't like attention focused on her and she is very uncomfortable around strangers which can make some things very painful (ie dentist, playing sports, etc) but once she is comfortable with the people around her she is such a great kid. i never have to worry about her misbehaving in primary or other activities. she is never one to be mean to kids at the park. she says hilarious things like quoting movies and always commenting when people have byu apparel on by saying they're crazy and that cougars stink. i love you so much my girl. i wouldn't be complete without you.

11 to 30

Favorites are so hard because it completely changes with time...here's where i stand at the moment. song-savage garden "i knew i loved you before i met you" it's mine and mike's song color-baby blue tv show-still is "friends" even though i can literally quote every single episode movie-too many to count but include "she's the man" "hot chick" food-mashed potatoes desert-ice cream piece of clothing-bball shorts team-Uconn, Utah

12 to 30

Softball was a big part of my life for many years as well. I also began playing at a very young age and was always above average and was often asked to play on all-star teams, etc. i always loved softball and always enjoyed it but it didn't consume so much of my thoughts as basketball did. i've often been told that if i had the passion for softball like i did for basketball that i could've been a strong d1 player. regardless, i loved playing and i'm so fortunate that i got to play softball as well in college. i had some freak accidents (shout out to sarah swapp :)) that landed me in the emergency room but i'd do it all over again :) i miss it!