Happy 30th Birthday to Me

Guess what guys and gals...

30 years ago this chubby cheeked bundle of awesomeness was born in the small town of Greensboro, Alabama...

That's right. I entered this world three whole decades ago. 

So in honor of that monumental occasion, I decided to use today's blog post to take a look back at yours truly over the last 30 years...

Wasn't I just the cutest baby? :)

Apparently, I was quite fond of chocolate icing when I was younger. ...which is actually a little ironic since I could totally live without it now.

I've always had a head full of curly hair.

And oh my word... Look at those bangs. It's just like one curl on top of another :)

How about a few school photos...

1st grade...

3rd grade...

And 5th grade...

And now a few shots with my Bubba...

First up is the Christmas where we sported our matching Precious Moments sweatshirts. Yep. We were cool :)

Or the picture where I thought I was hot stuff buddy. Look at me posing. And oh my goodness, look how cute my brother was :)

Or how about this one? We were visiting my Papa one summer and it just so happened that my birthday happened while we were there. So we had yummy cupcakes (with chocolate icing, of course) and my Papa's homemade peach ice cream. 

Anywho - I don't know which part was better. My brother's almost mullet or the look on his face. I can't figure out if he was excited for me or just trying to blow out my candles. Haha :)

There was my one and only stint at athletic participation. It was just enough to assure anyone around that I, Elisabeth Nichols, have absolutely zero skills in the area of athletics. Yep, I am indeed, quite athletically challenged.

And to wrap up this post of pictures of yours truly...

Here's one of my favorite pictures with me and my Daddy. I was maybe 3 months old.

Y'all, today was so incredibly bittersweet and such an emotional roller coaster. After going through these pictures last night, I started getting incredibly "down," and couldn't really figure out why.

This morning it finally hit me.

Today's my birthday - but not just any birthday. It's my first birthday since my dad passed away. And dear Lord, did it hit me hard. ...as in big, ugly crying before work, all the way to work, and then sitting in the car once I got there for a good 5 to 10 minutes, just to compose myself before going inside. It was just that bad.

But then I got a text from my brother that made me smile.

And then I got to work and all that sadness went away. Not only did I get to see my kiddos again, but I also brought lunch to share with my Special Ed. ladies. And yes, that is a fully-caffeinated diet Dr. Pepper. ...because calories and caffeine levels don't count on your birthday. It's rule. I'm sure of it :)

I also shared cupcakes with my kids. They thought it was the coolest thing ever that Miss Nichols was bringing birthday cupcakes to share :)

Then I got home and was greeted by an awesome birthday present,

a delicious dinner of some of my favorite foods,

and a yummy birthday cake which was topped in only the best, most delicious homemade peanut butter frosting. YUM!