Beautiful. Fun. Fantastic.*

        This marks the second year of an increasingly popular tradition- going to the Oregon coast for a long weekend before my birthday.  I wanted to be grumpy about turning 30, but then I saw this sign at the cabin...

     
         Getting older isn't all bad.  For instance, as a nurse, people respect you more the longer you have been in the business (usually.)  I remember when I first started working as a nurse and my patient's  parents would ask me, "Are you sure you're old enough to be a nurse?"  So annoying.  I wanted to respond, "Are you sure you're smart enough to be a parent?"  I didn't say that, however, I am certain my face revealed it all... as per usual.

You dumb ass.

        Anyway, I kind of figured getting older would give me more street cred, and thus, looked forward to aging.  Lately, though, I have noticed I can't figure technology out very easily.  Tell tale sign that I am turning into an old lady.  I signed up for pintrest - can't figure out how to use it.  I'm following people, people are following me, and I have no idea what is going on.  Old.

        Back to the beach.

Ta-Da!

        The fact that I wore the above outfit in public is a serious testament to the dementia setting in.  This picture was taken right before a rogue wave attacked me and sloshed a mess of sea foam and sand down my boots.  Totally ruined my look.  Well, the Green Bay Packer rain boots weren't ruined- obvi.  They helped us pull out a win over the Falcons Sunday night.  Suck it nerds!

        I guess over all, I am enjoying getting older.  Our good friends, Joe and Carly, came to the beach with us, and we played a lot of cribbage- duh.

        One night, in between "muggins" and irish whiskey shots, Carly said, "Do you realize we've been friends for eleven years?"  Well sheesh.  I have never been friends with anyone for eleven years.  My family moved too much, and plus, I am just too much of a freak to stay friends with anyone for that long.  "Wow.  I can't believe we've been friends for eleven years," I said.  "Yeah," Carly responded, "If you had told us eleven years ago that we would be at a cabin in Gearhart, Oregon playing cribbage with our husbands, we never would have believed it."  True.  Laugh all you want, but it doesn't get better than this.

Muggins' Pub- Gearhart, OR

        The 20's were fun at the time, but I am ready for my 30's now.  I'm ready to increasingly embrace my inner dork.  I am ready to care less about what others think.  I'm ready to see what happens, and in another eleven years, I can't wait to remember that time Carly and Joe kicked our asses at cribbage, and say, "No shit, can you believe we've been friends for over twenty years?"

*The title of this blog entry is dedicated to Emily and Jesse Johnston.  Fairbanks, I know you are going to wish you were here, but you can't even be jealous  that you missed it because you were in ITALY.