30 going on 13

The cake.....



The presents (thank you to my very generous friends)....



The Ladies.....

Thank you all for a FABULOUS birthday! I had a great time celebrating 30 years of life with some of my favorite people.

Pick me up....

When I need a pick me up I watch either of these videos.....they make me laugh out loud EVERY SINGLE TIME. It never gets old.







ps Stay tuned for birthday pics!

#30 Celebrate my 30th birthday in Geneva, Switzerland - DONE

When I put the list of 30 goals together I thought the best way to celebrate my 30h birthday would be to go to Geneva, Switzerland - my birthplace. Well.....life happened and with work and school demands being in Switzerland on my actual brithday became less of a reality each day. I had a conference for work two days before my birthday and a final the day after. I was kind of bummed and had mentioned it to one of my co-workers in passing. When I got to work on Monday my office had been transformed into Switzerland! Complete with the Alps in the background, swiss chocolate truffles on my desk and garland of the Swiss flag. I was so surprised and may have teared up a little. I am grateful for such great friends!

And they also hid 30 cans of Diet Coke throughout the office. By the time I finished my little scavenger hunt I had a message spelled by a letter on each can.

"Happy Thirtieth Birthday Melissa!"

(The Diet Coke isn't from Switzerland but it is definitely one of my favorite things!)

#8 Finish block quilt - DONE

After years of working on this quilting project it is finally finished! And it looks beautiful!

Back in 2007 I did a quilt block exchange with some other women in my stake. Most of us were beginners when it came to quilting so this was a fun project to do together. We chose a line of fabric and then using a pattern we chose each woman made 16 of the same block. After exchanging them it was fun to think about putting them in to a design for a quilt.

Well fast forward a couple of years and what do you know....my blocks are still sitting in a pile of projects waiting to get finished. (shocker) That's when I decided to add this abandoned project to my 30 before 30 goals. I laid out the blocks and went through a couple different designs before I settled on one. I sewed them all together and had the top finished. The next step was to get the backing done and have it quilted. But had to put it on the back burner for a little bit while I focused on work and school. In the mean time, and without my knowledge, Sarah took the quilt top from my house and mailed it to my mom. In Modesto my parents had it finished by a family friend who has a quilting business. Then my birthday rolled around and I opened a package from my parents. When I saw the finished quilt in the box I was so confused and then I realized what had happened. It was such a great surprise! I love the stitch they chose for the quilting and it is the perfect size to snuggle up in and watch a movie!

For my first attempt at a quilt I am very pleased and now I can check it off the list!

#12 Update my resume - DONE

The resume is updated and now the job hunt is officially on! I am looking for a job in the medical/health field. Ideally I would love to work as a medical assistant, however many of these jobs require special certification, but I have seen a few that will do on the job training. I am also open to an administrative job in the health field although this is definitely not as attractive as actually working directly with medical professionals. If anyone knows of any jobs or has connections to medical professionals here in the DC area let me know! Thanks!

Reverence your Womanhood

Today is International Women's Day which appropriately coincides with some thoughts I wanted to share. Last Saturday I had the opportunity to attend a fireside with Elder David A. Bednar. His address was an informal Q&A with the hundreds of young single adults in attendance. There were some excellent questions asked and his responses were so uplifting and inspiring. I really appreciated his comments on being good people and making good choices. One thing he mentioned that stuck out to me was when he told the men in the congregation to find a woman who reverences her womanhood. My roommates and I discussed this idea on the drive home. What does it mean to reverence your womanhood? I think one part of it means to respect the role of women and not to be ashamed of the divine gifts we have been given of nurturing, comforting, child bearing and rearing. Reflecting on this also reminded me of a BYU devotional given by Elder M. Russell Ballard in 2001 called "Women of Righteousness". I distinctly remember sitting in the Marriott Center and listening to this devotional. I was so touched by the Spirit and felt the Lord confirm to me the love He has for his daughters. I am proud to say that I have some amazing examples in my life of women who reverence their womanhood and have taught me how to be a good woman and a faithful daughter of God.

Portlandia

In January I went to Portland to spend some much needed time with "The Uppers" (my college roommates.) Ever since we graduated we have been pretty good at having reunions every couple of years. Jamie was gracious enough to open her home to us.

We toured Portland and the beautiful scenery of the pacific northwest. We ate and talked and watched movies.

It was so much fun to pick up where we left off and just enjoy spending time with each other. I love these ladies and the amazing examples they are.