Joey: (To Rachel) Look, turning thirty is not that big a deal.
Ross: Oh really? Is that how you felt when you turned thirty?
[Flashback to Joey's thirtieth birthday]
Joey: Why God, why?! We had a deal. Let the others grow old, not me! -Friends

Today is my birthday…and it means I’m 2 years closer to turning 30. I’m not quite sure how I feel about that yet. I think part of me is excited because I’ve heard the 30s are fabulous. But I’m also a tad depressed because I thought I’d have a lot more done by this point in my life. I suppose that’s natural.

I’m also a little down today because my birthday falls on a weekday (boo). All of my friends live out of town so it’s not likely that I’ll be able to get together with anyone today, and Match has to sleep and then works tonight.

My ideal day today would be to meet up with a few of my fabulous bloggy besties and go out for a lunch date. This would of course include wine, laughing, and girl talk. Doesn’t that sound awesome? Instead I’ve decided to treat myself to a haircut. It’s been SEVEN months so I figure I’m due. Then I may do a little craft shopping, rent a chick flick and veg out. Match is taking me to dinner before he has to work so that’ll be fun. Our real celebration is this weekend when we go rafting! I’m sooo excited for that.

Meanwhile, I am missing my friends a bit today. So what better than to play the Who Are Your Friends game over at  Gigi’s World.

As you already know, I’ve got two friends nicknamed after Friends characters.

Monica & Chandler

I’m missing them big time. They’re so far away in Scotland. Sniff. They are just like Mon and Chan on Friends.

As for the rest of the cast, I think Tahoe Girl would make a perfect Phoebe. She already does a lot of silly singing and goofiness.

I don’t have a lady’s man friend, so there’s no Joey or his two pizzas sadly. We also don’t have a Rachel or a Ross. No one in my group of friends breaks up and then gets back together constantly. Thank god for that!

I’m a total Monica myself when it comes to being clean. I have also been known to do a lot of singing and dancing and making up weird songs, so I channel a bit of the Phoebe floopy energy.

Match is no Chandler. He actually hates being the center of attention. He’s actually more like Phoebe’s Mike because he sits back and puts up with my shenanigans.

So my group doesn’t really fit the Friends cast. We’re a lot more like the How I Met Your Mother crew. But I still adore the show and I love nothing more than curl up, turn on the projector bulbs and have Friends marathons and quoting episodes on a daily basis. So what about you? Who are your friends?

Howard: Well, I love birthdays: waking up to mom’s special French Toast breakfast, wearing the birthday king crown, playing laser tag with all my friends…

Penny: Yeah! See? That’s what kids should have!

Howard: Actually, that was last year…-The Big Bang Theory

Saturday was the long awaited laser tag birthday party for Match. We went out to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant and chowed on delicious food and then headed over to Q-zar for laser tag. We were really early, so we wandered around downtown. This is a town over from where we live, and I had no idea the downtown area was so pretty.

We found a little pub nearby and had a couple of beers and listened to a guitar duo sing Johnny Cash covers. We fell in love with the pub instantly.

(Notice I chopped my hair off? Got it cut that day, she took 4 inches off! I love it)

After our beers it was finally time for laser tag. We met two other couples, Good Couple and another recruit friend of Match’s and his wife. It was our first time meeting that recruit’s wife and she was really sweet. As soon as I get to know her I’ll come up with a nickname.

We headed into the laser briefing room where a goofy teenager told us all about the rules of laser tag. Good Girl and I cracked up over how many times he said “But-um”. He obliged my picture taking obsession and took a group shot of us. It didn’t turn out as cool as we’d hoped since we were glowing in the black light.

Laser tag was super fun…until the other team started cheating and using really dirty tactics. They were a bunch of teenagers and then a few really little kids. The little kids ran at us, covering up their laser signals so we couldn’t shoot them. Then one girl not only touched me with her gun, but shoved me a couple of feet. I was like, “what the heck, you’re not supposed to touch me!” Then she actually got in my face and yelled, “What did you just say to me?” I was stunned. I mean, here we are trying to play a fun game and this little teeny bopper wanna be gang banger was giving me attitude! I started laughing and said, “It’s just laser tag, I was just trying to have fun. Don’t shove me!” Then she sassed me some more and I may have called her a little bitch as I walked away. I said may. I tried to avoid her but I ran into her a few more times and took note of her number and reported her later to the laser tag employee.

That kind of knocked the wind out of my sails, and then I noticed the rest of our team wasn’t having that much fun either. They were all dealing with equally rude players and we were all a bit discouraged. We were pretty surprised to find out that even though they all cheated, we beat them! We decided that laser tag would have been much more fun if we’d played against our friends. Next time I think it’d be worth it to rent the whole arena out and just play against each other.

We agreed that after that experience, we needed to get a few beers. We headed back to the little pub we’d found and the live music was going strong. There was an adorable little old lady dancing around. We found a couple of big tables in the back and ordered a pitcher of beer. I love that even though Good Couple doesn’t drink, they didn’t mind hanging out at the pub.

Sassy Couple and a few other recruits showed up to hang out. Sassy Guy was ridiculously drunk and made a classic entrance, dancing into the back of the pub and cracking us all up. Sassy Girl and I chatted it up and laughed at Sassy’s antics. At one point he got up and danced with the little old lady by the band. The whole bar was clapping along and laughing.

Match was beaming the entire night and told me later he couldn’t have had a better birthday. I love that these recruits have become like brothers to him and that they all get along so well. I’m also so grateful that I get along so well with the wives of the other recruits. I feel like these friends are going to be like family to us. We’re all in the same boat and it’s nice to have such good company.

Rachel: [answering the phone] Hello? Vegas? Yes, we would like some more alcohol. And you know, we would like some more beers, too… hello? Oh, wait… I forgot to dial!

[There is a knock at the door.]

Ross: That must be our alcohol and beers! -Friends

Saturday was Match and Chandler’s joint birthday party. It turned out to be such a blast! Where do I start with the shenanigans that was the party. At first, we just had a few people trickle in, starting with LAX Guy and Baker Chick. We got a chance to visit with them before Match’s cousin showed up as a surprise that I had planned. Match was so excited because he didn’t even know his cousin was in town.

Then after about ten minutes, people just started pouring in. All of a sudden I was in full hostess mode, making pizzas, getting drinks for people, and loving every minute of it. Have I mentioned how much I love hosting parties? (more…)

When they write the book of my life, what section will I be in? Mystery? Horror? Romance? Or just misfiled and jammed in the back under military history? -Samantha, Samantha Who?

Last weekend I celebrated turning a quarter of a century. I know that for some of my readers, this seems pretty young, but for me, it’s a milestone birthday. In my young life, I’ve experienced many ups and downs. I’ve survived some atrocious relationships, over ten different moves (all after I graduated high school), family hardships, the births of my two nephews and one niece, high school, college, I am on my second “grown up” job, and hopefully the beginning of a very important chapter in my romantic life.

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