Tomi Ann turns the big 3-0!

As of this past Thursday, I am in very fact 30 years old. Hard to believe! I feel like I'm embarking on a whole new period in my life. The 20s were big for me, you know? During my twenties I:

- went on study abroad in England
- discovered new talents (graphic design and paper crafting)
- got my heart broken (or so I thought at the time)
- went on a mission
- fell in love for really real
- got married to the most amazing man
- had a baby
- graduated from BYU
- became a homeowner
- had another baby
- bought a mini-van
- had another baby

Obviously some of those events are bigger than others, but all those things had a major impact on my life. There were also some sad events, like losing my Grandpa Neves, Grandpa Pearce, Grandma Pearce, and hardest of all, my sister Carissa. The blessings, however, far outweigh the trials, and I really, truly love my life! I know I still have a long way to go to become the person I want to be -- a true disciple of my Savior Jesus Christ -- but I'm working on it.

What will the next 10 years bring? There's no way to even know what tomorrow will bring, but I know that I welcome the future with open arms.

I celebrated my birthday with a wonderful party with my brothers and sisters, parents, and a few aunts and uncles and friends, all arranged and put together by my sweet hubby Dan. That meant a lot to me, and it was so fun! I was especially touched that my siblings all went in together on a huge digital picture frame. I can't wait to get it going! Thanks, guys! Oh, and my mom also took Leanne and I to a most delicious lunch at Olive Garden for our birthdays. We also had a birthday dinner for me at Sunday dinner at my parents' house, at which we ate waffles and eggs and bacon. YUM. My mom sculpted an impressive cake for me from heart waffles and managed to get 30 candles going, and I managed to pull every square centimeter of air from my lungs and blow out all the candles in one shot. You know what that means -- my wish is totally coming true! I wished for... oh, come on -- you thought I'd tell?!

Here are some fun pictures from this week!

When frugality doesn't pay...

So, Dan and I have been trying to be really, really good and save money wherever we can. Now that we own a store we need to hang on to every penny, and I'm sure many in the current climate are feeling the same pinch. And we've done pretty well, if I do say so myself -- no going out, and I haven't spent a penny on scrapbooking supplies since July (gasp!). But on Tuesday Dan came up with a new way to save a few bucks: he wanted me to cut his hair.

Now, I cut the boys hair myself all the time. This only requires the clippers, though, because their hair is so crazy and bristle-y that it won't lay down flat ever and needs to be pretty short. But Dan works in retail, which means people see him ALL the time and he needs to look at least presentable. This struck fear into my heart. Dan said he was willing to give it a go and take the risk of needing to wear a hat for a few weeks. Dan's mom had just given me some pointers on cutting hair with clippers a few days before, and my own mom has given me several lessons (though I really don't seem to have inherited her talent), so I took a deep breath and went for it.

It started out so well... I was zipping away with the clippers, cleaning up the sides, taking a little off the top, doing all those things the pros do, and feeling pretty dang good about myself. Then I noticed a little bare patch on the side of Dan's head - oops. I thought, maybe that one won't be so noticeable. But soon it was joined by another, and also one on the back of his head. It all went downhill from there. The top was about 5 different lengths and the sides were getting REALLY short as I kept trying to even things up. I had shaved one spot completely bare. I had Dan go look in the mirror, and we both decided it was time to throw in the towel and send him over to Fantastic Sam's...

I'm sure they got a good chuckle when he walked in the door.



And that is why our marriage works so well. Could he have been a little upset that I had turned his hair into something resembling the landscape from the movie Holes? Sure. Could I have resented him for having MADE me do it in the first place. Maybe a little bit. But we were both laughing so hard we could hardly talk, and we both kept giggling about it for the rest of the day. (Yes, honey, I said you were giggling. In a very manly way, of course.) Gotta keep a sense of humor! And you'll be glad to know that he was left with a little hair after the REAL haircut -- he's expected to make a full recovery.