Forty!

Back in May, I turned 40. Leading up to this milestone birthday, I was really struggling with that number. I still feel like I'm 28, and thinking about being 40 and single really made me depressed. I know that I have so much to be thankful for and that I live a beautiful life, but it was still bugging me.

I knew no one was going to throw me a big party or anything, so when I realized that it was up to ME to make my birthday special, I brainstormed about what I wanted to do, and it didn't take long to figure out the perfect weekend. 

I invited a few of my closest friends to spend the weekend up north with me, thinking I would be so grateful if maybe two or three could make it, and I was so surprised and happy when every single one of them came.

Trinidy picked me up and we were ready to get the weekend started.

I rented a large house in Munds Park, about two hours north of Phoenix, for all of us. How cute is this loft? When I saw it in the listing, I immediately fell in love with the space and knew this is where I wanted to sleep (we all shared rooms and Lindsay stayed up there with me).

We all loved this house, it was so cute.

We don't have trees like these in Phoenix, so this is one of my favorite views. 

It was pretty chilly, but we bundled up outside by the fire while we waited for the rest of the girls to arrive. 

The party (aka Becky) arrived!

We picked up some pizza, made brownies, and hung out...it was perfect.

The hot tub was definitely one of the "selling points" for this house.

For breakfast we made pancakes, eggs, and bacon. And we had fruit and mimosas.

I'm not sure what was going on here, but one of the things that me the happiest on that weekend was to see my friends have so much fun together. No kids and no distractions.

All I really wanted to do on this weekend was to hang out, play games, and to go on a hike. Corinne found us a great little trail just a few minutes from the house, and it felt so amazing to be outside, because Phoenix was already really hot.

Another thing I loved about our time together is that we had some real and raw conversations with each other, that we usually can't have when we are with the kids.

We played some games, and realized really quickly who in the group was the most competitive. Taboo was a blast, and I already set up another game night because we all had so much fun.

They surprised me with a birthday cake and some really sweet gifts that night. Not only that, but they also played the Happy Birthday song in german for me and went around the table to share with me how I had changed their life in one way or another. It was so special and definitely made me tear up. I'm so grateful for my girls.

I seriously had the very best weekend. I laughed until I cried, my face hurt from smiling so much, and it was the perfect way to spend my 40th birthday. 

We decided that we should plan a birthday trip for every milestone birthday and we have two more coming up in 2022. I love these ladies so much!