Turning 30 really isn't so bad...

A month ago yesterday, I entered my 30's.

I left my 20's behind and waved goodbye to a decade of drama. I also said goodbye to a decade I became a lot of things... A wife (twice). A mother, a single mother, and then a mother of two. A business owner. Someone who knew what they wanted to be. So many things that I look back on and am so glad happened, because as cliché as it is, it has made me who I am now, at 30.

And 30 really isn't that bad.

I have been one of the very few people that I know of, that have been excited about turning 30. I've wanted to be 30, to be a 'grown up'... without realising that nothing would actually change and I have been a grown up the whole time.

I celebrated the occasion the only way I knew how... with my closest friends, French style. I wanted something a bit over-the-top, seeing as it wasn't just another birthday. To me, this was a celebration of my whole 30-years thus far, not just reaching a milestone or clocking over another number. This was about embracing a great chapter in my life. A new chapter... and being surrounded by those I love, in a setting that is so 'me' was the only way I wanted to do it.

So I had a French Themed High Tea, at one of my very favourite little cafes. I booked the whole place out and filled it with great people. And a 6ft Eiffel Tower made purely of balloons.

It was perfect.

I had a photobooth, with a lot of little French props. And a mime. Yes, a MIME. She was hilarious with a touch of awkward. But she added an element of laughter that wouldn't have been created without her...

My darling friend Rachael and I. I have known Rachael since I was about 7-years old... 23-years of friendship. We grew up a few houses down from each other, and we have this amazing friendship that has no drama... we can pick up the phone no matter how long it has been and talk as if no time has passed. One of those amazing, loyal friends that I will carry dear to me for life.

My baby sister, and my only sister Jodie. Who looks nothing like me, yet so much like me at the same time. It purely depends on whatever hair colour we have at the time. There's so much about her that I am envious of and she doesn't even know...

She will probably kill me for using this photo, but I do love it. Nicole is a friend I met online years ago. Got off to a bit of a rocky start, but we have a solid, mature friendship that has gone the distance... literally! Nicole lives in QLD and flew down to little old SA just to celebrate my birthday with me

Imogen and Alicia have been my bridesmaids, in two separate weddings - as they so eloquently mentioned in their speech. They're mental, funny, classy (most of the time) and skinny... I feel like an old elephant around them. But I love them both, dearly. And I know that if I ever need a night out, tagging along with them means I have fun.

This is me, infront of the HUGE Eiffel Tower structure.

My AMAZING cake, made by my super talented Aunty, who has made all the family birthday cakes... and wedding cakes.

More random photos from the day:

Slow-Cooked Lasagne

Firstly I have to give my friend Kim (from Carterjack) credit for this AMAZING recipe.

When it comes to cooking, I am not that bad, I'm not that great either.
Throw a slow cooker into the mix and my average drops. I am not good with the slow cooker.

So when a friend of mine mentioned a slow cooked lasagne, I HAD to give it a go. I love lasagne. And if it's something simple and a matter of walking away for hours, then that's even better.

INGREDIENTS:

600g beef mince (cooked)
2 tins of diced tomatoes
1 jar Bechamel sauce
1 box lasagne sheets (not cooked)

FOR TOPPING:

1 cup grated cheese


METHOD:

Using pre cooked mince, layer the above ingredients starting with tomatoes, lasagne sheets bechamel sauce and then mince. Layer until all ingredients have been used, with lasagne sheets and bechamel sauce at the top.

Cook on 'low' for 4 hours with the lid on.

With 30-mins to go, take the lid off and add 1 cup grated cheese.

Serve when cheese has melted.

NOTE:

Next time I will be adding some garlic and oregano to the tomatoes and some veggies to the mince to thicken it up and add some extra flavour ;)

Enjoy!!

Happy Birthday Eve

Tomorrow my baby boy, my littlest of them all, turns one.

We have survived the first year. He has survived the first year. Together we've managed to keep this baby alive for a whole year. That's worth celebrating.

Ryder has become super mobile and incredibly cheeky. He isn't walking on his own, but he walks around all the furniture (occasionally through it), crawls up the stairs and rummages through everything. EVERYTHING.

He laughs. He claps. He makes that clicking noise you make with your tongue. He smacks the back of his hand onto his mouth. He speaks in gobble-dee-gook.

But most of all, he is super dooper cute. He makes my heart smile. And he completes this little family perfectly.

I have had the best year raising this little dude. I thought becoming a mother of 2 boys would send me to the 'Looney Bin', but with Logan's keen-ness to be a hands on Big Brother (bless him), and having such a great husband... this has been a great 12-months. We've managed to get a very happy, placid little man who lights up our lives.

Happy FIRST Birthday tomorrow my cheeky little blondie... take all the time in the world to start walking ;)

Mummy xx