30th Birthday Weekend

I can't believe I am no longer in my 20's. While 30 has always seemed "old" to me, now that I am there, it doesn't seem so old at all! I've had an incredible decade-- so much has changed in just the past few years and God has blessed me beyond measure. I am so grateful that I have been granted another year to enjoy life. Among the things with which I've been blessed is my amazing husband who always loves to shower me with gifts and surprises. He took my 30th birthday as just such a special occasion.













He managed to surprise me good this time. When we got in the car Thursday afternoon, I had no idea where we were going. Our friends Sarah & Ben were staying at our house for the weekend. They were in town anyway for a class, and needed somewhere to stay, so in return, we had live-in babysitters-- and I'm sooo glad Leah & Andrew got to stay at home and I knew they were well-taken-care of. And little did I know we were headed to stay at Ben & Sarah's house for the night. They live only an hour from the Biltmore Estate-- a place I've been wanting to visit for years! This time of year they're holding the Festival of Flowers, and it was absolutely beautiful!













Biltmore Estate is America's Largest Home (I read online it has 250 rooms, including 43 bathrooms, 37 bedrooms, a bowling alley, swimming pool, 3 kitchen), built in the late 1800's by the Vanderbilt family. You can't take pictures inside the house, but just take my word for it, it was breathtaking! There was so much attention to detail, in the wallpaper, the furnishings, the fixtures... It was on over 8,000 acres of land. Needless to say, we did A LOT of walking! We started in the gardens (and there wasn't many people there when we were going through, so we were so glad we did that first and the house 2nd), then did the house, then went out to another tourist village on the property, where they had a winery, farmyard, and some other museums. We were able to see everything all in one day, but we were definately exhausted by the end of the day!









This was just a small portion of the gardens we got to see-- the Walled Garden. This whole portion was just roses!
















This was the Italian Garden, right next to the house. We were fascinated with how a worker was mowing the grass in a "V" shape.

Here it is, our future home!


And as if that wasn't enough of a surprise, today there was a party, too!! Sarah had made (and beautifully decorated, I might add) 2 cakes, and there was a huge spread of fruits, vegetables, cookies, etc. I was forced to wear a princess crown & wand (although it allowed me to get whatever I wished for all day). Even though not many people showed up, we still had fun-- and ate a lot of good food! It was such a great day!

Even Andrew had a blast at the party!!