THIRTY

Happy birthday to me! And Happy Isenberg Week to everyone! (Isenberg Week runs from January 3rd to January 14th, plus or minus days depending on how the Hebrew calender works out in a given year.)

After approximately 364 days of panicking about this birthday, it is here, and so far, it has actually been really wonderful. I am optimistically hopeful that this new decade will be just as wonderful, if not more so.

True to form, I drove carpool this morning, in a brand new minivan- the perfect way to celebrate entering this new decade, I think. As my favorite uncle says it: "the 3o's are the decade of the minivan." I am still holding firm in my "Toyota's are better than Honda's" belief, but I have to admit that my new Odyssey is pretty cool, and hopefully I will get used to it soon...

All joking and kvetching aside (particularly about minivans and carpools, which as you all know I secretly really like), I have a tremendous amount to be grateful for.

I am blessed with the most wonderful husband (ha, I just typed about 15 other mushy adjectives and decided not to subject all of you to my gushing about Yehuda's awesomeness. Let's just say, he is as awesome as it gets and leave it there), the sweetest and most loving, huggable and kissable and honestly, really incredible (ditto on the zillion mushy adjectives removed, since it is my birthday I will be extra nice to my wonderful readers!) children who give me such tremendous nachas that I am very often overwhelmed with intense love.

I am also blessed with a truly wonderful family. My two Grandfathers who are inspiring and supportive and wise and who have taught me so much about how to live and love. My two Grandmothers, Aleihem HaShalom, who were both tremendous influences in my life. They loved me wholly and unconditionally and were giving and loving and encouraging. I only wish that they had both been alive to meet the loves of my life.

My parents, who not only gave me actual life, but who gave me the tools to live life beautifully and fully. They are always loving and supportive and wise and good and helpful and funny. They are my role models for life, for Judaism, for marriage and most importantly for parenthood. They are the best kind of grandparents, and I am so beyond thrilled with the relationships that my children have with them. I have told Yehuda many, many times over the past eight (eight!?!?!!) years, that if our children love and respect us (please G-d) as much as I love and respect my parents, than I will have achieved more than anyone could ever dream of achieving in life.

My siblings are hilarious and affectionate and supportive and inspiring. I treasure each of them with all my heart, as well as their wonderful spouses whom I truly consider full siblings (and one super awesome fiancee who is already my beloved sister), and their precious children. I only wish that we could all live closer together, since the happiest times that I have ever had have always been with my family. My nieces and nephews are all (objectively, of course) the most adorable, funny, and sweet children ever. I love how we laugh when we are together, and even when we are apart, and know that a laugh and unconditional love is always a phone call or an email away.

My Aunt and Uncle who really are my other parents, and who are also incredible models for marriage, for life, for parenting and for love. They have always been completely understanding and supportive and giving, and know how to make me smile and laugh and remember what is truly important more than anyone else. And their children, who really are my siblings as well, whom I love with all my heart and am proud of and inspired by and enjoy every minute of being with, always.

My parents in law are also wonderful role models for me and for Yehuda, and are always so giving and loving and thoughtful and conscious of being the best in laws and Grandparents. They raised the most wonderful son and for that, I owe them everything.
We are also incredibly blessed to have Yehuda's Grandmother in our lives. She is beautiful and wise and brilliant and truly the epitome of class. I was blessed to know Yehuda's other Grandmother, albeit for too short a time, and she was also a treasure, and I wish that my kids were able to really know and learn from her, as Yehuda did, and we all love his "Grandma" stories.

I love Yehuda's siblings as if they are mine as well. My two sisters in law are exactly the older sisters I dreamed of (and I am sure my own sister wishes I were more like them), and are more than I could ever even ask for. I love every minute that we are able to spend with them and with my brothers in law and my fun, adorable, smart and sweet nieces and nephews. I just wish we were able to spend much more time with them.

I have a large and fun and really special extended family of cousins, and "cousins" who are all so wonderful and a joy to be with and always enhance every simcha.
Yehuda's entire family has welcomed me in with warmth and love and acceptance and always make me proud to be a part of such a wonderful family.

And on top of having the best family anyone could ever ask for, in every possible way, I am blessed with the best friends ever, in the history of friends (and that is not an exaggeration, and yes, yes I am slightly prone to hyperbole, but this is most decidedly not one of those instances). My family has always made fun of me that I have so many "best friends," but in truth, I really do. And each one of them is best, and enriches my life in their own way. My friends know me and understand me and appreciate me even when I can't appreciate myself. They are like aunts and second mothers (and those are the highest possible compliments I could really ever give anyone, to be anywhere near the level of my Mother and my Aunt) to my children. They have supported me through misery and joy equally. They make me laugh and smile, they challenge me to be better, they remind me of all the good that I have, they make me a better person, a better wife, and a better mother. I have best friends who I have known since I started school and who can finish my sentences and understand exactly what I am saying without having to explain anything, and best friends that are more recent, but no less treasured, additions. I learn from each and every friend, and cherish the time spent together and appreciate all that they do for me.

So today, on my birthday, as I enter into this new decade, I remind myself of how blessed I am, how beautiful and full my life is, and how much I have to be grateful to G-d for. And I pray that this new decade brings more love, peace, laughter, growth and development, knowledge and wisdom, strength, joy, fun, sweetness, acceptance, success, good health and prosperity for myself and my loved ones. Of all that I have been blessed with in life, and that is so much that I could never ever even begin to type that up, my loved ones are what is most precious to me.
And grateful I am.