Welcoming My Husband to the Fabulous Forties!
Forty years ago today, just four days before my seventh birthday, my favorite person in the whole world was born and I didn’t even know it. But I am grateful for it every single day.
Happy, Happy Birthday to my amazing husband, Jeff. This year has been full of wonderful milestones for him. He has retired from the Army after 22 years of active duty service. He is starting a new job in the civilian world that he absolutely loves. He just turned 40 and that’s a big deal! And he is rediscovering himself in the context of not-a-soldier which is a really beautiful process to witness. I can’t wait to see him flourish and shine!
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”
Mark Twain
For his 40th birthday, he is having the time of his life in Salt Lake City as well as Yellowstone National Park with his dear friend Mandi. She is such a magnificent woman and such a blessing in his life and mine. He arrived in Salt Lake City on Saturday night not knowing that he was walking straight into a surprise birthday party! How fun is that?! Mandi, I cannot thank you enough for loving my husband the way that you do! You are an incredible woman and our lives are richer because of you and Calvin.
And if it weren’t for Georgeann and Les (Gramma and Pap), this incredible human being who decided it was a good idea to marry my crazy ass wouldn’t even exist. So I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my in-laws as well! Thank you for birthing and raising my favorite person in the world!
And now I will leave you with just a few more photos to celebrate my husband on his 40th birthday!
“God gave us the gift of life; it is up to us to give ourselves the gift of living well.”
Voltaire
“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.”
Oprah Winfrey
If that is indeed the case, Ms. Winfrey, I will praise and celebrate the life of my husband for all the rest of our days together!
Happy Birthday, baby. You are my lobster, my love, my life. I hope you are having the best time ever and I can’t wait to see you this weekend and hear all about your fabulous vacation!
Celebrating on the edge,
Shelbee
Linking with these Link Parties.
30 Comments
Kellyann Rohr
Happy Birthday to your husband – what a great way to ring in the new decade – a huge celebration and retirement!
xo,
Kellyann
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Kellyann! He is having a great time on his trip!
xoxo
Shelbee
Kathrine Eldridge
Happy Birthday to your hubby! These are wonderful photos and what a terrific surprise. Yellowstone has been my favorite national park so far.
https://www.kathrineeldridge.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Kathrine! I have never been to Yellowstone but I hope I can visit there one day!
xoxo
Shelbee
Jennifer
Aww happy birthday to Jeff!!
Jennifer
Curated By Jennifer
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Jennifer!
xoxo
Shelbee
Ellie
Happy Birthday to Jeff and welcome to the Fabulous Forties 🙂
Such great pictures and how fun that he got a surprise birthday party! Yellowstone sounds like a wonderful getaway! Hope to make it there one day!
Ellie
Ellibelle’s Corner
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Ellie! I have to say that I am a little bit sad that I cannot say that I am married to a 30-something anymore! I really enjoyed being in my 40’s with my younger man! Haha. Of course, he is still younger and I will be 50 years old before he even hits mid-40s. But that’s okay, I will always be a child at heart!
xoxo
Shelbee
Renee Open
Awwww! My heart was so full reading about his friend and your appreciation of her <3
*Happy sighs*
The 40s are the best! Happy Birthday to your man and Happy upcoming Birthday to you (in case I get busy and don't make it to saying so on your special day – but I knew it's coming and have been thinking of you both <3).
Have a beautiful day gorgeous lady enjoying loving and being loved by your handsome man <3
Renee Open
Oh, and I was so busy gushing that I forgot to mention that I actually came to this post through the link up on Curated by Jennifer <3
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Aw, that is so awesome! I love that you are making all the blogging rounds through link parties and such!
xoxo
Shelbee
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Renee, thank you so very much! Mandi and Calvin are really amazing people whom Jeff had met through a polyamorous group on Facebook. They truly have enriched our lives in so many ways since the connection was made about a year and a half ago. This is their first time meeting in real life and they are having a blast! I am so happy that he is getting to do some amazing things with wonderful folks for his 40th birthday!
xoxo
Shelbee
Jacqui Berry
Oh what a handsome couple you are, i’m sure you’ll have a wonderful time celebrating his departure from the forces. Great photos, I wanted to see more of you two together. Enjoy my friend and thanks for sharing this monumental happening in your lives. Jacqui x
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Jacqui! I wanted to share some more photos of us together for this post, too, but I was scurrying at the last minute to get it done and didn’t have time to dig through old photos! But I will keep that in mind for next time now that I know there is an interest in it! I hope you are having a wonderful week.
xoxo
Shelbee
Tamar Strauss-Benjamin
Happy bday to Jeff!!!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks, Tamar!
xoxo
Shelbee
Patrick Weseman
Happy Blessed Birthday to Jeff. I am glad that he is enjoying it.
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Patrick!
xoxo
Shelbee
Mica
happy birthday to your husband!
Hope you are having a nice week 🙂
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Mica! I hope your week is going well!
xoxo
Shelbee
Sheila (of Ephemera)
Welcome to the forties, Jeff! What a lovely tribute, Shelbee!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Aw, thanks so much, Sheila!
xoxo
Shelbee
Michelle
Happy Birthday, Jeff!
What wonderful celebration in Salt Lake! Ha! A surprise party from people he’s meeting for the first time. So awesome they went all out. Mandi and Calvin sound like lovely people.
Michelle
https://mybijoulifeonline.com
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Michelle! Mandi and Calvin really are amazing people. They are the very first couple that we have met who do life just like we do and we couldn’t be more blessed to have met them in the vast sea of internet land! Jeff is having a blast in Salt Lake! But I am excited for him to come home tomorrow. I miss his face and I want to hear all the details of his trip!
xoxo
Shelbee
Marie
Happy 40th to your husband! Wish him and you all the best on this new chapter in life!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thank you so very much, Marie! I really appreciate the well wishes! Have a wonderful day!
xoxo
Shelbee
Katie
Happy Birthday to your husband! Love the pictures and the quote from Mark Twain about discovering who you are! I am turning 40 this year as well, which I am going to try to embrace with optimism as opposed to trepidation!
-Katie
http://www.hellokatiegirlblog.com/
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thank you so much, Katie! And a big huge happy birthday to you when it arrives! I have to say that when I approached 40, I was trepidatious at first, but then I realized that the wisdom gained in 40 years of life is something I wouldn’t trade for the world. And ever since that milestone birthday, I have absolutely embraced my age and each and every birthday as a blessing and a means to gain even more wisdom! Plus 40 is like the new 20 these days anyway and you will rock that decade of life just like you did the 30s! I am looking forward to taking over the world by 60! That gives me 13 years to get on it!
xoxo
Shelbee
Joanne
What a wonderful way to ring in a new decade!
shelbeeontheedge@gmail.com
Thanks so much, Joanne!
xoxo
Shelbee