Twenty Two

Hello... I hope you all enjoyed November 13 as much as I did. :) I turned 22 today!

I love birthdays- mostly because I love celebrating in general, and baking tasty treats and being with people and forgetting about regular things like homework and schedules and chores, so I can focus a little more on rest and fun and food. (boy, did we focus on food today!)

I didn't sleep very well last night because my phone kept going off with facebook notifications and text messages (my brother, sister & parents all tried to be the first one to wish me happy birthday - which resulted in messages all through the middle of the night. haha!) ... finally I was able to fumble around enough to make my phone quiet the rest of the night. Then around 7:30ish I woke up to Josiah screaming... around 8:00 I just couldn't sleep anymore so I got out of bed. I baked my traditional birthday scones, which were scrumptious! (Robbie ate three!) Then Jamie and I went to starbucks for some coffee (a wonderfully festive toffee mocha) and we all bundled up and went for a walk. After we got back and Josiah went down for a nap Jamie and I were trying to think of something exciting to do...

Now you can't judge us. We have good reasons for this and it really does all makes sense. We decided to put up the Christmas tree and decorate! Yes, I realize that it's only mid-November and most of you are rolling your eyes as you read this... but what better way to celebrate your birthday!? I really think the theme of my birthday this year (if there is such a thing...) is Christmas! My good friend, Emily Clay, sent me two Christmas CDs in the mail yesterday - just because I'd had a rough couple of weeks and she knows I love it. Another friend, Natalie, sent me a care package that I got TODAY which was full of wonderful Christmas goodies. I just find a lot of joy in celebrating Christmas.... so why only do it one month a year?!

For dinner we had DELICIOUS steak, zuccinni, potatoes and garlic bread (one of my favorite meals!) and Kathy, Jamie's mom, made the BEST ice cream cake! (oreo crust/bottom, mint choc chip ice cream, halved strawberries and oreo crumbs on top!!) They sang "Happy Birthday" and I blew out the candles - it wouldn't feel like a birthday without that. :)

All in all, it was another good birthday. A little strange being in a fairly new city without solid friendships or a large community of people I know to celebrate with... but that's okay. I'm so grateful to Jamie for making my birthday special. :)

Also... I was completely overwhelmed by the 75+ birthday wishes via facebook. I know that most people just see in the right hand corner that it's your birthday and so they write "Happy Birthday!!!" on your wall... but it's still fun to hear from SO many people! I decided at the beginning of the day that I wanted to reply to all of them... since they took the time to wish me happy birthday. Yeah, I started to regret that by the end of the day. There were so many! ;-)

I realize that this was a disorganized mess of information about my day... but I just wanted to update you all. I do feel like writing, but I am SO tired right now... so I think I'll write something more concise and understandable tomorrow. :) In the second service at church tomorrow, with my first graders, we're making cards and wrapping boxes to send to Operation Christmas Child -- see! Just an extension of my Christmas-filled weekend. :)