A Grand Celebration (aka the week of my 27th birthday)

I think that, in the last week, I have come full circle.

I remember last Sunday...in a bit of a non-blogging mood...posting out of duty/being a creature of habit...and kind bummin...

This week, JC keeps wondering, from the other room, what I'm laughing at in here. 

I don't know.

Everything is making me laugh. And when I say "everything," I'm not really sure what I'm referring to since I am in a room all by myself and all I am doing is...this.

Maybe I'll just chalk it up to being giddy over the fact that this last week held my birthday and while we definitely had our moments and at times I found myself literally wondering if I was going to survive, or allow anyone else to survive, the next couple of years...

it was actually a great week.

"Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up."

I mentioned last week that we ate at the Melting Pot for a combined birthday celebration with some friends. JC captured a moment of our fondue-ing evening here:

(He got other good pictures too but when I tried to load them on here, I discovered that the close-up pictures of raw meat made me gag. Then I laughed at the fact that they made me gag. But, anyway, I decided to stick with this one)

Mmm...food cooking away, yummy sauces all lined up, ready to be utilized...

Fun birthday celebration!

On Sunday, we had a family dinner at my parents' house where we ate, laughed and I opened presents. Can't ask for more! My mom made yummy cupcakes that contained whole wheat flour (couldn't even tell the difference! Yum!) and the maple syrup frosting I'm in love with. Thanks Mom!  It is always fun to celebrate with family.

As, I'm sure, everyone has figured by now, I am extremely excited about the progress we're making on our backyard.  We're really owning "the land" (haha...I don't think I can really call it that...it'd have to be bigger to qualify) and making it...well...our own.  It has changed a lot since we moved here. It was lovely when we moved in...but a lot of things about it didn't work for us. So, we got rid of a ton of landscaping and what not and started from scratch. It is finally starting to feel like it's ours. I love that sense of belonging. :)

Early in the week, more of the garden fence went up and we had our whole sprinkler system re-done to better accommodate our plans. JC shopped around a bit and found a good price, which is always a treat.  Here we are, mid-project.

On my birthday, Bethany had preschool and the boys and I came back home after dropping her off...and had freeze-dried strawberries for snack. 

Messy.

My mom came by and brought me flowers and a balloon. The kids played with the balloon all day. The flowers beautified my kitchen counter!

(They hadn't decided to open up yet, which they did after a time...aren't they beautiful??)

Also, beautiful...the flowers JC had gotten for me a few days earlier.

Not for my birthday.

Just because I'd had a rough day.

Also not for my birthday? A gift card to Target (where I could purchase the entire store without blinking an eye) that said "thank you" on it.

Apparently, just because I do what I do every day. Which, sometimes doesn't feel like much and yet at the same time, feels like the weight of the world riding on my shoulders.

So...a thank you makes all the difference.

Something pretty to look at and a shopping spree.

Lucky me. :)

Back to my actual birthday...that afternoon, we fell back on an old game. 

Throw all the couch cusions on the floor like a road and run around on them.

Ben preferred to browse through the books. It was fine by me...as long as he was happy! I actually got to make dinner AND get dressed and ready for a night out! Who ever heard of such an opportunity??

One more shot of the backyard. Oooh...due to what I believe it some sort of camera gliche, it looks all etherial and what not. Makes it even more magical!

The fence is almost done!!!! Isn't it looking great??

So, again, back to my birthday...I got a fantastic birthday present!

Back in the years of highschool and beyond, Ali and Kristyn and I were inseperable...there are very few memories I have that don't involve them on some level. And the memories I have our absolutely priceless. We've been able to stay in touch pretty well but don't see each other nearly as often as we'd like.  Well, just so happens, our world traveler, Kristyn, was in town this week and lo and behold, the stars aligned, our schedules cleared, our husbands braved the evening with the kids and out we went! 

JC was really sweet to send me out for the night...it was literally like he walked in the door from work and within a few minutes, I walked out. So, he didn't get much of a break.  Luckily, the kids didn't give him TOO much trouble! :) So, thank you JC and thank you kids!

The three of us voted on pedicures and a bite to eat. 

We got our feet scrubbed at and toes polished up...all the while catching up, laughing at ourselves and the Vietnamese people working on us. 

Sorry, if they get to speak to each other in a language we don't understand and CLEARLY talk about us, we get to laugh at them doing so.

The nail people made fun of me for saying yes to every extra (sea salt scrub, parafin wax, etc.) and I just kept saying "it's my birthday!" I am pretty sure the guy doing my nails and the chick doing my toes had some sort of bet going as to who could get me to spend more money. 

I don't care, it was worth it.

(Just as a follow-up...I spent the next day being so careful with my feet and nails...I did NOT want to waste the money I spent on getting them done! But, truth be told, by Saturday afternoon, I was in the backyard barefoot again with dirt under my nails from playing with the kids...eh...guess that is how I roll now.)

We went to Mimi's...which, I think, has actually hosted our last few get-togethers. Huh. Didn't realize that...must be a sub-conscious choice!  Anyway, we chatted it up and sat at our little booth through a few cycles of other customers coming and going.  

Great food, great conversation...great friends. :)

And...I laughed. A lot. And it felt good.

Here I am with my free birthday dessert.

And blowing out my candle...I think I may have over-exagerated my "blowing out the candle" face for Kristyn's picture-taking. Or maybe this is how I look blowing out a candle. I guess I've never seen it before.

JC ate that dessert for breakfast the next morning.

Here we are...

The Three Musketeers.

All grown up on my 27th birthday.

Ali made the comment during the night that we have celebrated a lot of birthdays together. And it really is true. How nice for us.

So...in honor of that fact, to go with the picture of us celebrating my 27th birthday...how about one from my 16th birthday? 

 . . . when they surprised me by taking me to get glamour shots taken . . .

 . . . all of us together . . .

 . . . in the nineties . . .

 

There are no words.

Just laughter.

More uncontrollable laughter.