One About Me.

It was my birthday on the 26th.
Yay. :)

I like birthdays because you can do fun things or do nothing at all and, no matter what, it's all justifiable because...it's your birthday.

For my birthday, I took full advantage of that and had a really great time. The weekend before, JC and I did our little stint in Gold Canyon, enjoying the resort there, then went and rocked the Renaissance Festival. It was fantastic.
Before we headed 'out of town', we did some fun stuff. The Mesa Center St. Farmers' Market. FANTASTIC. All kinds of gems. Best shopping ever.

Then, we did some of this:

(By the way, it was my first time golfing and JC took me to this indoor place, saving me from sure humiliation. I attempted to learn all the secrets of golf in one session, went against a friend's advice to 'not get frustrated,' and realized something...golf is hard. I really hate not being good at hard things on the first try. It would only make sense to not like golf very much on account of that...but I actually am eager to get back at it. And not just to prove to myself that I can be good at it. :) I actually really liked it.)

Thanks again, hon, for teaching me!!

After we golfed, we headed out to the resort for a fantastically relaxing evening!
Pretty, huh?

A few shots from the Renaissance Festival where we walked, shopped, and watched.
When I saw this girl dressed up like a fairy, I turned into a five-year-old girl and couldn't stop saying "She's so pretty!" and I kind of wanted to be a fairy when I grew up for a few moments there...

These guys were awesome.
For someone who really dislikes loud noises, people, places, etc. I really really love drums.

I enjoyed that almost as much as I did this:
bellydancers

and this:
JC and the Strong-Man-o-Meter.
He hit the bell at the top with every swing. Just like last time.
Yay. :)

It was a fun time. And I still had my actual birthday to look forward to!
What was awesome was throwing my back out the day before the big day. I always thought I would feel super cool if I ever threw my back out working out. You know, all those super awesome reps with my 5 pound weights leaves a lot of room for injury...haha, seriously, dragging myself out of bed at 5:45am to work out has its downfalls...sometimes I get started before I am really ready and warmed up. (Closing your eyes while lifting weights, no matter how light, is probably not a good idea) So, anyway, I was a little bit out of commission for a few days.
But, that also made it a little easier to convince myself to not clean or do anything else un-fun on my birthday...because I literally couldn't. And, I spent some time browsing the net for shoes that I am not in the market for right now. Just for fun. (My sister's idea.) :)
I did that, hung out with my kiddos, enjoyed being outside most of the day, and after the kids went to bed that night, JC said I could pick any movie I wanted to watch. I thought about all these fantastic, culturally inspired movies I had been wanting to watch...then remembered that he bought me New Moon that week and somehow I am the same as all those 12 yr olds out there and I couldn't help myself. Yep. Vampires and Werewolves make for a great birthday. Slightly embarrassing but true.

One more birthday story - the week before, I found these really fantastic boots online that were on sale and just what I had been casually searching for for years. I felt a little silly but approached JC and started telling him about them, where I found them, for how much, etc. He didn't really seem to be paying much attention so I started going into a bunch of detail about them. All the while, he was fiddling with his fancy phone, making me feel a little bummed and a bit irritated. So, after a while, I just said, 'Well, anyway, I am thinking about buying them." to which he replied, "You just did." and showed me the screen on his phone where he had been looking up and purchasing my boots while I was rambling.
Happy birthday to me. :)
They arrived on my birthday too. Right before dinner. I put them on and wore them through dinner, getting kids into pj's, putting them to bed and all.
I love my birthday boots.
And my husband.

(He also surprised me with the "Surf's Up" soundtrack to listen to as we drove around on our little overnight getaway. I love the music on that silly little movie.)

(We also got to go see 'Guy's and Dolls' at Hale Theatre, courtesy of JC's mom...it was SPECTACULAR. Lots of talent, lots of fun.)

(I also get to go to Time Out for Women in October courtesy of - and with - my mom!!!)

(I also get to make super yummy fresh popcorn with my new air popper courtesy of my sisters...made our first batch just tonight! SO good! And, speaking of good, we get to eat at Red Lobster soon courtesy of Andrew and Bonnie. Ohhh yes please!)

That is all I think. I was going to write something more reflective in honor of my birthday but I have grown bored of talking about myself.
I just had to acknowledge all of the wonderful things I got to do for my birthday. :)
Thanks to all who make the whole year fantastically worth celebrating life. I love you all!!!!