Birthday recap episode 31

warning: the following post is a little lengthy... and very self-indulgent. I won't deny it.

Yesterday marked another year gone by and one step further away from my 20's and closer to let's not talk about it.

The festivities started Sunday afternoon when my best friend Jana showed up at my parents house where I was visiting with a bouquet of flowers and the announcement that she was stealing me for the evening. I was so surprised I think I just stared at her dumbfounded for a moment before squealing and jumping up from my seat and clapping excitedly. My normal reaction to anything fun. 

Apparently she had to show up early after an urgent text from my sister (who was also at my folks) alerted her to the fact that I was trying to leave to finish my kid's back to school shopping and that my mother had been ordered to show a slide show of my parents recent cruise and take as long as possible to explain every.single.picture to delay me. They were in a bit of a panic.

After laughing at the lengths they had gone to to make sure the surprise worked I said goodbye to my family and Jana followed me home to drop off my kids with their "surprise" babysitter - their other Grandma! Thanks again Teri :)

Then we left to head into town except Jana drove the wrong direction and I was confused until she pulled into our church parking lot and sitting there waiting were my sister (who had raced home to change after I left our parents and then raced back down to the church, bless her heart) and both my sister-in-laws who were all invited on a fun girls night out! I may have clapped and squealed quite a bit more. 

I LOVE surprises!

Gotta love girlfriends! Me, Cara, Tricia, Kelly and Jana piled in the car.

They took me to Washington Square mall and The Cheesecake Factory for dinner and shopping and it was the bomb! Here's a few more pics from the night...

sisters

Thai Chicken Pasta - mmmmm.

presents!

 

I won't lie, when the waiters and waitresses all surrounded our table and sang happy birthday and brought me my cheesecake with a candle glowing in it, it was the pinnacle of the night :) Tricia laughed at me across the table because while she was completely embarrassed and it wasn't even for her, I was basking in the attention. 

After such a fun evening I couldn't wait for my husband to get home the next afternoon from a hunting trip to tell him all about it. Except he already knew all about it (had been in on Jana's planning in fact) and came home a day early to surprise me, pulling in around 1:30 am Monday morning. After a near heart attack at hearing a vehicle come down my driveway in the middle of the night, I realized it was him and then was so relieved (and pumped up from adrenalin) that I talked his ear off for the next half an hour at least poor guy. 

Monday I enjoyed a relaxing day home with my family, receiving presents from my husband and children, and watching The Last Song on dvd with my husband who had no idea what he was getting into. Mwaahahaha :)

Russell's present to me was very personal and would take a long time to fully explain so I'll summarize by saying that he wrote me a long and wonderful love letter that was incredibly moving and he reworked our entire budget, allotting me the entirety of his recent raise that he had kept a big secret. And it's a lot. And it will keep on giving over and over, every single paycheck, all year long!  

Also... he told me that he knows I sometimes sneak money here and there from different categories (groceries, etc.) to make things work and squeeze in a little something extra and he likes that I do that and doesn't want me to change any of it, this is all on top of that. Which is what leads me to believe for perhaps the one millionth time in my life that I married the absolutely best and perfect man for me. 

We ended the day with dinner out at Claim Jumper's with more family, Ben and Jerry's for ice-cream afterwards, and a quick trip turned a little bit longer to Old Navy. It was a great evening. Except for the part where I started to tell my mother-in-law all about my surprise night out the evening before, completely forgetting that she had not only been in on the surprise, babysitting my children, but had stayed up to hear all about it when I got home. *embarrassing!*

Mike, Linley, Teri & Gary, Blake, Jay, Russ & I, Aunt Wenda, Kendall and Cooper.

 

presents from Russ's folks. What's that in the middle? A microplane zester - yes!!

To everyone who helped me celebrate my birthday, thank you so very much, I feel loved, and I love you all!