My Birthday Wrap-Up

~birthday celebration week~

Without further ado, I wanted to share pictures and details of all the celebrations! Because I am more than a bit "under the weather" today, the pictures I've included will have to tell most of the story. Thanks to everyone that helped me celebrate by doing things like attending various activities, sending me birthday cards every day of The Week(!!) or by simply wishing me a happy day.

~sunday~

Ben & Kathleen hosted a lovely birthday dinner for me after church, which included a surprise visit by Bracan, Rachel, Lucy & Alice. We all enjoyed a wonderful spread of taco salad fixings, (one of my personal favorites) and then dined on a decadent, fudge & chocolate-layered cake.

~monday~

Sadly, no pictures of this day, but I found a perfect way to celebrate the first work day of the week. Because I love cooking, I invited some of our good friends (Paul, Rochelle & CeCe) over to share a warm meal and FHE. I made baked spaghetti and the ever-popular Strawberry Yogurt Cake; Rochelle completed the meal with a green salad and rolls. After dinner, we retired to the living room where CeCe rolled around and Benjamin bounced off the walls while Rochelle taught the FHE lesson on loving your neighbor, an RS lesson she missed teaching due to the snow. My favorite - and most profound - quote was:

“I do not have an enemy that I know of, and there is no one in the world that I have any enmity towards. All men and all women are my Father’s children, and I have sought during my life to observe the wise direction of the Redeemer of mankind—to love my neighbor as myself. … You will never know how much I love you. I have not words to express it. And I want to feel that way toward every son and every daughter of my Heavenly Father.”²

~tuesday~

This was the big day, so I wanted to do it up big... well, at least big for me! After inhaling breakfast, Benjamin & I headed over to 321-Bounce in Bellevue. Thanks to a nearly-forgotten voucher from Living Social, we bounced, slid and rolled to our hearts content for free!

After grabbing lunch, I rented some random RedBox movies (ones that Dave would likely not want to watch) which I could enjoy while Benjamin napped; "Shark Night", "Contagion" & "Dolphin's Tale" all fit the bill nicely. Thanks to a very kind friend who offered the gift of free babysitting, we had a rare, mid-week date night; watching "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol" was loads of fun... what made it even better was that we both managed to stay awake for the whole thing! Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention our movie treat of choice: frosted brownies; the rare treat fit nicely in my black & white boho purse. We enjoyed the brownies immensely as other folks had no choice but to chomp on $5 boxes of stale theater candy. All in all, it was a simply wonderful day.

~wednesday~

Sadly, a friend's sister passed away and she had to dash out of town, just prior to hordes of family descending on her house for a child's baptism. I was eager to help, which worked out well for everyone. Benjamin's nursery buddy, Sarah, spent a few hours at our place while her dad and other ward members whipped their house into shape. After dropping off Sarah, we headed to Edmonds so Dave could watch Benjamin while I went in search of a new phone. My old phone was on its last leg and this was the first day I was eligible for new, discounted phone. After mulling over reviews and budgets, we decided it would be best to upgrade to the iPhone. I am still trying to figure it all out, but it has worked like a charm in comparison to my Droid.

When we arrived home, I discovered a little box on the porch. Dave's sister, Julie, had kindly left me the best thing ever: an amazing array of delectable treats from NY Cupcakes... and I'd be lying if I said I only ate one. From L to R, the box included a Banana Chocolate Chip, a Lemon Curd (shockingly, my favorite), an Oreo, and a Caramel Brownie. I still can't thank her enough for a much-needed dose of moist cake, topped with fluffy frosting goodness!

~thursday~

After spending the morning at work, I ran to pick up Benjamin from the babysitter and we headed home to get lunch, naps and tidied up. After whipping up dinner, I headed out to La Palmera for a big birthday dinner with Christina, Tamara, Rochelle, Suzanne, Becky, & Jen; the last three of which were celebrating birthdays this week too! While dining on an enchilada/tamale plate, I had the best time ever chatting, laughing and catching up with my girlfriends. They are all such good people, who I admire and adore - they inspire me to be a better friend, wife, mom and woman.

~friday~

I had a million things to do this day, most notably for work. Because I was under a pretty tight deadline, I needed to stay on track so Benjamin enjoyed a lot of face time with Thomas the Train, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Polar Express. Needless to say, when my parents showed up, he was pleased as punch. After opening up my gift from them (iPod player and car adapter - they rock, huh?!), we headed to Suzanne's birthday dinner: a smorgasbord of fondue dips and an array of food to blow the mind of the most devoted foodie. I made the drink, Apple Orchard Punch, which was surprisingly tasty (I'd never made it before). Because we're trying to be good, we didn't eat a ton, but chatted with folks for a bit. After wishing the birthday girl a very happy day, we snuck out and grabbed burritos at Taco del Mar, where we sat and talked a while longer. Another date night in one week with Dave was the best present of all.

~saturday~

The culmination of my birthday week was an outdoor adventure. Along with Dave's brother Jon & his wife, Aubri, as well as our good friend, Bret, we headed out in the wee hours of the morning for Icicle Creek Canyon, just outside Leavenworth. (Thanks to Dave's parents, Benjamin didn't need to tag along on this wintry adventure.) Strapping on snowshoes, we hiked up into the chilly canyon for two miles until we reached Millennial Wall, a popular ice-climbing destination. Because I tweaked my shoulder, I couldn't climb, but I took 240 pictures of the guys in action. The temperature hovered around 20 degrees thanks to the shade of the canyon walls, but I managed to stay warm by moving around, sipping on hot chocolate and wearing many layers of good technical clothing. I'll admit that the elevation gain was a bit hard (I was nursing a yucky cold so my lungs hurt the whole way up) and the snow conditions were not ideal (icy, packed snow does not make for easy snowshoe placement - fell 4 times and nearly rolled my ankle with each step), but it was glorious to be outside on such a beautiful and sunny winter day!

None of the activities were terribly grandiose, but all of the week's celebrations were fun and memorable. As with all things in life, I think the simple moments are the very sweetest.