My 32nd Birthday

I will start off by saying that yes, I am a spoiled princess and I can be very moody.  Why would my birthday be any different?  Of course most of the family showed up at my parents for breakfast.  My mom does bacon, eggs and pancakes most days.  Today my sister stepped in and made crescent roll French Toast.  And since I am a spoiled princess I wanted regular French Toast so my sister made that for me and called me a piggy since I wanted 3 slices.  I love French Toast and could eat it every day.  Mind you I don't like bacon and didn't have any other breakfast goodies.  

 After breakfast people just hung around the yard and Michael climbed all over his car.  In and out, stand on the seat, sit down, turn the key, attempt to "squeak" the horn.

 I had him open our other gift.  He loved gift number 2 from us.  A box of tissues that he promptly started to pull out one at a time.  Very gently he pulled them out and left them all over the place.

 It is totally magical little dude how they keep coming out of the box.  They seem to be never ending.

 Manfriend and I took a walk up to the lake and enjoyed the cool temperatures and breeze.  The lake was still kind of rough but not as bad as the day before.  My mom let some Ben & Jerry's Triple Caramel Chunk ice cream get soft and put it in an Oreo pie crust, drizzled with hot fudge for my cake.  My moody self kicked in and complained about the hot fudge ruining the ice cream since it took away from the slight caramel flavor.  She was really worried about not even being able to make me a cake.  I was surprised that she did this for me and am thankful she did, although I told her it was technically a pie (told you I was in a mood).

 I took a nap on the couch and my parents took a nap on the hammock outside.  That night was the poker game that usually takes place on the 4th.  There is a new winner in town, Mr. Lucky (my dad).  He won $20 (which is small for the game that usually has the winner taking home about $80+).

 The first one out was a shocker to all.  Manfriend was the loser and winner of the poop.  Must be because I didn't sit in the cottage and "cheer" for you.  I chose to watch Aladdin on the projection screen set up that they have outside for night movies.  My feet got about 4 bug bites each and those are the only bites I have.  Lucky for me they only bother me when I put on my shoes for a run (grrrr).

 And, since I warned that I am a spoiled Princess I received these adorable t-shirts from my Momma and Papa Bear.  They are just perfect for me and I look forward to wearing them all the time.

 I was also given some SparkleSkirts.  yay for running stuff that is useful and that I love.  I was also given a jar of homemade strawberry jam in a wine bag.  They were hoping to trick me but some liquor was given to me a few weeks ago (Firefly Sweet Tea vodka--delicious mixed with lemonade).

 The big birthday surprise came in the form of the Midnight with Mickey Vera Bradley Hipster.  I love my tote that Luke got me around our anniversary and I have the zip ID case my mom got me for when I go to schools and have to leave ID and keys at the main office.  I love the print and my parents decided that it would be nice for me to have this cute little purse for when I travel.

I had a wonderful birthday and am so appreciative of everything my parents do for me and not just on my birthday but throughout the year.  Even though my birthday is right after the 4th they still find a way to make it a special day for me, despite the craziness of lots of family and such around the cottage.

Happy 4th and Birthday!

Happy 4th of July to everyone and a very happy first birthday to my nephew Michael.  You are still a little dude but we love having you in our family.  Hope you enjoy your first birthday and that your mommy and daddy take lots of pictures or you won't remember it!  Oh, and when people tell you the fireworks are for you, they are liars but it's ok if you want to pretend they really are for you cause you are special!  And some "old" photos of you and me hangin' out since I don't have any recent ones.

Over the Weekend...

I volunteered with friends and family to work the water stop at Johnny's Running of the Green 5 Mile Race.  Despite it being chilly we all had a wonderful time and enjoyed munching on some cookies and chocolate milk.  

 We offered water to the top runners but would you believe that not one of them stopped?  Even if it was hot we probably wouldn't have had a taker.

 On Sunday Luke and I went to a little girls 3rd birthday party.  It was a Frozen theme and the homemade cake was delicious.  There was swimming for a little bit and then pizza, presents and cake.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Old Man Luke

Luke turned 30 over the weekend.  He is officially part of the old man club.

 I decided to have a mini- surprise party for him at the Coach on Tuesday for chicken wings.  He suspected nothing and is usually late to arrive.  Well, the bugger decided to come early and ruined his surprise party.  Oh well.  He enjoyed his cake very much (a toilet) and wore his hat the entire dinner.

 Big thanks to the family that came for his birthday.  We kept it simple and just those that typically show up anyways on a Tuesday night for wings.  Then I let his brother plan a party for his family.  Luke didn't really want anything other than to chill with some friends.

 Knowing that we were going to a local bar/pub in the area I opted for cupcakes this time and kept with the toilet theme.  Luke loved them but I didn't have any yellow sprinkles that would have most definitely classed up the decor.

 I was the designated driver for the evening and after taking a shot upon first arriving at the bar to celebrate I stuck with water the rest of the  night and we left almost 5 hours later.  I was exhausted but very entertained by some older folks at the bar dancing and having a great time.

 My handsome Manfriend with his cousin Amber and brother John.  Over about 5 bowls of popcorn the decided that next year they are going to drive down to visit their grandparents in Florida for spring break.

 What Luke was most excited about--his Best Friend from elementary and high school coming and hanging out all evening.  Zach and Kelli (his wife) were there to support all evening.

 At one point Luke tried to learn the cotton-eyed Joe dance from Des (dating John).  We were entertained.  A fun night was had by all.  Happy Birthday Old Man!

Happy Birthday Luke!

My handsome Manfriend is 29 years old!  For his birthday my parents took us to dinner and a Knighthawks lacrosse game last weekend.  We had our photo taken in the photo booth and later in the game they have the fan photo of the game...it was Luke and I!  Happy Birthday to Luke...the best lovie pie ever. The last photo is the winner.

Welcome to the OLD club!

Happy Birthday to my best friend Miss D!  She is turning 30 today.  Who else would take you to a State Park and walk you through a cross country course so you could photograph it since it would be the site of the state meet?  She will meet you at a cross country race that you aren't even running since you coach.  It will take her about 2 hours of trains and traffic but it's worth getting the chance to catch up for just a bit.

And who else can provide hours of entertainment and spout out random Law and Order information? We met in college and probably have the only blind 800 meter relay handoff in the history of the relay. We even re-enacted the event on my wedding day--that's a true friend, bringing her running shoes for less than 25 meters (well, we planned to do the airport 5k that day but I was defeated in my attempt to convince others that it was a good idea wedding morning).

Happy 30th Dani!  Wishing you all the best in the years to come! 

My Dress... well the idea

sorry it's blurry

Part of my birthday gift from my parents is a custom made Disney Dumbo dress!  So excited about this.  I found this picture in January and tried to convince my mom that I needed one but with Dumbo to run the Tinkerbell race in about a week.  As you may have figured out the dress didn't exactly happen.  My mom made a phone call to Roseanne and e-mailed her the picture.  She thinks it is a fun project.  We met with her the other day and she sketched out the dress and took measurements.

Mom and I went to pick out the fabric.  Dumbo will be on purple, yellow and green panels with all of the in between panels black/white dots.  At the bottom we will have a wide yellow rick rack (squiggly ribbon) and then small black/white dots.  I am going to just wear a wide strap tank top with the skirt part and create cap sleeves with red/yellow fabric to look like Dumbo's collar.

Holy Cow I'm OLD

It's official, I'm old.  I turned 30.  Eating breakfast Luke said, "how does it feel to be old?"  I quickly replied that I still had a few hours left until I "officially" turned 30 so I'm not old yet.  We didn't do anything fancy for my birthday.  My mom called and asked if Papa Bear and her could take us out to dinner at Olive Garden.  So we went to dinner. They brought over a cake sang to me.

Dinner was good and when we got home I quickly busted out the materials for a Dole-Whip.  The mix arrived and I couldn't wait to try it.   Mom and I started that project while Papa Bear and Luke put in my new clothesline.  Very excited about having sheets hung on the line to dry--they always smell so good.

Dad holding a shovel over Luke

Back to the food.  The mix came from Hawaii, direct from the Dole plantation.  It smelled so good.  This is what one bag of mix looks like.  I ordered 2 and have a feeling that by the time September rolls around I'll be ordering another 2.  So yummy.

Part of the mix added to water and what the mix looks like in the measuring cup.  I was too excited for detailed photos of the process.  Maybe another time if anyone really cares.  The mix comes with directions.  Below it is starting to get slushy looking.  It smelled delightful the entire time.  Unfortunately it didn't get past the extreme slush phase.  I blame it on the house being close to 80 degrees.  It was Dole-whip goodness anyways though.  

 I didn't want to waste any of the yummy goodness so I was licking it off the mixing spatula thing.  I put on the Tiki Room song from Disney and enjoyed my special treat.  Looking forward to meeting with someone to discuss a very special dress I am having made as part of my birthday gift from my parents.  It involves my favorite character :)

 

Happy Birthday Luke!

Happy Birthday to Manfriend! We are having ham, smashed potatoes, candy gravy, carrots and corn for dinner. I've made him a white cake with raspberry filling and chocolate frosting. Love you handsome and hope you have a birthday that is just as wonderful as you! Enjoy the ipad2 Thanks for always making me laugh and taking care of me.