What a Great Birthday!!!

Where to start!?! Well, I got blog comments, and facebook wall writings and myspace comments, text messages, and phone messages from many many friends and family wishing me a happy birthday. That was cool!

My sisters both called me. Sam sang happy birthday for me...it was so cute! That reminds me of something hilarious. It was someone's birthday and Matt (Sam's dad) was singing that 50 cent song that goes, "Hey, shawty it's yo birfday we're gon' party like it's yo birfday, We gon' sip Bacardi likes it's yo birfday!" After that last line Sam says, "I want to sleep in the car likes it's my birthday!" I think we all like the Sam heard the line, better than the original. Funny!

Wednesday (the day before my birthday) Marley and I went to the park for the ward playdate. One of the mothers there was having her birthday and she was also turning 29! (Oh my goodness, I can't believe I'm 29!?!?) So, I said, "I'm turning 29 tomorrow!" Then there was another mother turning 29 on Friday! Three birthdays in a row and we were all turning 29!

The woman's whose birthday was on Friday didn't hear that I was going to be 29 also, she just heard that my birthday was the next day and she said, "Well, at least you're not going to be as old as us!" And I said, "You're going to be 29, right?" and she said, "Yes!" I said, "Me too!" She said, "Wow! You don't look that old." That made my day...though I don't think either of them look 29 either. I should have told them.

So, my friend Shalantie found out about my birthday (from blog comments) and immediately contacted me to see if I had any fun plans. I told her that Nathan and I were going out to dinner but other than that I would have to check with Nathan, when he got home from school. She told me to let her know because she wanted to make sure I had a special day.

I forgot that Nathan is on campus all day on Thursdays so I let Shalantie know and we decided to get together. We had so much fun and the day went by SO FAST!

Here's a recap of the day and what I got. First off I have to thank my mom for remembering my birthday and even sending a package well in advanced. My mom sent me money so we could get a Sam's Club membership. I thought I preferred Costco, but the closet one is in Omaha, a little to far. But, there is a Sam's Club here in Lincoln, we got the membership last Friday and it seems EXACTLY like Costco...just no Kirkland brand. Good enough! We also saved 13 cents per gallon on gas!!! Wahoo! Seeing savings already!

My mom had also sent a HUGE bag of halloween candy...which I'm sad and yet ashamed to admit is already gone! But, it was SO GOOD! She had also thrown in a $20 bill so I have ordered a tripod online. I know that sounds funny and nerdy and it kinda is...but, I'm sick of being places and wanting to take a family picture and nobody is around to take it for us...so, we'll be nerds and use a tripod. So, that's all the stuff from my mom. THANK YOU!!!

I got a package from Lynette, Nathan's mom. It had a present for me, all wrapped so I set that aside for opening later in the day with Nathan. It had a cute new outfit for Marley. This is it. I know I went a little camera crazy as usual...but, I'm sure none of you mind.

SO CUTE! Her legs are stiff and straight in this pic. I don't know why but when she does this she reminds me of a witch about to crash on her broom.



Here she is in action. Always moving!



Here's her big smile! What a great smile!



Lounging, cross legged.



And sucking on her hand. Always must be sucking.



Here is the cute hat and bear that Grandma Nettie also sent.



Marley is really starting to ham up her smile when we get the camera out...how can she already know!?!?



Shalantie took me out to lunch at a place called Dino's. It was really good! It's a bar & grill place, kinda like Chilies...but, this seems to be the only one. It was very nice and had great service.



Shalantie feeding Marley her lunch.

Yummy!

After lunch we ran some errands that I had been needing to get done and then went and looked at what was on sale at Old Navy. I got a new shirt for a great price!

Shalantie offered to watch Marley while Nathan and I went to dinner...a real date!!! So, I picked up Nathan and we went home so I could freshen up for my date and open some presents!



I got Newsies, My Fair Lady and The Music Man from Lynette. Yeah! More great DVD's!



Since it was my birthday I got to pick where we went to dinner! I've had this place picked out since we moved here. It's a Mongolian grill and the missionaries in Montana often frequented the Mongolian grills. The ones we went to in Montana though were not as nice as this one. It was way nicer than I expected.



Hot and Spicy Soup. sO gOoD!



At Mongolian Grills you make your own dinner, pick your raw meat, noodles and vegies and then there is a huge grill and you watch these guys cook it. It's fun and so yummy. They also have sauces and oils that you put on to flavor it yourself. You can make your own recipe with any 5-6 laddles of sauce and 1-2 laddles of oil. OR they have recipes up on a board that you can follow. I always followed a recipe and Nathan always made up his own.



Now we know where Marley gets her hammy smile!



That's better!




Here's the grill.

Marley, Shalantie and JJ. They are great friends! We picked Marley up around 7 and then we just chatted with them until about 8. We really love them! I think one day I'll have a whole blog post about how cool they are...yes, I think so.

Since we had fun chatting with them we got home a little past Marley's bedtime and with such an eventful day she was pooped and fell asleep in the car on the way home. That kinda ruined Nathan's plans of how to present Marley's gift to me...she needed to be present. But, a babies gotta sleep! So, it was just me and Nathan for the rest of the present opening. And because we were tired too, I didn't take pics of his gifts until the next day.

Here's a picture of Marley the morning after the par-tay!

I got a casserole dish from Marley. Nathan was going to put her in the dish with a sign that says, "I'm a ham." But, she was asleep. Oh well. Cute idea.

I also got my favorite book and favoriate movie from Nathan. One day I'll blog just about those two favorites...in two separate blogs, of course.

I also got a paper towel holder. It fastens up under neath the cabinets. We keep looking at little plastic ones. He found a nice one! It's cute!
I got the first Fabelhaven book from Julie. It looks/sounds good. And OF COURSE, Nathan has already read it...no, not before I got it...SINCE I got it! He's such a fast reader!
This pic is kinda dark but, we got the cutting board for our wedding and we've never been able to find the right kind of oil to keep it nice. Nathan found it and surprised me with it. So cool!
And lastly, the next day we had cheese cake and raspberry topping! Per my request. I'm gonna have another blog all about those raspberries. SO good!
This picture does not do this cheese cake justice. So delicious!

Well, thank you all so much for the happy birthday wishes and gifts and happy thoughts sent my way! It was a wonderful day! I still can't believe I'm 29. Weird! But, nice!