Another year older....

I just celebrated yet another year of life last Saturday. It's hard to imagine how fast the years seem to go by as life progresses. You look back at pictures of yester-year and can hardly believe you were a little girl in pigtails, running around in tu-tus and bright rouge makeup for dance recitals. There's a little fear that sets in as days pass... but it's nice to know that there's so much more after yet to celebrate.

March 7, 2009.

I only got about 3.5 hours of sleep the night before because I got to my sister's house pretty late after Latin dancing in Sterling. I tried to get a little shut eye before having to take them to the airport in the morning. How is it that everyone (or most everyone) in my familiy is out of the country or going out of the country on my birthday besides me? At least I had the nice weather to look forward to. Anyway... 2:30am rolls around and I wake up to my niece crying upstairs. My sister walks into her room to calm her, and I go back to bed. My phone keeps going off.... sleep. Then Alyssa starts crying again ~3:30am. No way! I may as well get up now since I'll have to be up in the next half an hour or so.....

I have breakfast with my sister, my brother-in-law, and my niece. We pack my car and head down to Reagan around 530am. After I drop them off, I take my time and head over to Gravelly Point Park to watch the sun rising over the Potomac. It's a gorgeous view and not too cold. I take some time to catch up in my journal and enjoy the passing of cyclers and runners. I wish I had my bike at this point.... I head down to Loudon County to commence the hours of studying yet to be done... but first, Emerline needs a carwash...

Studying was quite the disaster. My friends were an influence on my unproductivity as they suggested I take the day off and enjoy my birthday. So I did just that. Some church friends got together to enjoy the 70 degree weather... I enjoyed leisurely reading a book I started instead, and then took a quick nap.

We gathered at the Cheesecake Factory around 7pm. I had already grabbed some pagers, as a 20+ party would require about a 2.5 hour wait. No way! We split up into groups of 5 or 6. I couldn't believe how many people actually showed up! More of my friends showed up as the night progressed.... and I made my rounds to talk to the different tables. Jessica surprised me with a monstrous birthday creation along with everyone at her table coming to sing me happy birthday.... =D

We then headed over to Bowl-America. Some friends from dinner left, while others showed up to bowl. It was sooooooooooooooooo much fun. We bowled, we danced, and we laughed. The Cupid Shuffle and the Macarena were our faves, and we weven got the party next to us dancing! Ha! My friends rock! =D

I am so grateful for the family and friends that I have. This turned out to be the absolute best birthday I've had in YEARS!!!! I haven't had this much fun in a longggggggggggggggg time! Thanks everyone! I love yall!