Happy Birthday, To Me!

Today is my 35th birthday!

I don't mind getting older, actually, I kind of like it.  Maybe because there are no doubts that I am exactly where I am supposed to be on my path and I've accomplished everything that I've hoped to so far, maybe because my daughter is growing and thriving and I'm madly in love with the two greatest people on this planet, or maybe because birthday's are just so much fun!  But either way, I don't mind getting older, at all!  

We are planning a big trip next month, and honestly, it's turning out to be the most expensive trip we will take so far, and maybe ever, so we didn't make any plans for the birthday bonanza we've had going on these last few weeks.
Eric isn't much of a planner, which is fine because I'm a teeny bit obsessive about trip planning and planning in general, and I like that he lets me be nuts about it.  He will help me out and give me a direction when I'm feeling overwhelmed and contributes to the things he'd like to see and do, but mostly it's me that plans all of our trips & vacations.  So I was a little surprised when he told me that he had planned an early birthday date for the two of us at the Wein Expo last weekend!

Hubba hubba!

There was even live music! 

The way to my heart is with wine and Eric knows that- his surprise plans were my idea of a perfect afternoon!  We left the expo with six bottles of wine and I'm not ashamed to admit that we spent the rest of the evening drinking wine at home in our PJ's.  
The next morning we went to the buffet breakfast at the Officer's Club, grabbed a few things at the BX, then napped and watched TV for the rest of the afternoon (without wine).  

Today, for my actual birthday, we didn't have any major plans and most everything is closed on Sundays here anyway.  But last night we did our tradition of birthday boy/girl gets to pick a restaurant for supper.  I so badly wanted HuHot, but opted for an authentic German restaurant instead, since I figured the overall cost of going to the States just for HuHot would probably cost more than the day of my birth is really worth.  And I had hoped to do an impromptu photo session with my little family, but the minute we got started was the minute that Eric got called into work, so I only managed to get just a couple of pictures.

I was going for "interesting" here.

I got spoiled this year and am feeling so overwhelmingly loved today!  My mother-in-law sent me earrings that are gorgeous and will go with anything!  My mom sent me a gift certificate.  Eric ordered me a few things for my camera that haven't arrived yet, and a gift from my dad is on its way too.  I got nail polish, a wine cork holder, and a new lens cap to replace the one that got pickpocketed from me in Rome from Isabelle.  And I got a new camera strap... a vintage world map with a deep purple/maroon backing.... it is SO me!

I'm hoping to get a flash for my camera at some point, but going on vacations is worth more to us than spending money on a flash, and if we are going to continue to live debt free we have to be picky about where we spend our money.  But, I have found that by using a postcard to bounce the built-in flash gives my pictures a good amount of lighting without being so harsh!  I only have a few examples to show you, but that's another blog post.  It's extremely difficult to hold my camera with one hand and then try to focus my lens and hold a postcard with my other hand at the same time, so Eric ordered me this mirror flash diffuser which is just a fraction of the cost of a quality flash!  And I am impatiently waiting for it to arrive!  I am taking pictures for a doula conference later this month and I'll very likely need a good flash for that project, so I'm anxious for this to arrive so that I can start playing with it and see what I think before investing any more money into my camera.  

Very impatiently waiting!

Along with Eric planning the afternoon at the Wein Expo last weekend he surprised me today with a SELFIE STICK!!!!  Hey now, no judging!  There's no shame in my picture-taking-game and they are everywhere here!  
And then, my good friend & neighbor, Melissa, knocked on my door with a gift that made my entire birthday!  My favorite favorite thing to eat- bars that are so worth every single calorie.... Baby Ruth Bars!

My mom makes these bars and I have missed them so much since moving here.  I could not believe that Melissa had made them exactly how my mom does!  This was so unexpected and so special!  A selfie stick and 'Baby Ruth Bars'?!?!!  It just doesn't get any better than that!

The older I get, the more that birthday's feel like any other regular day, but thanks to my family and Facebook, today has felt pretty darn special.  Life is good!  Life isn't always good, but for the most part, it's all I could ever hope for!  Thank you for taking a second to wish me a "Happy Birthday," I haven't been able to keep up with y'all!  I am blessed...