The Big Three-Oh!

Husband hit the big three-oh a few days ago. I wanted to make his 30th birthday special and when I saw this idea on Pinterest about a daughter filling 60 envelopes with memories from family and friends for her father's 60th birthday, I knew I had struck gold. I made a Facebook group, sent out emails, and basically nagged people to send me their memories. Thankfully, Husband's family and friends came through (despite my multiple "friendly" reminders!) and I was able to fill 30 envelopes with memories and birthday wishes. It was hard keeping this a secret, and at one point I thought Husband was on to me: I can't remember what we were talking about, but one night he made some comment about collecting memories for my birthday. Pretty sure my heart stopped for a second or two as my brain screamed "He knows! He knows!" Turns out, it was just some random comment because Husband had NO IDEA what I was doing. Whew!

All 30 envelopes, bundled and ready for reading

He sure was surprised

No knives here; I thought a letter opener was a better idea

Reading all those letters took awhile 

There was a lot of laughter as he read through the memories 

I love this picture! 

Turning 21...again and again!

We recently celebrated my birthday. This year, I turned 21...again! (Don't ask how many times I have turned 21. That really is none of your business!) The day started with presents. For as long as I can remember my birthday presents have always gone under the Christmas tree. It is like Christmas all over again, except all the focus is on me! This year, Husband scored major points with the presents. He got me an authentic Russian Nesting Doll! I have always wanted one and must have mentioned this to him once upon a time, and for some reason, he remembered! We have a friend who went to Russia this summer and Husband arranged for her to purchase a doll, and ship it to him. So, he has had this present in the works since August! I was so excited when I opened the doll! I love it! I even named it Ella in honour of my friend who picked it out.

Little did I know that this box held my beautiful nesting dolls!

My dolls!

Usually I go to a movie on my birthday, but this year there wasn't anything that I wanted to see. Yes I know that Avatar is really, really good, but there is no way I could sit through a movie that is over 3 hours long without peeing my pants! Instead of a movie, we decided to visit a town nearby called Gruene (It's pronounced Green, in case you were wondering). Gruene is a little town with cute shops and great restaurants. We at lunch at an old gristmill. The weather was so nice that we were able to enjoy our meal outside while overlooking the Guadalupe River.

The Guadalupe River

Gruene water tower

This cat wandered from table to table looking for food.

The view from our table

Happy birthday to me!