many wishes and lots of love on 3.13.10

So far, I have been twenty-five for two days and am still smiling from having such a remarkable birthday...

My birthday started off with mant texts from family and friends (even one from Germany from Tess and Ryan!) and my first phone call at 9 AM from Philip. Once he asked if I was awake, which I was, he asked me to sign onto my computer and he was going to send me a link. He informed me that I was to click on the link he sent me and pick out something on that page. The link took me here:

.com

After the page uploaded and I realized where I was, I got excited, but confused at the same time. "But you already gave me my birthday present!" I reminded him. I could tell he was smiling by this point and reassured me that he remembered, but he was taking me shopping for my birthday too. Was he serious? I wanted to talk him out of it and convince him that he had already done enough. Needless to say, a sweater in a beautiful color called "papaya", a blue dress and teal cardigan later... Phil had wished me birthday again with the help of Ann Taylor Loft. I enjoyed telling everyone that on my birthday, Phil took me shopping. How thoughtful is he? And sweet?.. and really good at surprising me! And he certainly knows how to make us feel close, even though we are separated by too many miles and seven hours. The distance could have felt longer on my birthday, but he didn't let it. I love him for that. I love him for just wanting to make me happy. Although, he had already accomplished that the day he walked into my life.

Did you "Spring Forward" your clock? Did you know that Iraq does not Spring Forward or Fall Back? Philip and I started our deployment being seven hours apart, then went to eight hours apart, and now we are back to seven. Luckily, we will stay only seven hours apart until he comes home this summer.


Are you keeping up with our countdown until R&R? ...19 days!


Even though Philip wasn't with me on my birthday, I was surrounded by close friends, which was helpful and exactly the way I wanted it. I went to lunch with Eric, one of my oldest and closest friends from high school. We talked about life and upcoming plans and Philip coming home soon. I also enjoyed a mid-twenties nap in the middle of the afternoon. Later that evening, Courtney, Lauren and Jessie came over to my house. I opened my birthday presents and loved every single one. I wanted to share what Lauren packed in my new picnic basket:

I would like to note that this picnic basket will travel up to Charlottesville with me in 18 days. It will then be packed with lunch and other picnic items for a beautiful, romantic picnic in the meadows with Philip. I can't wait!

A moose photo album because I love moose and pictures...

A children's book of "First Prayers" to add to my collection!

Also, not shown, but still loved very much: a perfect size jewelry box that was much needed for my dresser and a notepad for a Wedding To-Do List :) So cute. Even the wrapping paper was fun and happy. Ice cream cake, and homemade chocolate fudge cake...with twenty-five candles!

This is Court's puppy dog, Sophie (Macie wasn't with me for my birthday...) Courtney got me a gift certificate for a manicure/pedicure, which is #6 on my list!

Later that evening, we had a fantastic dinner at Waterman's...with Orange Crushes!

Lauren, Me, Court and Jessie

The day after my birthday, March 14th, I met one of the sweetest people I work with at Corporate Landing, Kristen Brinkman, for lunch at Red Robin. (One of my all-time favorite places to eat- go figure, cheeseburgers and ketchup!) I knew that her son, Conrad, who is one of my favorite SCA kids, and his little brother, Carson would join us. Little did I know, that Autumn would be there too! Surprise! Conrad and Autumn both come from amazing families and are the sweetest, most well-mannered kids you will ever meet. Not to mention, they make me laugh and smile on any given occasion. We had a great lunch and I really felt blessed to be having a lunch date with some of my favorite people! Kristen's husband comes home from his deployment on Wednesday. She reminds me a lot of my mother- very dedicated to her husband and family. She is supermom and does it all while dad is away... I hope I can be that rock for my family one day. For my birthday, she made me an Army blanket! I was so excited and fell in love with it. It helps to snuggle up with it while Phil is gone... but I can't wait to curl up and watch a movie with both of us on the couch. Go Army! (I'm glad Kristen's husband didn't see this, he's in the Navy and wouldn't have liked it too much) Did you know that I grew up Navy? I was a total daddy's girl and was very much raised to say "Go Navy...Beat Army." I guess I have to say the opposite now. I'm proud to be an Army girlfriend and a Navy daughter. Is that fair to say? :)

Here's the blanket Kristen made:

One last birthday gift, was from Autumn. She was one of my students last year and made such a huge impact on me as a teacher, and as a person. She's beautiful, inside and out and is such a joy to be around. Today, she came to my classroom with a big smile on her face (as always). She made me a blue and clear beaded bracelet. It's beautiful, and fits my tiny wrist perfectly. She also made me a card that brought tears to my eyes. She made the card from scratch and is such a crafty little thing, but what she wrote meant the world to me:

Can you read it? I will type it just incase you can't...

Ms. Daivs,

Happy Birthday!!! I think you are an amazing person. You are also very pretty. :) You are a great teacher and an awesome sca sponsor. You are one of my idols. I hope that one day i will be just like you. :) To me you like an older sister. Mr. Phil is very lucky to have you as his wife one day. I can't wait for your wedding and to be apart of it means a lotto me. Thank you so much for being in my life. Ms. Davis you rock!!! :)

Love, Autumn

So my birthday is over...but this year is going to be an incredible journey. I am blessed to have such an amazing man in my life and can't wait for our happily ever after to begin.