Birthday Blog

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!




I just LOOOOOVE birthdays. I think I may love birthdays more than anyone I know. I don't think there will ever be a time that I will NOT be excited about my birthday. I guess it's just the Leo in me. :-)

Today, on my birthday, it is raining. I think God is crying because I am actually 29 years old. Just kidding. It has been kind of a dreary, blah day, which is very unlikely for my birthday. I don't ever remember having had a rainy birthday. It kind of makes me want to stomp my foot and say, "HEY!! What's going on here, weather (God)!?!? Don't you know it's my BIRTHDAY??? You're supposed to be NICE!" But then I remember that today is a day just like any other day, and in the grand scheme of things, it's not so special after all.

Yesterday I had to get my driver's license renewed. I guess I had never signed up to be an organ donor, so yesterday I made sure that I did. Now my license has a little heart on the bottom left corner. It's kind of morbid to talk about organ donation on my birthday, but I think it proves an important point -

We are all here for a very short time. We may think our lives are pretty special, and the world will be much worse off when we are gone. Really, though, we are so small and insignificant that the world will just keep on spinning, and the rain will keep on falling, and the sun will keep on shining, and people will keep on living long after we're gone.

So today, on the beginning of my 29th year of life, I am going to throw my hands up to heavens in thankfulness for each breath I have been given, and each day I have been allowed to live. I am just glad to be here.

Thanks to all of you for sharing it with me.....

HOLLA -

Fave Pics from Colorado Trip

Okay, so here are my favorite pictures from each day of the trip. I tried to include just one a day, but for some days, that was impossible. Here you go!


SATURDAY

Are we there yet?????


SUNDAY

At the bottom of Black Canyon near Montrose, CO


My uncle Jim searching for treasures


Jane eating dirt. :-)


MONDAY

The girls decided to give everyone massages....this was a great idea.


TUESDAY

The Horse Whisperer...at my aunt Thelma's house near Whitewater, CO.


My 88 year-old grandpa decided it would be fun to ride a horse bareback...


and then hop on a four-wheeler. :-)




WEDNESDAY

From the top of Box Canyon in Ouray, CO.


My favorite place of the trip....absolutely breathtaking. If you look across the canyon, you can see a waterfall, which Ben hiked to (while I was shopping).


THURSDAY

Kate's green bubble gum that I worked REALLY hard to get out of the stupid candy machine. (It was worth it.)


FRIDAY

My Maria...she drove down from Denver to spend the day (and night!) with us. It was awesome.


Kate feeling the stress of climbing rocks at the Garden of the Gods.


Kate and Uncle Benny playing around...love this one.


Jane trying to escape the carseat. She did this many times whilst on this trip. :-)



The whole (travelin') Fam Damily at my late aunt Jean's house.


SATURDAY

And.....we're done.

Back to Life, Back to Reality...

Okay, we're back from vacation. I will definitely blog more about this in detail, but for now I'll say that we had an AMAZING time, and are very glad to be home. We already miss the mountains, and spending time with the three lovely ladies (my nieces Tess, Kate, and Jane). HOWEVER, this week is going to be BU-SY...there is so much to do!!!

Tomorrow I will be buying baskets for the new pine table I bought in Colorado - thanks to my awesome dad for letting me bring it back in his truck!!!. I will also be trekking back to yoga (Thank God) and heading to the DMV to get a new driver's license. Here's to lying about my weight for a few more years.....
I will also be doing homework for grad class. I only have two more weeks of this one, and I am ready to move on, although I have enjoyed reading some books that I ordinarily might not have read. (ANOTHER BLOG IDEA - CHECK!)

Tuesday is my B-DAY - YEAH!!!! I am meeting my friend Patty on the Plaza for a lovely lunch, and then I plan on doing some shopping and waiting until Ben comes home so we can go out for a birthday DINNER! I better stop eating now so I'll have room.....

Wednesday is grad class, and my friends Becky and Amanda are coming over afterwards for a sleepover! Amanda's bday is on the 30th, so we are having a dual-celebration. I am so thrilled to have met and befriended these awesome girls - we are going to have a blast!!!

Thursday will be a read/work/organize day, along with a late birthday dinner with friends Carrie and Liz. Holy gorging, Batman.

Friday is more of Thursday, and Saturday I have a hair appointment. These roots have been showing for WAY TOO LONG!!! I am only going in for a trim in the haircut department, but I think this will be the last visit before I give my hair the judo-chop. It has been so fun growing it out, but with the Fall comes change, and I will be ready.

So that's my week ahead - I am envisioning a fantastic year as an almost-30-year-old, although 29 seems pretty mediocre. We'll see what we can do about that....

:-)

HOLLA -

WTF?????

Bonjour!

Since I can't figure out the friggin' video blog thing, here's a picture from my webcam, with an added little feature. :-)

There are all kinds of cute little things you can put on top of or around a picture - it's so fun!!! Once you choose a feature, it will follow your head around so that it stays on you know matter what pose you're in. TECHNOLOGY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do happen to love France and anything that has to do with it. My favorite teacher of all time was my French teacher, Mrs. Barmann. Some kids were scared of her, but she was AMAZING, and I learned more from her in four years that I have ever learned from any other teacher combined, I'm pretty sure.

I got to go to France my Junior year of high school, and I'll never forget it. The coolest thing about being there was that we learned so much about it before we went, which is why we appreciated it so much more. We studied French-Impressionist art, important buildings, culture, and of course, the language. We even marched side-by-side into Notre Dame Cathedral on Easter Sunday just so we could get the BEST seats. Keep in mind that Madame's foot was in a brace the whole time - it didn't even phase her.

My good, good friend Michael Brown tried to import about 50 mini Eiffel Towers back to the U.S., and about got arrested by customs because they looked so suspicious going through security. If you knew Michael Brown, however, you would not be surprised by this.

I wish I remembered more French - I would love to say I spoke fluently, but alas, I remember little.

Maybe someday I'll have the opportunity to go back there and brush up on my French. For now, enjoy my chic beret.....

AU BIENTOT!!! (that's HOLLA in French. :-))

BLOG LAZY

I haven't blogged in a while.

It's not that I can't think of things to blog about...I can think of plenty! I just find myself relaxing into the lazy days of summer and trying to disconnect somewhat from the technical world to enjoy my favorite time of year.

So, for now, I'll just share with you a few thing that you've missed since I blogged last. I apologize for the lack of details. :-)

YOGA - my new obsession
MOVIES - can never watch enough of them
TRANSFORMERS - pretty good, for a boy movie
UP - cute, especially with two nieces in tow
SWIMMING - as close to heaven as one can get
FRIENDS - thankful, thankful, thankful
GRAD CLASS - almost done!!!
FAMILY - Bennet Spring down, COLORADO comin' up!
CRAFTS - need to get my butt in gear and make some
BIBLE SCHOOL - getting ready to learn songs for
FAT - still on my rear
BEN - can't get enough time with this guy
CONCERTS - Carbon Leaf, already counting down to Dave
DMB - new CD - love it
PASTELS - my new artistic endeavor
BIRTHDAY - on the 28th!!
ANNIVERSARY - anyone have any good ideas for dinner???
FAITH - more and more every day
FIREWORKS - last night at Mom and Dad's - Ben outdid himself!!
COLORING - in my new book that Mom got me - you're never too old for coloring.
BUMPITS - I'm not ashamed to say that I bought these and they are AMAZING.


Okay, that's all I can think of for now. Hope your summer is full of fun and excitement, too - that's what summers are for.




HOLLA -