my 23rd

my 23rd birthday was this past Saturday (the 19th) - and can I just say that I am truly blessed beyond measure. On Friday, I was treated to lunch by my best friend, Kaley and her mom at the bakery. It was delicious :) and I had my first piece of cake... caramel - yummy! That day at school, we had parent/teacher conferences so we had no children - it was a peaceful day at the UWACS and I got a lot done schoolwise and in our classroom. The girls at work surprised me with some gifts after lunch - a summer sweater that I immediately put on, and an Alabama tervis tumbler. Kaley gave me a great picture frame with a quote about being friends on it :) can't wait to add some pictures and hang it up! I spent the afternoon with my precious nephew Rhett and little cousin Cole playing outside. That night, we had a birthday dinner at the Country Club. I was super excited this year because Daniel was able to celebrate my birthday with us - he is usually working :( the whole gang was there - even Amanda and Rhett... Dinner was great and I was surprised with a yummy Red Velvet cake made by Laura Booker. I guess I was so excited about cutting the cake, we didn't get a good picture but you get the point...

Saturday, my actual birthday, was perfect :) Daniel woke me up early to give me my present - Costas sunglasses...

I am $5 sunglasses girl so this was a BIG surprise! I got some good use out of them that day because the ENTIRE day was spent on the Tombigbee. And by the time the day was over, my eyes looked like this...

We (Daniel, Me, Morgan, Sara, and Tyler) put in the river at about 10:15 a.m. We rode in creeks, stopped on sand bars, and even had a picnic lunch in one creek. The day was gorgeous and I could not imagine spending my birthday in a better way!

We arrived at Bobby's Fish Camp where we spent the night in their river cabins. I must say that we were all surprised how nice the cabins were :)

and did I mention how much I love having Sara around... having been the only girl around all these boys for most of my life has been fun but it is now MORE fun to have another girl on these trips... and like I said in the last post, she is up for anything :)

We enjoyed a yummy supper and retreated to bed at about 8: 30 - it had been a long day. The ride back Sunday morning was just as pretty and the day was completed with Hardees breakfast!

My 23rd year is already off to a great start. I finish my online class next Saturday - which makes me three hours closer to graduation :)