Happy Birthday...

...to me!! (Not to sound conceded)

Thursday, the 29th was my 33rd birthday. I forget that I am that old. I can't believe that middle age is around the corner. I still feel like a younger person, you know like 20 something. I guess that is just not reality for me.

My birthday was great. I am so loved, by so many people. I had visits, phone calls, emails, text messages, FB was lit up with birthday wishes. My friend Trisha Willard showed up and took my kids for the night so Josh and I could go out.

He took me to Casa Molina. It is fabulous Mexican food. A little pricey, but the portions are huge and the food is delish! I was trying to decide if I wanted to go to the movies - I have really wanted to go see FAME (it is just the dancer in me). But I decided just to RedBox it and we had a movie in. It was great having some alone time that didn't start at 10 or 11pm. Thanks Trisha!

Josh surprised me with a new computer. Mine was probably about 7 or 8 years old. It would take forever to load anything. I could walk out of the room and come back and it would still be loading. Last night he got my new computer all hooked up and I am flying now - loving it! I think the driving motivation was that I would almost be in tears throughout this month as my sister's move got closer and I knew that my computer would not support Skype or IM video program to be able to "talk" with my sister in China.

The other great thing came from my parents (with the support and help of my brother and sister). Last weekend I was in the Phoenix area helping my sister finalize the emptying of her house and saying good-bye. Friday night she and Mom took me out and got me a pedicure and then we went shopping for the two of them. I am a great personal shopper (when I am not shopping for myself). We found them some great deals!!! When I got back to my parents' house my mom goes and stands by my car and says Happy Birthday. I was very confused. My car has been acting up while starting, I thought it was just the battery. The one we had was under warranty, on Tuesday of that week I went and had it tested and they said the result was that it was unstable and changed it out. But, later that day it was still having problems. So it had to be the starter. It seems like a lot of things are breaking and hitting us financially. I was frustrated to have one more thing (well it was several - the guy at Checker also told me about several other things he saw while he was changing out my battery and counselled me to get it in soon to get these several things fixed). We could have made it all work, but I was frustrated that day and turned to the scriptures for answers. I ended up turning to this scripture in the Book of Mormon - Moroni 7:26, "...Whatsoever thing ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is good, in faith believing that ye shall receive, behold it shall be done unto you." I just was astounded by that promise. Over the last several weeks I actually have been wondering if I had enough faith in life. I decided to put it to the test. I kept praying over and over that this thing would resolve itself. I was praying that I would find a way to have it replaced or that somehow it would miraculously fix itself. This became a constant thought and prayer in my heart for the rest of the week. I didn't know how any of it would work out; I was just simply trying to have enough faith. When my mom said, "Happy Birthday, we replaced your starter." I just started crying. While I was gone with my sister and mom getting our pedicures and shopping, Dad & my brother, Drew, put the starter into the car. I know that until they read this, they won't know the depth of that gift. It was a direct answer to my prayer. Not at all how I had expected it; I wouldn't have never imagined that this would be the answer, but it was the answer nonetheless. I love my parents. I am grateful that they followed that prompting to do that for my birthday. It taught me another great lesson about faith and answers to prayers. Needless to say, to have a gift of this magnitude and then saying good-bye to my sister, Friday night & Saturday was an extremely emotional time for me.

All in all, it was an amazing birthday - starting with last week and through this week. My kids reminded me every single day this week of when my birthday was. They were so excited that they each woke up saying Happy Birthday Mommy. I love my family and friends. They are so special to me. The most important birthday present was the reminder of how loved I truly am!!!!!