A Bittersweet Birthday

Well, I celebrated my 33rd birthday yesterday. It was a very unusual day. First of all, it was rainy and cold which around here is pretty much unheard of and it's been this way for about five days which is really unheard of. So I definitely was missing the sunshine. Then of course, Levi chose to be pretty defiant and I had to discipline him several times before lunch. Didn't he know he was supposed to be nice on my birthday!!! :) Anyway, we went to Wal-Mart and I noticed I had a voicemail. I listened to it while Levi was watching the fish in the pet department. My good friends from Good Shepherd Preschool where I worked for five years while living in Illinois, called me and sang Happy Birthday! I immediately started crying and seriously couldn't stop for most of the day. I just miss working with them and seeing them almost every day so much. Later in the day, I tried to lay down for a nap while Levi was napping thinking it would help with my crazy emotions when two more good friends from Illinois called and sang Happy Birthday to me too! I visited with one of them for quite a while and couldn't help but bawl my eyes out after we hung up. So much for napping and trying to get my emotions under control!

Later that night, some of our life group came over and they brought me a Baskin Robbins cholocate mint ice cream cake which is my absolute favorite birthday cake! Jason didn't know they were bringing it and he brought me a Snickers cake with "Happy 33rd Kelli" written on it and everything! How thoughtful! So even after a sad day of missing my good friends in Illinois, I was blessed with an evening of hanging out and playing games with my new friends in Arizona. Overall, this morning as I write, I'm just overwhelmed with thankfulness that I have so many friends across the country. I've been addressing Christmas letters to people in Nebraska, Kentucky, Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, Illinois, and New Hampshire. Thank you for your friendship! I am so blessed!

On my way to bed last night, I'm pretty sure I said "Boy, I'm glad this day's over." Heeheehee. And another year begins...