So Wonderful It's Still Worth Talking About

It's always so wonderful on my birthday when the people who love me go out of their way to show me how much they appreciate my life and who I am. It's amazing. It's amazing to feel that type of love. This year, for my 27th birthday, my friends and family showed me such a remarkable time. My birthday was on a Friday and after what seemed like a party all day that involved Baklava and lemon cupcakes, my mom picked me up from my apartment and drove us down to the beach. We stayed in a tiny motel, ate fried chicken for dinner, and drank strawberry wine under the moonlight by the beach. We had made so many jokes about my "aging" because I had on long mom-shorts, so it was only fitting that our room had these two old rocking chairs out front.

The next day we drove to my Aunt & Uncles beach house and my uncle took us around to small islands only accessible by boat to look for shells. I've never had that type of experience before, but apparently there's a big party scene on these islands where people with boats just pull up, jump off, and anchor down for a while before moving to the next location. I felt like I was in a Kenny Chesney video.

That evening we went to a pool party at their community and I realized I was so sun burnt from digging in the sand for hours with my aunt. I didn't let that stop me from going down what seemed like a dangerously over-waxed, but totally fun, water slide repeatedly. The next morning, on Sunday, I got my uncle to wake up at 6am and take us back to one of the islands we had been at the day before so that my mom, aunt, and I could see what the tide brought in. This was the most beautiful part of this trip.

No one else was on the island. It was quiet except for the sound of the waves and birds. It felt like something you would read about in children's books- like we were searching the treasures the ocean brought during the night.

AND, as if this entire weekend could not end on a more beautiful note, we came upon a school of dolphins on our boat ride back.

This entire weekend was so beautiful. From start to finish. I feel so thankful to have special people in my life who do these special things for me.