Birthday Weekend

On Saturday morning my friend, Blair, picked me up and had Dunkin Donuts coffee and breakfast in the car. From there we headed to Orlando and spent the whole day at Epcot.

It was a gorgeous day. I also highly recommend taking up Disney on their offer to let you in free for your birthday. I actually had a ticket that I needed to use before I moved, so I received a birthday gift card (valued at the price of an adult admission).

This Saab convertible was outside one of the rides...I told Blair she shouldn't have...she just laughed!

We spent the night right outside of Downtown Disney and then headed back to the parks on Saturday. Our goal was to hit the other three parks, but we did not quite achieve our goal. We started at Hollywood Studios were we hit the three main attractions: Tower of Terror, Rocking Roller Coaster, and the new Toy Story ride.

That would be runners in the Disney marathon behind me.

Then we headed to Magic Kingdom and stayed for the 3:00 parade.

Jeff, this picture is just for you...it was taken January 11th.

We tried to go to the Hall of Presidents before "change" occurred...we were too late!

Then we boarded the bus to head to Animal Kingdom only to be informed that it was closing in a little over an hour...we ended up coming home. Of course that gave me time to get a few boxes packed.

The Rest

Sorry for the delay. I spent my birthday weekend at Disney World and got back earlier this evening. I'll post some pics later, but here is the rest of my list:

1. Training and completing a half marathon with a good friend three years ago.
2. Going to a water park in Taiwan...oh the stories I could tell! (With the same friend from above)
   
3. Having the coach for Baylor show up at a high school basketball game.
4. Watching my parents drive off and leave me in Mississippi at college. I wasn't sure whether I was scared or excited.
   
5. Attending Centrifuge after my high school graduation...it was a week that stands out in my Christian walk.
6. Getting cowboy boots for my 13th birthday.
7. Praying to receive Christ.
8. Going to the Olympics in Atlanta...oh the disaster that trip turned out to be!
9. Seeing a two friends in China come to Christ as my friends and I used a nativity scene to share the Christmas Story.
10. Seeing my niece's 4-D ultrasound.
11. Snorkeling with the sharks in Thailand.
12. Christmas 1996- Received a gold wrapped package with a green bow...inside was a scholarship offer to Mississippi College.
    
13. Spending 5 weeks at training for the IMB in Virginia...so many memories and so many friends made during that time.
14. Para sailing in Thailand.
15. Finding out that I passed my RN license exam.
16. Receiving the phone call that I was going to be a BSU summer missionary to Australia.
17. Realizing that God had much bigger things in store for me than playing basketball...I was in my first semester at MC and was planning on walking on the team there.
18. Watching God open the many doors that He has in the past several weeks!
19. Spending my 30th birthday at Disney.
    
20. This past year...I've learned so much that I am not even sure I could begin to put it in words!!!

Well that is it...30 memories from these 30 years!

Birthday Eve

So it might not be a national holiday or even known by most, but this Friday night has me a little reflective. Tomorrow is my thirtieth birthday.

Over the next few days I will highlight thirty of my most memorable experiences in life.

1. Waking up in China for the very first time...I heard horses outside my window.
2. Whitewater rafting with my entire family on our trip to Yellowstone.
3. Kangaroo hunting in Australia.
4. Holding my nephew just minutes after he was born.
5. Being in both of my brother's weddings.
6. Running out on the court of my first varsity basketball game and being announced as a 6' senior...I was a 5'10" sophomore.
7. My grandfather teaching me to drive...the first Saturday after I turned 15...I thought he was so cool!
8. My dad handing me my high school diploma.
9. My family coming to China to visit.
   
10. Being at my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary party and then this summer when I attended their 65th wedding anniversary party.

Oh and Abbey thanks for my first birthday present!

Birthday Card

I am really working on finishing the posts about worship, but I'm not quite finished with the next one. Until I finish those posts, enjoy my favorite birthday card that my friend, Blair, gave me.

Inside it says, "I thought this would look good on your coffee table!"

Birthday Weekend

I think the party is officially over...I guess that is okay since my actual birthday was Thursday. I worked Thursday so besides lunch with my boss and dinner with a friend, it was pretty uneventful.

Well, uneventful until about 9pm. That is when my friend, Amanda, arrived. We met the summer after we both graduated from college. We were in the same Journeyman class and got to know each other at the Missionary Learning Center in Virginia before we both headed to the mission field. During those five weeks we became friends and kept in touch while we were overseas. We also were roommates at seminary. We've only seen each other a couple of times since I graduated two years ago. This summer she moved to Tifton, GA where she is an intern at a church. Since it is only a four hour drive between Tampa and Tifton, we have been trying to work out a trip for one of us. I was very excited when she called and asked if she could come for my birthday.

We hadn't seen each other in a year and a half, so Thursday night we spent several hours just talking. Friday we began the day with a leisure breakfast and coffee. We eventually got ourselves ready and headed to Ana Maria Island to spend the day. It was a great day!

We both enjoyed watching the birds, especially the pelicans.

In an attempt to complete the Snap-It! assignment (a picture of an unusual building or architectural structure).

A friend gave me the idea of also trying to take a picture of the Sunshine Skyway for Snap-It! As you can see it was a little too hazy...If you look right about the water you can see a line which is the bridge.

After walking on the beach, shopping, and of course lots more talking we headed to the Sandbar for dinner. We actually arrived a little earlier than we planned, but it ended up being a good move because the tables on the beach were almost all occupied. We decided to go ahead and get a table and enjoy a leisure dinner. There was more than enough activity to keep us entertained as can be seen in the following pictures. All I could think of was how my mother would have been going crazy because she hates birds!

We enjoyed a great dinner and a beautiful sunset.

With the sun set, we began the drive back to Tampa. I wasn't satisfied with any of the pictures I had taken for Snap-It! so we headed to the University of Tampa to see what we could find. This was the best shot and my entry for the week. I had a problem with some of the pictures being fuzzy. I think I will need to read the book to my camera and look at some hints for taking "night pictures".

You might think we would call it a day at that, but no, we decided to go to a late movie. It almost felt like the days when we were at seminary and did random things constantly.

Saturday we did several things in Tampa before Amanda had to head back to Tifton. Basically things she can't do there like LifeWay, a local running store, and lunch at Mimi's Cafe. I think we both wished the visit would have lasted longer, but I keep reminding myself that it is only four hours and we can arrange some other visits. Saturday night (after a nap due to being tired from all the other activities) two of my friends took me out for dinner. Of course no day is complete without a trip to Starbucks.

Thanks for all the e-mails, voicemails, phone calls, cards, and MySpace messages. It was a great day or days! I had a great birthday and now it is time to get back to the real world.