My birthday party!

For my birthday this year I invited 9 of my closest girlfriends to join me in going out to dinner and a movie on my birthday...this worked especially well since my birthday fell on a Friday this year. Six of them were available to join in the fun!

We started the party at the Beck's house in Middlebury. We rode in a minivan together over to Mishawaka. I brought along my birthday hat that Rebecca had given me. I was told to wear that while also holding a sign that said, "Honk! It's my birthday!" I sat in the passenger's seat and had to show the sign to every car, van, and semi we passed on the road! I even rolled down my window and showed it to a group riding bikes...they all yelled, "Honk! Honk!"

We had intended to go to an Italian restaurant, but it was too busy, so we ended up at Logan's Roadhouse instead. The atmosphere was a little more chaotic, but that might actually been better since our group did a lot of laughing!

This was my dinner....the Onion Brewski® Sirloin - A signature 8-ounce Top Sirloin Steak stacked on top of Michelob AmberBock® beer-braised onions, smothered with garlic butter and topped with crispy onions. For my sides I chose the baked sweet potato and a grilled vegetable skewer. It was all delicious, but waaaay too much to finish!

At Logan's they don't sing Happy Birthday, instead they have you stand on the fireplace hearth while they shout at the other customers to give you a big "Yee-Haw!" As you can see, I wore my birthday hat for that moment as well!

The wonderful women that I celebrated with!

Deanna, Tracy, Patty, me, Bonnie, Megan, and Char

Patty Beck and me. She's my home group leader, second mom, travel companion, financial mentor, cheerleader, etc.... I love this lady!

Me and Megan Bonham. Megan works with me at the college. She taught me how to play poker, introduced me to Max & Erma's, is an awesome confidant in all things - both work and personal.

Me and Bonnie Birkey. This woman loves God with all her heart, but can be real about life...no churchy stuffiness from her! She is great at marathon phone calls, saying it like it is, and making you laugh so hard you almost can't breathe!

Char Hochstetler and me. Char is my kindred spirit at GC. She was my mentor for a while and then became my friend. She listens well, asks great questions, and encourages me to live my life well. She is simply amazing!

Me and Deanna Risser. Deanna has known me longer than anyone else in this group. We survived high school and college together and are now navigating the world of being single adult women together. She inspires me with the purposeful manner in which she lives her life. She also is a great companion for lunches, trips, shopping, and just hanging out with on a Friday night!

Me and Tracy Buller. Tracy is a dear friend who is exhorts me to live my life more fully for God. She often dreams bigger dreams for me than I do...this often gives me the push I need to imagine "what if" in a new way.

Celebrating my special day with these women was such a blessing. It was a fresh reminder of how God has placed many unique people in my life to help shape me into the woman that I am. These weome are not exhaustive of the those that have impacted me, but represent those that have the most influence on my day to day life right now.

As the picture frame Patty gave me says, "Friends are the family we choose for ourselves."

Maybe my best b-day ever?!

My birthday was on Friday. I turned 38...ugh. I was not excited about the number, but I was certainly excited about the day. I really like my birthday-it's my favorite day of the year! It's the one day of the year when I expect to receive lots of expressions of love from my friends...and for the most part I receive it! :) This is because I have wonderful friends!

I started the day opening my birthday present from Rebecca. She had left it here when she was visiting from England a few weeks ago. It contained a mug featuring Princess Diana, European chocolates, some Nutella, a magnet from Wales, and this lovely birthday hat...

One of Rebecca's British friends received the hat as a b-day gift, she passed it on to Rebecca, who then passed it on to me! I wonder who will get it next!!!

My day was somewhat routine in that I had a few meetings, worked over in the Student Life office for a while, etc.. A special treat was that I got to have lunch with a couple form my home group - Doug & Amber Cook. We went to Memories of China to celebrate.

I received many special phone calls, texts, and emails throughout the day - Rebecca from England, Cara from Texas, Krisi from Ohio, my brother Jack, Dawn from NC, a shout out on my sister-in-law's blog, etc. It was wonderful! Not to mention the over 50 comments on my facebook wall! It filled my love tank pretty high to get all those notes/calls letting me know that people wished me well. :)

And then there was my birthday party with my girlfriends....

Skipping ahead a month or so...

So, I don't want to take the time to fill you in week by week on what happened in March. It was pretty busy with RA interviews and the Small Group Housing process during the week and some low key activities on the weekend like movie nights and BINGO. Here are a few photos...

Deanna and me at the last men's basketball game of the season.

My little buddy Dalton and his puppy - Diesel

Me taking photos of myself again!

Time with family - Jake & Lily hamming it up!

Celebrating Ashley & Jon's birthdays

Julie, Kelly, Jenna, Ashley, Jon, Josh, and Bryce

Kelly & Julie at BINGO night

Day trip to Chicago!

I took the Tuesday of Spring break off and went to Chicago with one of my RAs. She's a gal that has not only been a great RA, but has also become a good friend.

Me trying on shades at Filene's Basement.

Me riding the escalator at Water Tower Place...what's with the weird face?!

We had lunch at my favorite Italian place...Bucas. This is me at the Pope table.

I saw a photo of this statue on someone's facebook page and knew I had to get a photo of me with it. It's a statue of the famous painting "American Gothic." I have a little inside joke with someone about that painting.

We went to the Art Institute and I mimicked the lion in this piece. Don't I look fierce?!

I tried to become part of the architecture at the Art Institute.

We posed prettily in front of the Art Institute.

We behaved like children at a coffee shop.

I consumed chocolate!

And of course I shopped at Crate & Barrel and took photos by the Bean!

And took more photos at the Bean!

And MORE photos at the Bean!

We ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.

Puzzles, I love puzzles.

Our spring break was the week of February 23-27. The dorms aren't closed over spring break, so I was technically still working that week, but had very little to do. So since I had to stay home most of the time I put together several puzzles during that week. Here are a couple of them.

Special People

I was in Bluffton with my fellow Res Lifers for a gathering of Mennonite Residence Life professionals. It was a wonderful conference with full of meeting new friends who are passionate about students, making new friends, and good conversations - both professional and personal.

I had the added bonus of it being held at Bluffton University, where I went to college. It was good to be "home" for a few days and to see people that were instrumental in making my Bluffton experience a good one!

A highlight was going over to visit Don & Nancy Schweingruber, on Monday evening. Don was the Dean of Students when I was a student at Bluffton. He and Nancy were also my BASIC (Brothers & Sisters in Christ) small group leaders while I was there. I spent an evening at their house every week of my college experience. They were like a second set of parents! They will always have a very special place in my heart!

Don, me and Nancy

Another special perk to the trip was that I got to spend some time with Kendra (King) Horst. Kendra was a student at Goshen a few years ago. While she never lived in my building, she did go to church with me and we forged a special friendship. She is now an RD out at Hesston College in Kansas. It was wonderful to be able to connect with her while in Bluffton also!

me and Kendra