27

I had a MOST wonderful birthday this year! Kory went all out and made me feel seriously special. We really love to make birthdays a big deal in our house, particularly because we live far away from family and don't get to celebrate with them in person. (My birthday was January 24, but we've been in TX/NM most of February so I'm just now posting about it. And we celebrated my birthday with both families also, so it was extra fun!)

Kory did Birthday Kwanzaa again for me this year and I was completely surprised by it! I forgot that it was a week out and he came to pick me up for lunch on Thursday, January 17 and this was what I saw on his car:

You'll have to excuse that crazy face in the background! :)

And these were my presents, which had been wrapped since Christmas, so I kind of forgot about them.

He took me to lunch at one of my favorite restaurants here, Los Dos Amigos, to get my favorite dish, Pollo a la Crema. I had never heard of it before I moved here, and it is now probably my favorite Mexican dish (in Oregon). 

Thursday night, I got to open my first BDK present.

They are so warm and fuzzy on the inside; I love them! That's the best part about getting gifts from the person who knows me better than anyone else in the world: I get gifts that I really like and that I would have picked out myself. 

Friday night, we had a BDK Launch Party and it was so fun! This was supposed to happen on Thursday night, but had to be rescheduled to Friday. Kory made another of my favorite meals (Alice Springs Chicken) and our besties, Abby and Jeremy, came over for dinner. I got to open my next BDK present, which was one of my favorite movies from the past year.

I also got to open my gift from Jeremy & Abby that night because Abby was in Guatemala on a mission trip and wasn't in the country on my actual birthday. She got me this awesome necklace, which was made by one of our friends from church, Cristina. I've really been wanting a necklace from CherryTree, so I was really excited to get this one!

Oh, I also got the best birthday card from Abby! She drew this herself--pretty impressive!

We all watched Moneyball together after dinner and I was reminded that, even though I love the movie, I always feel so sad for Billy when it's over.

Saturday, I got to open my BDK gift before Kory left to go spend the weekend with middle school students at Snow Camp. I got a bit lazy with pictures at this point, so I'll just tell you that I got a scarf, earrings, a button-up plaid shirt, and a jean jacket in the next few days. All my birthday kwanzaa gifts made an outfit for me to wear on my birthday date with Kory. Such a thoughtful guy!

Thursday, I went to work...just like almost every other adult has to do on their birthday. Kind of a bummer, but I only had to work 4 days this week because of MLK day, so that was awesome! I also got these beautiful flowers from my in-laws delivered to me at work. I love them!

For supper, we tried a new restaurant in town, called The Blackbird. It is an upscale restaurant and bar in downtown Roseburg. I had a creamy sweet onion soup, steak, potatoes, veggies and cheesecake. I wish I could describe how delicious all of it was, but that sweet onion soup was the best thing I have eaten in a long, long time. It is the soup I tried (unsuccessfully) to recreate last month. I might to back to The Blackbird just for the soup someday soon.

After dinner, we came home to open cards and gifts from family. Technically, these shoes were a Christmas present, but I had to exchange them for a different size and they arrived on my birthday, so I count them as a birthday present. I am such a fan of Toms and I especially love these!

Overall, it was a great day and I'm excited to see what 27 holds for me :)