35th Birthday!

[glacier_kitty]

Happy 35th birthday to me! So weird haha. Mom made me a big breakfast (eggs, hash browns, strawberries, etc), and we sat outside for a couple hours, enjoying the nice weather. We must be having a Chinook, because it's been SUPER windy all day (it has finally quieted down now), and was in the 80s. It was cool watching the wind move the water on the lake in an interesting way. We had milkshakes, then dad took me to Barnes and Noble. On the way, I noticed a smoke plume to the south..definitely the right conditions for a forest fire. I read later it's called the McDonald Fire, and it's burning near a military training area. The Alaska Wildland Fire site says "it is burning in an area designated for limited management, meaning that unless the fire threatens property or people, it will be allowed to play its natural ecological role." They're not sure how it started yet. I'm glad it's not threatening anything so far though. After that, we all went to dinner at Chena's Alaskan Grill, where I go every year on my birthday. It was too hot and windy to sit outside, but it was still nice. Amazingly, they were way OVER staffed..the place wasn't even full and there were at LEAST 10-15 waiters/waitresses milling around..weird. O_o After that, we went home..mom had decorated while I was at the bookstore, so there were cool balloons and other festive decorations, cake Ryan made, and an intriguing wooden box with a bow on it. Inside was this cool book journal, which mom made herself. I was completely awed and stunned at all the details and effort that went into it..she dyed/aged paper, made bookmarks, sewed around some of the pages, found authentic original polar exploration little cards, had little charms hanging from the outside (one had "16" on it!), etc. Months ago I remember mom watching all these crafting videos, and now I know why..she'd been preparing this journal for a very long time. I'm absolutely amazed and touched she did all that work just for me..she outdoes herself every year with gifts haha. She was worried she wouldn't get it done in time, especially since we went to Kansas and then me getting sick, but she did (she also stained the box..it smelled interesting haha). I probably took too many pictures, but it's too cool not to share! Then we had red velvet cake, which Ryan made with espresso for some reason..it would have tasted better without the espresso, but I appreciate his hard work all the same. And now I'm tired..phew, birthdays are exhausting! Haha. It was a nice day though :)



Birthday breakfast! (Mmmm, strawberries and whipped cream..)

The books I got at Barnes and Noble

Dinner! Mom and I were apparently the only ones who could be silly on the spot :P

Birthday decorations!

A nice day. You can see the ripples on the water from the wind and smoke from that fire

The journal mom made!

First pages





The blank pages are for writing on..I'm too scared I'll mess it up!! Haha

An article about the Titanic

My pantry is full of books instead of food!! Haha



Oooo, Worst Journey!!

Awww, me at Cherry's grave..one of the best days of my life!

Pretty ice!!

The authentic polar exploration cards..how cool!! Mom made all the pockets for them to fit in..I'm amazed at the amount of work that went into this!



It wouldn't be right without a four-poster bed! It was in a quilt book mom found, and she was super excited when she saw this picture haha

*drools*



The back of the book

What an amazing gift!

It fits perfectly in the box!


8. If You Were a Super Rich Philanthropist, What Causes Would You Support? Animal shelters and things like that, literacy ones, etc