My 44th Birthday

My 44th Birthday

My birthday always falls during Farm Chicks weekend and it usually gets lost in the shuffle. Prior to Farm Chicks I was somewhat annoyed with Reilly. She told me that she was planning on heading to St. George, Utah for a weekend of fun with her friends. I wanted her to stay home and save money. I know, buzzkill. Whatever. I'm the mom. It's my job. I told her that I didn't think that it was a good idea and that I thought that she should stay home and get in some more hours at work. She just purchased a car, a Jetta, and she could use the extra cash. She told me that she would *think* about it. Then I found out that she had been invited for the weekend to stay with my mother-in-law and had declined due to her upcoming trip. I again called her to discuss my *concerns*. Again, I was pretty much told "Thanks for the advice, Mom, but I am a big girl and I'll make my own decisions." (Ugh. I REALLY hate that.) The night before Farm Chicks as I lay awake with insomnia due to excitement and nervous energy I decided to check her location. (Being able to do that has been my saving grace this year.) Her location showed her in her apartment. Good. Glad she made a wise decision.

Little did I know that she had pulled the ultimate fake-out. She switched her location finding thing to her Ipad and was actually driving through the night to Spokane to surprise me for my birthday. No one had ANY idea. She arrived in Spokane at about 1:30 am. She used her key and let herself in the basement door, surprising Kameron, whose room is downstairs. Then she crept upstairs and climbed in bed with a dazzed and confused Bryn. (Bryn has a double bed in her room.) I got up bright and early and was getting ready for the show. I had showered and was getting ready to blow dry my hair when someone started pounding on the bathroom door. I was super annoyed!! I was trying to get ready and get out the door on time for heavens sake!! I angrily yelled, "WHO IS IT?! WHAT DO YOU WANT?! I AM TRYING TO GET READY!!!" Then I heard a little voice in a funny accent say, "It's your favorite child, Mama!!" I stared confused at the closed door...because it sounded just like Reilly when she is being funny. I cracked the bathroom door. There she was with two bottles of my favorite sparkling grape juice, Cold Duck, in each hand as she yelled, "SURPRISE!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!" Then the tears started flowing as I hugged her and bawled my eyes out. That girl loves to surprise me. She did a great job. While I was in the shower, she, Bryn, and Ailey went downstairs to hide in Kameron's room. Not even Tyler knew that she was there until right before she surprised me. He went downstairs to the basement to turn on the sprinklers and there she was! I was sad to leave for the show...all the fun was at home!

Around noon I left the booth for a minute and when I returned there Reilly was with a vendor badge on and ready to help out. So fun!! We went to the vendor lunch area and grabbed something to eat while my mom and Stacey held down the booth. We walked around and she visited with a bunch of our vendor friends. Then we went back to our booth and took over while my mom and Stacey went to lunch. She was a huge help as a bunch of furniture had sold and everything seemed to be getting picked up at the same time. She helped me pull out the big pieces and re-merchandise all the smalls.

After the show was over I had a fancy grown-ups only birthday dinner planned at a restaurant that I had been dying to try, Wild Sage. It came highly recommended from several people and I couldn't wait to go. It kind of reminds me of the restaurant in Beaverton, OR where my cousin Paul is a chef. Actually one of the chefs at Wild Sage went to culinary school with Paul. It was fabulous. Tyler, Reilly, and I were joined by Kelley and Stacey. It was such a fun night!! We laughed our heads off and enjoyed a delightful culinary experience. So many amazing dishes to try!! It was fabulous. The restaurant is very small and upscale. Many of the patrons in the restaurant had been to Farm Chicks that day or were also vendors. We had several groups stop by our table to chat and several tables joined in singing Happy Birthday to me when they brought out my passion fruit coconut cake. OH.MY.GOSH. It was such a great night of community, celebration, and it was a memorable culinary delight. Not a bad way to ring in 44!! Wow. I cannot wait to go back!!

We did witness something terrifying on our way to dinner. Tyler was driving with me, Stacey, and Reilly in the car on our way to the restaurant. We were getting on the freeway when we noticed that a man had hopped the fence by the overpass. Tyler said, "Check out that guy on the other side of the fence." It didn't register for a minute what was going on. Then we realized that he was attempting to commit suicide. By that time he was hanging off the side of the overpass. I quickly dialed 911 and reported what was happening. By then the man was hanging from the middle of the overpass right over the freeway. The 911 operator let me know that the police were already on the way. It was terrifying seeing him dangling over the freeway. We said a prayer for him as he faded from sight while still clutching the overpass. It was absolutely terrible. Luckily this story has a happy ending. The man ended up being rescued by firefighters. Thank goodness!!

The next day...my actual birthday...was crazy busy. It was the last day of the show and tear down. After doing the money and celebrating our success, I went to dinner with my own family to celebrate my birthday. We headed to a nearby Mexican restaurant and ate our weight in chips and salsa and virgin margaritas!! It was another fantastic night. There is no greater gift than having all my family together!! Our dinner was a lively one full of so many laughs that I left the restaurant with mascara running down my face.

I heart the Johnsons!!

Then we decided that there was still probably room for ice cream so we went to a new gourmet ice cream shop that just opened near us...Brain Freeze Creamery. Again... so good!! I chose the Huckleberry RedBull. FABULOUS!!

Delish!

Then we drove around our area showing Reilly all the new things that had been built or changed since she was here at Christmas. I love that Reilly has a hometown that she enjoys coming home to visit. I always wished that I had that! Sprindell is the closest thing that I have. I hated moving so much as a kid and Tyler and I always wanted our kids to "be from somewhere" and to have a "hometown." I am thrilled that we accomplished this goal for Reilly.

Back at home in a state of near exhaustion I made a wish and blew out a candle on my 44th birthday.

Exhausted but very happy...terrible picture...but oh well!!

Reilly left the next day to drive back to Utah. Such a short but very sweet visit. Reilly drove all the kids to school that morning and then we ran some errands that Reilly needed to do while she was in town and then we managed to squeeze in a quick lunch, and a visit to Tyler at work, before she drove back to Provo.

It's so hard to say goodbye!! 

I stocked her up with a new cooler, drinks, snacks, podcast suggestions to listen to, and tracked her drive home. THAT IS TORTURE!! Your child driving 12 hours by themselves while you wait for phone calls and texts from various stopping points along the way, convincing them to pull over and sleep for awhile when they get tired, and chatting them all the way home the last hour of the trip at 2am isn't for the faint of heart. Reilly is a gutsy girl and strong and capable. She did great...but I really PREFER her to fly!! Got that Ry??

You might think that my birthday celebration was over...but it wasn't. After Farm Chicks was over and we had recouped a bit...Tyler made me my favorite birthday dinner. Finger steaks with ranch dressing and mashed potatoes...my yearly treat... not healthy but so tasty. He made me one of my new favorite birthday cakes. The Trisha Yearwood Key Lime Cake. It is FABULOUS!! You can get the recipe here: http://www.mastercook.com/app/Recipe/WebRecipeDetails?recipeId=394680

Ailey and Bryn decorated once more:

And...I went to pick out my birthday gift:

My new paddleboard!! I cannot wait to hit the lake with this!!

I had a wonderful birthday week full of fun, crazy surprises, seeing good friends, and having all of my family together. It really doesn't get better than that!!