Birthday Celebration 2015!

My birthday started a day early with a student giving me a Snickers and a sweet picture. I do not take for granted the pics/notes that I get from my students. As most of you know, I teach middle schoolers and they are full of ranging hormones which vary day by day. You never what you are going to get, but I have the amazing job of watching kids grow from sixth to eighth grade. And on top of that, I get to teach English to kids from many countries/cultures and I am often the first person they meet when they come to this country. We become incredibly close. So, I was delighted when I received this sweet not from a student. She brought it to me the day before because it was our last day of school before break.

Then, at conferences I received a gift basket from one of my former students on Thursday night. I had her for two years and then I missed her eighth grade year when I went to Africa. We were really close, so it is good that she still comes back to see me. 

On my birthday morning I went to Starbucks and ordered my favorite drink for free. I love that I get a free drink of my choice and of course, everyone is so nice. 

Then, one of my students brought in a bag of my favorite candy, Snickers. I love this student so much. She came from Togo and she has been here for about four months. She is an amazing girl and has such a supportive family. 

Then, my besties met me for lunch at Sugarfire, which is an awesome BBQ place. I had BBQ pork, mac and cheese, and fried green beans. Then, we went over to Sugarfire bakery and got whoopie pies and oatmeal pies. They were delicious!

On Saturday I celebrated my birthday with my family. My mom always makes our favorite meal and cake. I chose sweet tea, chip chops, mashed potatoes, green beans, biscuits, and chocolate cake with chocolate icing. It was delicious and reminded me of my childhood. 

After dinner and a walk over to see my dad's workshop, we opened presents and I received several thoughtful presents including a card to the J (my gym), slippers, earrings, a magnet, and luggage tags. 

This might be my favorite!

We also celebrated my aunt Mary Lou's birthday, which is on the same day as mine. Now that Ella is bigger, she helped me blow out the candles after my family sang happy birthday. Well, she tried to help, but I stole the thunder by blowing them out too quickly.

All in all, it was an amazing birthday with my family and friends and one I missed last year while in Uganda. Thank you to everyone who sent messages on Facebook, called, text, emailed, etc. for making me feel special from all around the world. I am more blessed than I deserve.