Birthday shenanigans!

Chance and I decided that since I started school on the 13th, we would cram birthday AND Valentine's Day into the couple weeks before school. Here's the breakdown: First weekend in February, Chance's parents came to Wichita and took Chance and me to the casino! They enjoy getting away from the business and we enjoy seeing them! It was a blast. We went to Old Chicago for some pizza and then headed down to the new casino in Mulvane. It seems strange to say that we like going there. Not in a "trashy-waste-money" sort of way, we have only been twice...but we like to go when we actually have a little extra money. Usually we just take what we would for a normal date and when it's gone, it's gone....so no worries all of you worriers about finances! We stick to our guns:) Anyway, long story short, Chance and I both won the exact same amount of money! I mean, I TOLD him to sit down at a certain slot machine and he DID win on the one I told him to play on...but I guess he still can call it "his win." ;) I was feeling down about him winning more than me (we are a little too competitive) and I decided before we left I'd sit down at a machine. Well we both won within a dollar of each other! His dad said we better leave after we both won the same so we wouldn't fight or lose it! Haha! It was a huge success and I think the casino knew it was my fake birthday because we all walked away happy. Chance's parents stayed overnight at a nearby hotel and we went out to to eat at a yummy mexican place for dinner. We were hoping to go out somewhere that night, but we were all SO EXHAUSTED we all went to bed! Yikes....I guess 24 is feeling older than I expected. Casino night=awesome!

So that was the first weekend. Then we had the second weekend in February! Mom made us a YUMMY dinner of my always requested homemade meatballs. I have always chosen them since I was a kid and I've never had better! We had mom, dad, kathy, cheryl, dick, and chance at the table and talked over wine and comfort food for hours. My mom really knows how to throw a special birthday dinner! Mom went shopping with me and got me a whole new wardrobe of all black for my dress code at hair school....food AND shopping?...Does a girl need more?...Thanks, mom and dad! Oh and she ALSO made two whole Nestle Tollhouse pies...OH MY GOODNESS ARE THEY AMAZING! Chance really outdid himself this year. He is so so so great at things like this I honestly don't always know what to say about his thoughtfulness. When the Lord created him, He must have known what kind of husband I needed and wanted, because Chance has been over-the-top precious to me since day one. My birthday was no exception. I started school on Monday the 13th, and I had school on my birthday, Saturday the 18th. He drove all the way over to the West side of town to put a sweet card in my car for me to find after school. THEN when I got home he had quite the set up waiting for me. The theme you ask?....An apartment sized re-creation of our honeymoon in Jamaica. Ya. I always pride myself on being awesome at gifts and surprises, but I think he won this round. WOW. He had my Jamaican colored sarong hanging on the mirror, a beach scene on the wall, palm trees all over, Bob Marley playing in the background, our honeymoon pictures on the TV, and to top off all the decorations....he had all our favorite random snack foods from Sandals ready for dinner. Keep in mind that our favorite snack foods from our honeymoon were NOT the dinners or other fancy foods...NO WAY. Our favorite foods were the ones only available after midnight...like gross chips and cold fries with flavorless cheese sauce, jerk chicken wings, and the pizza from the grill that was no pizza hut for sure. Don't judge. We STILL crave those things you can only get beach side at 2 am. Chance had all those things! Not to mention he had the only beer available at Sandals in Jamaica....Red Stripe! I always got a side of red with my beer when we were at the pool, so Chance even got tomato juice for me to have with my beer. AH! It was so sweet. We both snacked and ate and talked about all our favorite things and people we missed in Jamaica and it was emotional and amazing. Chance also got me a present for my birthday! He got me an Express shirt, Express scarf (BOTH of which I would have picked out myself!), a Rhianna CD, and a brand new MAC make up brush for my collection!!! Does the perfect husband go check with his wife's make up lady at the MAC counter to check to see which one I need next? Yes, yes he does. I was beyond floored and let's just say I had a great three weeks of birthdays! I am too blessed with BOTH my immediate family, my in-law family, and my current little family with two pups and a rockin' husband. Thank you Jesus for these last 24 years!

C