My Birthday.

      Well, another year has come and gone and I am another year older. I must say, this is one of the best birthdays I've had in a while as it was filled with many surprises, not to mention, it was a GORGEOUS day! 

   A few months ago, I had started looking for my biological mother. We have had no luck so far, and are not sure if we will have any luck at all. Since I was about 9 or 10, I have always wondered if she (my biological mother) thought of me on my birthday. I know she's out there and I want to thank her for going through with the pregnancy and not terminating it. I can only imagine how much courage that took, especially in this day and age, where life is not as respected as it should be. I would also like to thank my parents for being such wonderful role models through out my life. I love you Mom & Dad and miss you terribly. 

Showing off my traditional Birthday tiara.

  My first birthday surprise was that Andrew actually came home the same day he left for work (11:30pm!). For those of you who don't know, Andrew works "swing shift," which means he goes into work anytime between 2-4pm and gets home anywhere from 2-4am, depending on the day/work load. It was so very nice. My wonderful husband made me breakfast before we headed out to base to check the mail. Once we got to the post office, I rushed in to check our box and see if my boxes of belongings from the states had arrived and lo and behold, there were six slips in our box telling us to pick up a package! I would like to thank God and the USPS for this splendid birthday present! I must say, it is nice to have more than one month's worth of clothes here. It's also nice to have my favorite things again, like my jewelery box and the blanket my mother knit for me. Such a wonderful comfort (not to mention, quite warm). Once we got home, I quickly rifled through my boxes to find said favorites, and, my tiaras.  It is a tradition of mine to wear a tiara every year for my birthday.  I now have a small collection.

The unfortunate mess in our living room!

   For my birthday dinner, Andrew and I, and a handful of friends had a lovely meal at a steak house on base called "Pinkerton's" and had a few drinks at the "Liberty Club."  Let me tell you, I had some of the most delicious salmon for dinner! Fit for a princess. :) I had such a blast with all my amazing friends here. My best friend here even sang a song dedicated to me at karaoke-- Stairway to Heaven!  

My Birthday cake!

  I should probably mention the cake! We did not do cake until the day after my birthday, as we were soo busy through out the day, and it was much too late when we got home that night. I made my own vanilla cake with strawberry icing. Now, before you go getting upset with Andrew for letting me make my own cake, I should probably explain... He had a friend over that night and I didn't want him to have to stop entertaining his friend.  Not to mention, I had made a nice dinner (Chicken Parmesan and Angel Hair pasta) and was already in cooking/baking mode. He did, however, decorate it... Not bad, 'eh?

I would like to apologize to everyone for not updating these past few days, Andrew had a 3 day weekend-- ANOTHER Birthday surprise-- and when there's a chance to spend time with him, I grab it. With his work schedule, I never know when I'll see him next!  Hope to hear from you all soon! Take care and God Bless!

Hugs and kisses from across the pond, 

Andrew and Ana.