A Month of Sweetness

Last month I turned 35 years old.

I just had to pause for a minute and really look at that sentence. Wow. Just yesterday I was 18.

But that's not the point of this post. The point of this post is to brag on my wonderful, loving husband of nearly 12 years, Kevin Partridge. On March 1st, he declared that we would be celebrating my birthMONTH! It sounds really self-centered to say this, but I really enjoyed the month of March immensely.

There was much variety in the month-long celebration. On most of the days, I received a card from Kevin, and it often contained a word of the day that described me, and then he explained why he loved these things about me. Being very much a words person, I think I loved this the most. The cards will be bundled and kept for the rest of my life.

But the other stuff was quite fun, too! A couple of days I was given downloads of some of my favorite new music. One day I was given flowers. One day I got some Skechers Shape-Ups shoes, which have received lots of attention, even from total strangers. (To answer your questions--yes, I love them! Yes, they are comfortable. Yes, I can tell a difference. Yes, they do make a lot of promises. We'll see how well they're kept.) Other days included special outings--ice cream, Jim Henson exhibit, movie, dinner dates. Some days involved Kevin's doing some things around the house that I wanted to see done. Probably the most sacrificial gift was Kevin's commitment to watching one of my all-time favorite movies, Gone With the Wind. It helped that we took two nights to watch it.

The greatest of the birthmonth gifting were these:

• Traveling up to Memphis to be with my Granddaddy on my actual birthday, which is also his actual birthday. When I was little, we spent many birthdays together, so Kevin's planning this was very sweet and memorable. While I was celebrating 35 years, Granddaddy was celebrating 85. It was good to spend time with him. The bonus of this trip was that we got to stay with some friends that I hadn't seen in many years, and it was a great time. (Thanks, Shackelfords!) We also got to eat lunch with my high school friend/college roommate and her husband, which is always a blast. (We must do this more often, Tiffiny and Richard!)
• Having two parties--one with family and one with friends. My friends actually surprised me by just showing up at my house (Well, they were invited by Kevin.) with food and some sweet Guitar Hero skills. Both of my parties involved delicious chocolate goodness, which is imperative on my birthday.
• Camping trip with my husband and children. I'm not all that outdoorsy, but I really enjoy these camping trips. It was pretty chilly this time, so we kept the fire going all day long. We still smell like smoke.
• Dinner with Kevin by candlelight on our back porch, complete with steak, baked potatoes, and bread made from scratch by my husband. It was amazing! Then he made Bananas Foster for dessert, which was quite yummy.
• An 11x14 print of my current favorite picture of Callie, Caleb, and Katie. It's just beautiful and really shows off their individual personalities.
• A family photo shoot by one of my favorite photographers, Aaron Phillips! We had lots of pictures of the kids but not that many of all five of us, since either Mommy or Daddy is usually holding the camera. And Kevin and I had very few pictures of just the two of us, so Aaron took lots of those. I can't wait to see them!

I certainly don't expect a month-long celebration of me every year, but I absolutely savored the kindness and thoughtfulness that my husband put into this year's. I will never forget it. Thank you, love.