Turning 29 with the Sweetest Husband Alive :)

I woke up this morning to my alarm, and 2 seconds afterward, Mark saying, "Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!" :) (Awwww) :) We were both a little groggy after a late night visiting with Mark's brother, Daniel, who happened to be in town for a short visit (and these visits are pretty few and far between!), but I was excited for the day ahead! I was ahead of schedule, with all my birthday treats (cinnamon rolls) ready to go in the car, my breakfast eaten, and time to spare! (A rarity for this lady in the mornings -haha!) I finished filling up my water bottle, threw it in my purse, and we headed to work.

As we were getting out of the car, I noticed that my brand new purse (early bday present from my Mama - THANKS, MOM!) was a little wet, and when I looked inside, I realized that my 24oz water bottle had leaked 16oz of water all over my new purse, soaking everything inside. This includes my cellphone (4-month-old htc droid incredible) and point-and-shoot camera. I've been kinda a wreck all day about it, because right now, I just can't afford to buy a new camera, and my phone's warranty was already voided because of a really short long story.

So let's start by saying that putting all these items together is a very bad idea:



What I didn't mention earlier this week was that after a fall off a table this past mid-September, the lens on my DSLR camera has been jammed, and had been tough to zoom in and out, but was still taking pictures. Well, Monday night while doing a little informal photo session with my friend's daughter, the lens went kaput, and no longer works either: A $120 lens :(

So as of this morning at 7:00am, I had 2 non-functioning cameras, a non-functioning smart phone, and everything in my purse completely soaking wet :(



While the 39 facebook alerts in my email inbox of birthday greetings brought a smile to my face for a few minutes (thanks, everyone!!), it was short-lived, as I have just been sick to my stomach about the damaged items all morning :(

If you know me (or even if you just read my blog on occasion), it's a well-known fact that I kinda like to take pictures. (Okay, "kinda" is an exaggeration - I'm kinda a picture freak...as in I took over 3,000 pictures in 2010 thus far alone!) So for me to lose not just 1, not just 2, but all 3 of my cameras (there was one on my smart phone as well), it feels kinda like I've just cut off a limb. Scrounging up $100 for a replacement lens, $200 for the lens I REALLY want, or $100-300 for a new point-and-shoot camera just aren't options right now.

So I sulked home for lunch, kinda depressed about it all, with a slight headache :( We saw a little sticky note on the front door when we got home - that a FedEx package had been delivered. I figured it must have been my wide-angle macro lens attachment that I had purchased last week (before my lens busted), which (of course) wouldn't work anymore until I got a new stinkin lens for my DSLR camera in 100 years :(

I walked upstairs to drop off my coat and start getting lunch ready, when Mark handed me the box and said, "Happy Birthday!" I was kinda confused, but looked at the address label and realized that it wasn't addressed to me, but rather to Mark. So it wasn't my wide-angle macro lens attachment after all.

I opened it up to find that my incredible husband had gotten me a 55-200mm lens for my camera!



Now, while I'm normally a pretty internally-emotional person, I started to tear up. I am just overwhelmed right now! The lens has been on my wishlist since I got the camera, and even more so now that my lens broke this past Monday, and here it was in my hands!

But oh wait, the story isn't over yet!

So I finally sit down to eat my lunch after playing with my new lens and taking a few more pictures (IT WORKS!!! IT WORKS!!!!), and am visiting with Daniel at the table, trying to figure out what Mark is doing downstairs, when he comes upstairs and hands me a piece of paper and says, again, "Happy Birthday!"

I take the paper from him and start reading its contents and realize that it's for 2 Jim Brickman tickets for his Christmas concert in Sioux Falls, December 15!!!! I've been wanting these tickets since I saw he was going to be in Sioux Falls, long before they went on sale. Yeah, I've been giving Mark the hint for a few months now, I certainly was not at ALL expecting them at this point!

For those of you who don't know, Jim Brickman is an incredible pianist: What some of you might not know about me is that I am also a pianist, just an incredibly-out-of-practice one :) I've been a fan of Jim Brickman for years, and while I'm not really a concert-junky, he's one of those people I've just always wanted to see in concert. Not to mention his Christmas CD is by far my favorite Christmas CD :) And you all know how I'm kinda obsessed with Christmas music :)

And speaking of Christmas music....

So I'm just sitting here, pretty overwhelmed by all that has transpired in the first 6 hours of my day, when the doorbell rings, the door opens, and I hear a bunch of paper fall on the ground: The mail is here! I run down to check it out, and I find another box, a large mailing envelope and a few other pieces of mail. Mark hands me the box and envelope and says, "Happy Birthday". WHAT?!

The box contains another lens hood (he didn't realize one came with the actual lens), and the envelope contains another Christmas CD I've been pining after:

So here I sit - a very happy girl - on my 29th birthday, listening to my new Christmas music, thinking about a wonderful photo walk this afternoon with my camera that now WORKS, on a beautiful day in October, feeling very, very, truly blessed :)

Thank you, Mark - you truly are a wonderful husband, and although this may be the only year in decades of marriage that I get to spend my birthday with you, I'm very much looking forward to doing just that :) You are a bright light in my life, and every day with you makes me smile and look forward to every one down the road that the Lord gives us together :)

So Happy Birthday to ME! Here's to 29 :)

September Recap (2010)

Ireland Trip

We started out the month of September on our first trip overseas - to Ireland! I have a full, day-by-day recap in my travel blog. But in a nutshell, we saw SO many beautiful places, ate lots of great food, didn't die with the crazy driving, and had an absolutely wonderful trip :)

- Minnesota to Dublin (St. Stephen's Green, Dublin Castle, Chester Beatty Library, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christ Church Cathedral, Temple Bar, Malahide Castle, Trinity College, Bewley's Cafe)
- Dublin to Kilkenny (St. Stephen's Green, Bray, Powerscourt House and Gardens, Glendalough Monastic Ruins, Kilkenny, Kyteler's Inn)
- Kilkenny to Kinsale (Kilkenny Castle, St. Canice's Cathedral, Rock of Cashel, Cahir Castle, Blarney Castle/Kissing the stone, Badger's Cave, Kinsale)
- Kinsale to Killarney (Town of Kinsale, Gap of Dunloe, Danny Mann Pub)
- Killarney to Castleisland (Ring of Kerry, Killarney National Park, Torc Waterfall)
- Castleisland to Bunratty (Durty Nelly's, Bunratty Castle, Knappogue Castle Medieval Banquet)
- Bunratty to Galway (Doolin Cave, Cliffs of Moher)
- Exploring Galway (Connemara, Oughterard)
- Galway to Dublin to Minnesota (Athone)

Welcome Reign Thomas Ropte!

While we were on our trip, my new little nephew, Reign was born - on September 8! Weighing in at 8lb 1oz and 20.5 inches long, Reign was born at 10:17am, and boy is he adorable :)

Welcome Kaleigh Mae Vinsand!

Also while on our trip, my newest little niece, Kaleigh Mae was born! Kaleigh was born the morning of September 13, weighing in at 7lbs 15oz and 20 inches long. She is just the sweetest little girl, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing her little eyes and some grins :)

Turkey Day in Worthington

The weekend after we returned from our trip to Ireland, we had a busy weekend ahead! We went down to Worthington on Saturday morning to meet Mark's Dad for the annual pancake breakfast to kick off Turkey Day, then headed over to the starting line for the Turkey Day 10k to cheer on Team Johnson for the big race! We had a few new competitors this year - Dan, Kathi and Jared - as well as seasoned Turkey Day racers Chris and Grace. (Mark and I took the year off this year) They all did so great! Congrats, guys!






The Cheerleaders!

After the big race we all met up at the Pizza Ranch for lunch and ate some of these beauties!


Then we met up with some friends at the Turkey Day Parade:

Meeting the New Babies

We went down to Humboldt the day after Turkey Day to meet our new little nephew, Reign and niece, Kaleigh :) It's still amazing just how TINY these little guys are!

Our 4 year Anniversary

Believe it or not, this girl forgot to take any pictures WITH my hubby in them on our anniversary, but we DID spend plenty of time together :) He surprised me with flowers at work (awww!), and I made a yummy steak dinner with squash and corn (from the garden) and rolls, then we watched some old videos and reminisced a bit before he had to go change out some tires on the car. I can't believe its been FOUR years already, but at the same time, I have a tough time remembering what life was like without him :)