My beautiful friend Tara invited me to photograph her newest family member’s birth day. For me, words can’t really describe an event like this. Tara was magical and strong. Her new baby boy is full of possibility.
You can see more photos on my facebook page here. (SFW)
this photo is from last night. it’s one of many in a long line of photos of my brother and i sharing a birthday celebration. yesterday was his birthday, and today is mine. we are three years apart to the day. next week is his daughter holly’s birthday so she was getting in on the candle action here.
on my husband’s side, his youngest brother‘s wife’s birthday was two days ago, his second youngest brother‘s wife’s birthday was yesterday, and mine is today. strange that we all have birthdays in a row. our nephew on that side also has a birthday tomorrow.
and i have about a million friends that all have birthdays this week. including our adopted son drew.
We had a new addition to our family! My brother is now a father!
My brother’s birthday is the day before mine, so we met up at the Liberty Market for lunch today to celebrate. His girlfriend Kari surprised us with cake, and Holly thought it was her birthday too. She turns two next week, so perhaps this was good practice.
I turned thirty on Thursday. I know a lot of people have had a hard time with this number, but it didn’t really bother me. I suppose because it all feels the same to me. Except that what used to seem “old” doesn’t really seem old anymore. And I seem to be growing these new hairs that are white. I really hope they are silver. I have always wanted silver hair. Or silver hair with a white stripe, but I think you already have to have a streak to begin with.
I had a great doble quincenera. Shout out to Craig who hired a mariachi band. And Stephanie for all the preparations she did for the party. Steph is an amazing cook and baker/bakeress? And Jacy for stuffing the pinata. And Wendi for letting me have the party over there. And Joy for loaning me her wedding dress. And Carrie for the quincenera bouquet. And Brenda for the quincenera shoes. And eveyone’s really thoughtful gifts.  And the level of participation in the costumes! (Please send pictures to my email if you have them!)
On my actual birthday, I had a few free meals and tried to see a free movie, but I found out it’s only free popcorn now-boo! It was a really relaxing day spent with David. The picture above is from Yuptha’s Thai Kitchen which is one of my favorite restaurants. They brought me a coconut ice cream with a candle in it.
And speaking of David…he got me a bicycle! Yay! This is something about which I am really excited. My old bike is from the seventies and it’s hard to ride. It is so heavy that it makes my legs ache.  This new one is made for commuting, so I plan on riding to work. I’ll post pictures of it soon.
Last week we celebrated David’s youngest brother’s birthday.  A lot of John’s friends and bandmates joined us at Sushi Eye in downtown Chandler. The restaurant was kind and bought several desserts for the whole table at the end of dinner. Later, we walked down to the brand new Irish pub called Murphy’s Law where a few of the guys drank Car Bombs. Happy Birthday John!
It’s been amazing watching you grow up (we’ve known each other since I was twelve). You have a beautiful wife and a beautiful family. You’ve been my friend through the good times and the bad, and I am better for having known you. And no one plays a better game of dangling participles than you.
Happy Birthday to my friend Stacy.
She and I have known each other for about ten years now…whew, ten years, REALLY?!
We met after she broke her ankle ice skating. (Go awkard college church events-woot!) I felt sorry for the poor girl who couldn’t stand like every one else during the singing time at church, so I would sit with her. (Actually, I liked being able to relax–man, those songs go on forever!)
Anyway, we went to ASU, lived together, laughed together…she was in my wedding…ate sushi together…I think I got her to like mustard…I crashed her car…she introduced me to personality profiles and being a more sensitive person…
Here’s to another ten years!
