last year in my 20's

Today was my birthday and going into it I wasn't too excited, to be honest.  I was more at peace than I had been the night before, but still worried and just wanting to get it over with.  I was also feeling a little weird because for the first time in ten years of spending birthdays with Zac, he hadn't really mentioned my birthday or asked what I wanted to do.  The day before, when the blog drama happened, I was crying and Zac suggested we go over & meet with my guys at Pro 119 and then we could get lunch and spend some time together.  He had already arranged for Taylor & Talon to keep the boys, so we headed over.  First I was showered with singing, hugs, and lots of happy birthdays from my boys which was so sweet.  Grayson kept saying he wanted to get decorating & on with the party {a boy after my own heart}.  

Zac and I met with my guys & they were awesome, as usual.  We all agreed taking the high road was the way to go & the guys did the changeover-which was a LARGE project-at no cost to me, which was way nice and a big relief.  They had 20 different options for me to choose from {to start with} and when he clicked on the 20th option, I knew it was the one for me.  It was much like I'd envisioned the night before-further confirmation that Heavenly Father is aware of me personally & cares about even the smallest details in our lives-and I LOVED it.  The guys were excited and we spent about an hour going over changes I wanted to see, additions I thought would be good, and other techy info.  By the time we left around noon, I felt SO much better about the situation.  I wrote the girl an email letting her know we were in the process of doing a complete makeover and she was totally good about everything.  I was so relieved to have it all figured out and totally excited about the new look-it worked out better than I could have imagined.  Finally able to relax, I was excited to spend the day with my favorite guy.  First we went to sushi for lunch at our favorite place, IOU.  It was delicious.  For future reference, my favorites were the crystal shrimp & the SanFrancisco rolls.  YUMMY.  We had a good time chatting and making some goals for the coming year and I was just thankful for the time together.  

We didn't have anything big planned, so afterward we went to the mall for a while, walked around & browsed several stores, but didn't get anything.  One of my gifts from Zac was to get a new pair of barefoot running shoes and while I thought I wanted some vibram's 5 fingers, I've been hearing a lot of chatter & researching New Balance's newest barefoot shoe, the Minimus.  So, I decided to wait till I could try them on & took a raincheck on having Zac go with me to get them. Amber posted a sweet list on my blog which was fun to see while we were out & about. We headed to TCBY for my favorite white chocolate mousse with raspberries on top and visited some more there.  I thought we should get back to the kiddos, but Zac said Taylor had told him not to rush, so we weren't really in any big hurry.  

{Sidenote: I appreciated and loved all the phone calls, Facebook posts/messages, emails, and texts received on my birthday.  Candace sent me a card & an iTunes gift card, G&G Leavitt sent a card, Julie gave me a darling water dispenser-in teal!, Denise sent a package with a demdaco angel/earrings/sign, Courtney gave me a delicious pineapple, L&K gave me a shirt/book/lipgloss, Amber sent a package with 2 books & an iPhone case & hijacked my blog, Bob & Alison pitched in with my parents for the Minnesota trip, Cleaver's gave me $, and cards from Brad & fam and Em & fam, and Zac just spoiled me like crazy.}

After ice cream, Zac had to drop some phones off to Marco.  They were having a welcome home party for his mom {She's from Guatemala & had been there for a few months} at Wahooz, so we were taking the phones there.  Zac said, "Those guys will do anything for an excuse to have a party!"  Of course this got me going on how Colombian women {Marco's beautiful wife Tatiana is Colombian}, love to get dressed up for even the smallest things and love a chance to party, etc.  I was on quite a roll {totally love this family, by the way}, and when we got there I told Zac I'd just wait in the car.  He said, "Marco wants you to come in & meet his family.  You haven't seen Tati and Emmanuel in a while either.  Come on, it won't take long."  I grudgingly went with him {I was tired & ready to see my boys and hopefully eat some cake!} and he dragged me into where their party was.  He led me back to a secluded area of Pinz-the bowling alley portion-and through a private door into one of their individual party lounges.  Imagine my surprise when I'm expecting to see a large group of Latinos and instead see both of our families!  It was a surprise party to the max!  Zac had pulled off something I honestly didn't know he was capable of!  He CANNOT keep a secret from me.  He HATES surprises and usually spills the beans on gifts he's gotten me before I can open them.  He had planned this all by himself, made all the necessary calls {mind you, we have lots of siblings/parents}, and known for TWO weeks beforehand and not mentioned a thing.  I was seriously surprised and had not expected anything!  Wow!

It was a fantastic night.  He had gotten the private alley{3 lanes}+pizzas+drinks, so everyone had a great time bowling, dancing, laughing, visiting, and eating.  It was perfect!  Aside from Brad {who was trucking}, and Brian & Morgan {who live in Texas}, every family member was there.  It was great having everyone-including the kiddos-together.  Our families get along good and I felt so loved and spoiled.  I was seriously impressed with Zac and found myself glancing over at him thinking, "Who is this amazing man?  He continues to surprise me over the years with how amazing he is."  He totally pulled it off.  I received some incredible cards {I'm a sucker for the written word} from Em & Layne, Rosie & kids, Mom & Dad Cleaver {and $}, and my parents.  They also got me a mini airplane...to visit Amber later in the month!!  I was screaming and totally excited!  Of course I called Amber to share the news. (:  Not everyone stayed the whole time, but I think everyone had fun and I had a blast.  It was great having the boys there, too.  They danced & loved chasing the spotlights.  They both adored bowling and aside from Beckham trying to chase his ball down the slippery lane & me going to grab him and falling on my butt, there were no injuries. (;  Crazily enough NO ONE brought their real cameras {turns out our nice one was in our trunk & neither of us remembered}, but between all of us we had several picture phones & Mom's iPad, so that'll have to cover it.

I LOVED it.  So so fun!  So grateful for Zac being so sweet and coming up with everything.  He said afterward he wanted to invite several of our friends, but our family is so big it would have been crazy, so he kept it to family.  It was perfect.  I kept telling him on the way home how grateful I was for the whole day and how surprised I was.  He said he'd made a goal this year not to let the stress from the business get in the way of the people who were more important to him.  Totally blessed to have him.  

A most perfect 29th birthday day!