On my birthday, I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things. The clerk stared at my I.D. for an inappropriate amount of time, looking at me, then the I.D., then back at me...
Thinking she was wondering why I had a Texas driver's license, I started to explain that I hadn't lived in Idaho for a while.
She interrupted me, saying, "No... no.. its just that you hide it SO WELL!"
"Hide my I.D.?" I said, confused.
"No, your age! You look so much younger! GREAT JOB!"
And I thought - wow.... so this is what we've come to.
All aside, I had a wonderful birthday.
Turning 26 never felt so good.
The pizza tradition continued. My parents started celebrating my birthday with pizza waaaaay back. My birthday seemed to ALWAYS fall on a basketball game day, from about 5th grade through my senior year, and my parents would always deliver pizza for the whole team. When I left for college, they continued the tradition. Over the years, they've had pizza delivered to a hotel room in California, a classroom in Sevilla, Spain, my dorm room at Rice in Houston, two classrooms in two schools that I taught in in the gheeeeeettto in Houston, my house in Denver during the middle of grad school finals, and a pizza party for my friends in Grahamstown, South Africa. This year I got to eat it with them at the Pizza Hut in Burley.
My aunt Donna and uncle Richard came over for a fabulous dinner with lots of my favorites. It was so warm and fabulous.
The menu was rather extravagant, and complete with a VERY strong drink my dad invented for the occasion...
And for dessert - Creme Brulee!
Dad torched it to carmelize the sugar, and I was convinced the house was going to blow up..
It was delicious, and a beautiful beginning to what I am sure will be an incredible year.
My 25th year began in Grahamstown South Africa surrounded by so many loved ones...
Shortly thereafter, I finished my master's thesis,
Went on an incredible trip to islands off the coast of Kenya and Tanzania,
Flew to Idaho for Christmas and got promptly thrown into sub-zero weather up in Sun Valley for a family bonding session,
Visited Houston for a quick luncheon with all of my loved ones and a presentation to the Rotary District who funded my year in South Africa,
Went to Jerusalem for 3 months to participate in a Special Program on Human Rights, where I got detained, got angry, and had my whole heart swallowed up by the situation,
Visited Jordan and Egypt,
Returned to Denver to finish my last quarter of graduate school,
Went to Nairobi, Kenya for 3 months to conduct research in the largest slum in Africa where I walked through human feces almost every single day and had my flight home canceled due to terrorist threats,
Returned to Idaho in one piece,
White water rafted Hells Canyon,
Visited my grandparent's ranch in Arizona where I learned how to bake a pie and got to listen to more Fox News than any one human should ever have to,
Snuggled with my loved ones and presented our findings about the slum to our funders in Denver,
Took a Father/Daughter special trip to Yellowstone,
Reconnected with beloved family at a reunion in Las Vegas,
Accompanied of one of my dearest friends to his sister's wedding in San Diego,
Picked pecans right from the trees in El Paso and heard Victor present about his hot shot new job,
Became an excellent phone answerer and sub-par label maker at Fletcher Law Office,
And got to hang out with my parents, lay low and breathe for the first time in a really long time in Burley Idaho.
So overall - it was amazing, exhausting, overwhelming, love-filled, drama-filled, gratitude-filled, ball buster of a year. I am certainly still processing everything that happened..
A Father-Daughter trip to Yellowstone National Park
A beautiful reunion in San Diego
