Birthday Update!

Hello and Happy Tuesday!

So, again, I know I have been gone but work has been getting the best of my stress lately. I have new staff and my ideas have suddenly come into place which means a complete 180 from where we were as an agency. I am completely thrilled that things are working out so well and moving in the right direction but as the Program Manager, this means all of these changes need to be set in writing....which I am slowly but surely working on.

Anywho...Sunday, March 3rd was my birthday and of course Ben and I had a birthday weekend celebration. It's just never as much fun celebrating on one day so the rule for Kim's birthday is usually an all weekend event (or if it falls during the weekday....a week long event) YAY!!!

I think now is a great time to note how much of a planner Ben is NOT! So many ideas that I suggested sounded like fun, you know Murder Mystery Dinner, Esther's Follies, etc., for my birthday and all were sold out or not going to happen due to last minute planning....regardless he always seems to work it out for the best...BUT I must say it drives my mood swings crazy too! One minute it sounds so hopeful and happy...then No..then maybe...then No...then who knows!

All in all, we ended up having a culinary adventure of a weekend. It was so relaxing which was just what I needed. For a minute I think I even forgot about work...at least I didn't check in on my work email all weekend--YAY!

We started the weekend off with Friday night dinner at Buca di Beppo for some yummy Italian food and then migrated into Saturday night with my FAVORITE place in Austin Gumbo's! You just can't help but savor the delicious fish and Cajun mix! It was an even more awesome experience this time as the staff was informed about my birthday and were top notch all night. We even got a free key lime pie with a candle and no embarassing singing too. Perfect!

The night was great and mostly because Ben and I realized that it's so nice when we can just get out of the house and chat with each other...not about work or the day or things we need to do, but rather, just about life and our dreams, goals, and future. Ben and I have so much outside stresses that stay on our shoulders, but catching up on each others life is so nice and it's crazy to think that we see each other every day and don't chat about this more. We are definitely going to have to do this more.

After Saturday night we were planning on hitting up the Austin Kite Festival which we had a blast at last year, but I just wasn't feeling all the traffic and crowds. We have both been sick so instead we decided to have a picnic at Mount Bonnell. We grabbed some wonderful Rosemary bread and some great other meats and cheeses and headed up the road to this beautiful view:

It was such a perfect day to be out and about and this was a great way to enjoy the beautiful weather.

After hanging out for a while we managed to see an awesome deal on a laptop that I have been eying for quite some time. I had to grab it while I could, the only problem is that the they were all sold out by Sunday and the closest one in stock was in Midland :( So, it is ordered and I am anxiously waiting for this baby to get here!

As you can see, they also took the cabin's TV

To backtrack for a second, a couple of years ago Ben and I took a trip to the Smoky Mountains. It was beautiful and fun with lots of memories. We were able to stay in a cute little cabin without close neighbors....wahwahwah...NO! Heads up...should this be an option...BEWARE! We were totally robbed after we left the cabin that night and my laptop at the time (the one we were dumping all of our photos onto at the end of each day) was stolen. I was so disappointed and I haven't replaced it till now. When we called the police after arriving back to the cabin, they let us know that these cabins that aren't close to neighbors are often broken into by small time thieves. Boo!

Back to this year's birthday celebrations...Sunday night was wrapped up with again our favorite Tex-Mex place Chuy's and then Monday we of course had to have Odaku too!

Overall, it was a great birthday but still not the same without my birth buddy. The culinary trip was great and I am still stuffed I must say. Now, back to the workout grind I go! Oh, and cross your fingers that the laptop comes in soon!

Until next time...