happy birthday to me!

To my precious lambs/committed readers/total and complete strangers,
I have not blogged in a while, and for that, I apologize. During this mysteriously undocumented period of time, my adventures have included traveling to Ireland and ending my teenage years of life. Bless you if you find those exciting, and stay tuned as I slowly rehash my life from the past week.

Tuesday (yesterday as I know and love it) was phenomenal. For the first time since I've been living in Oxford, it warmed up to almost 50 degrees fahrenheit. I went on a run to Christ Church meadow, and it was so beautiful! University Parks was full of purple, yellow, and white crocuses. The first little hints of spring are my absolute favorite time of year, and this was a perfect birthday present.

Even though it was a teensy bit colder outside, today was a pretty good birthday abroad. :] Allison, Kelly, Grant, Jacob, and I went to University Parks to feed the ducks our moldy bread. I met an elderly man with two cocker spaniels named Enzo and Porsche, and he was just the sweetest. He told us he lived in the states, and had even heard of ACU before! Pretty cool. Kel went home to shower, but the rest of us went to the outdoor market for some fresh fruits and veggies! I filled up a huge reusable Sainsbury's bag with avocados, apples, limes, chili peppers, bean sprouts, okra, and strawberries for just under 8 GBP. Awesome deal! Grabbed a latte, and made myself a huge veggie stir fry for my birthday lunch back at the house. Absolutely delicious. Went to my (only) class, Oxford Through the Ages, after a relaxing afternoon, and toured the Christ Church meadow area (again for me) as well as the Museum of Oxford. I think Dr. Bennett was very astute to label it 'kitschy'.. not the most impressive of exhibits, but we can always use a little crash course on our British 'hometown'.

I bought cupcake ingredients for a celebratory sweet, and Kelly was so wonderful to make all the chocolate ones for me during class! I whipped up a few vanilla cupcakes once my nose stopped running from the cold, and decorated them all with chocolate buttercream icing. I felt like such a cheater using mixes and pre-made materials, but hey, I didn't want to spend my birthday hours cooking!

Around 6 this evening, 15 or so of us went to a restaurant called Freud over in Jericho to celebrate Jackie's birthday, as well as my own. (jackie's & me? jackie & i's? hence the awkward wording in the previous sentence.) Dr. Bennett recommended it for their excellent pizzas and salads, and I am a recent convert to the sentiment. I ordered the garden (artichoke, tomato, onion, mushroom) pizza and pretttty much inhaled it. No big deal. Someone sneaky let slip to the waiter that there were a couple of birthdays, so Jackie and I each got little plates of ice cream, complete with tealights and singing. I love it when my birthday rolls around, but for reasons unknown to me, having all the attention (aka singing the birthday song) turned to me for extended periods of time is just not fun. Too many pairs of eyes watching to see what I'm going to do next.. kinda makes me feel like a caged animal. So I suffered briefly through, and went home to share cupcakes with my Oxford family.

I spent the rest of my night planning out our 10-day spring break trip to Spain with Cailee, Spencer, and Grant. We got so many things ironed out and booked. Feels good to have my blood pressure back down. Now, if I could just get Italy figured out, too..

It's been a great birthday abroad. I am loving my study abroad group more and more every day, and it is such a blessing to live with amazing, quality people. The hard part to admit is that many times today, my mind has wandered to recall memorable birthdays spent with my family and very closest friends back in Texas. I wouldn't give this trip (and especially the people on it!) up for anything, but such a stark contrast with past tradition every March 3rd has brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. It's ridiculous how extravagantly God has blessed my life, and this has become increasingly evident by the day. I miss everyone back in the states so terribly. I was thinking of each one of you today, wishing I could share my special day with you. Know that I could not possibly replace or forget you.

I feel like now would be a good time to mention my parents and sister. Life in my family has been nothing short of loving and blessed. They have influenced me in countless ways, teaching me to love God, treasure faith, and spread this compassion to the people around me. I can only pray that I can accomplish a portion of what they have dreamed for me. My family has graciously allowed me to transplant myself to another country for an entire semester, supporting me in literally every manner possible. Their sacrifice and love has given me a unique opportunity to experience the world and return home a better person than when I left. For that, I am immensely grateful. I love you three so much, and I wish that I could have at least been able to spend one of my favorite days with you. You were here with me the entire time, and the month of May will come soon enough! As silly as that may have sounded typed out on a blog, there is no way I could have vocalized it without crying my ridiculous 'ugly cry'. I meant every word.

We're heading to tour Lloyd's and Parliament in London on Friday, and I'll try to get the Ireland trip documented on here before that goes down!

"In my own way, I take you everywhere I go, and it feels like home."