26-Yikes!

I crossed over the bridge and am now nearing my 30's. I didn't do anything big for my birthday, but had a good one. To start it off, my present from my parents was for Christmas and my birthday. They got me a Kindle Fire (which I love, btw). Since we were going to be flying on New Years' Eve, my grandma had a little family party on the 30th. I got to pick out a cake and since I LOVED the cookies from this store, I choose the giant cookie for the cake. Grandma made it really nice and we had the fancy china an silver. A highlight of the night was my hubby and sister playing around with the helium tank.

On the actual day I talked to my parents on the phone and got lots of facebook messages. We flew that day and when we landed it was the 1st in Belgium. I was surprised they didn't announce anything for the new year on the plane.

Often here people will do something for their birthdays. First I thought it was a little strange, like hosting your own party, but now I kind of like it. Less stress for everyone else. So sometimes the ladies will have a breakfast or tea for their birthday. Someone asked if I was going to do a breakfast and I said it depended how I felt. I felt silly inviting people, because to me it sounded like a plea for gifts, but I thought the idea sounded nice. I normally don't have many people over at a time, because it stresses me and it seems our house is too small for it, but I realized I could rearrange a little and have just as much space in the living room as others have.

So I decided yesterday to have a breakfast today. All my SILs came, plus my MIL, 2 aunts and a cousin. It was nice!

The bottom photos are some of my gifts. I love my new fruit bowl, I am sure I will love the chocolates, but since I'm on a diet, I think I'll leave them wrapped up a little bit longer and I REALLY love my new jacket. I have wanted a long jacket for a few years, but never found one that fit, was the right price, right color, had the things to keep your wrists and neck warm with a hood. Finally I found it yesterday! Oh, and I wanted a belt, but did not really want a tie. PLUS it is an added bonus if I don't look like the Michelen man in it. So I recevied a gift certificate for my birthday and I put it towards my jacket that was 50% off. Now I need some cold weather to wear it in.