A week of celebrating

My parents must not have known or maybe they did this totally on purpose but the feast of St. Brigid is July 23, the feast of St. Anne and Joachim (parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary) is July 26 and I happened to be born July 28th with the name Bridgette Anne. I have a lot of celebrating to do in one week. This year I also had another reason to be celebrating on my birthday... I finished my last rotation of PA school and I am completely finished with the PA program. Granted I still have national boards to study for but 27 months sure did go by fast and I can hardly believe that I have finished. My last day of my rotation happened to be on my birthday as well and the office I was working in had a balloon, strawberries, muffins and a card signed by the whole staff for my birthday. I felt very blessed. Ben and I went to a young adults group called "faith and ale" that night in Auburn, CA which is about 1.5 hours away. A friend of mine co-runs the group and the speaker that night talked about prayer. I really can't think of a better way than to focus on personal prayer on my birthday. I was hesitant to go at first because I wanted to just have a night were we could celebrate my birthday since I was working all day. I had a change of heart during the day on my birthday and I really see how much God wanted to bless me for making that decision to be with him on my birthday.

My birthday morning Ben came over while I was getting ready for work and brought me a beautiful hydrangea plant, a dozen roses, and breakfast from Starbucks. Needless to say I was feeling very special from the start. Ben and I had been working on a coffee table/ottoman for my living room for a few weeks and he had surprised me yesterday by dropping it by my place so when I came home from work it was sitting in my living room.

My other present for my birthday was tickets to go see Lady Antebellum last night, the day after my birthday. I have always loved them and I heard they were great in concert. A wonderful elderly widow from church invited, Charlene, Ben and I over to BBQ in honor of my birthday before the concert. Charlene has been the most gracious lady and friend here. She had a wonderful steak dinner and got me an oregano plant for my birthday. After that Ben and I drove another 10 min to get to the concert venue, an outdoor amphitheater  owned by one of the casinos on the south shore. Unfortunately as soon as we drove up to the venue it started to rain. This is the 2nd time we've had rain this summer, and of course it happens when I want to go to an outdoor concert. Since it was raining and we did not come prepared, I left my phone in the car so I didn't get any pictures. It rained during most of the opening act and luckily a woman in front of me had an extra garbage bag she gave to me so I wouldn't get completely soaked, it really helped with the wind too. I have nothing but good things to say about Lady A in concert, I think this is one of the first concerts I've been to where I feel like their voices are actually even better live than on their record. The bleachers got a bit uncomfortable towards the end though.

I am really so appreciative of all of my friends and family who facebooked, called, and texted me on my birthday. It really made my 25th very special. My parents also sent me a very nice large bouquet of flowers for my birthday. I really can't thank God enough for giving me a wonderful first 25 years and I look forward to what God has in store for me in the future. Praise be Jesus Christ!