My birthday wish came true! In November, my birthday wish
was to spend a long weekend exploring Ireland, but by January my only wish was
to spend my birthday at home with my family and friends. I flew home on January
15th, and I literally ran off the plane, down the terminal, and all
the way to baggage claim where my family was waiting. I had not had a Daddy hug since October, so I dropped my bags and squeezed him tight blocking all of the other passengers behind me. I didn’t care. I was home!
Mom had a welcome home
sign, and Tab and Jason were excited to see me too. After I went down the hug
line I noticed a girl out of the corner of my eye that kept staring at me. I
flew from Chicago to Memphis, so I am positive that everyone was wondering what
the big deal was about someone coming home from Chicago. They didn’t know that
I had flown 4,000 miles to get those hugs.
I finally got it together enough to
see who the chick was staring at me. It was Hilary!!! Hilary, my Cali girl now
living in Nashville, had driven all the way from Nashville to surprise me at
the airport! I was ecstatic! Amy was out of town, so Hil drove to Memphis and
back that night by herself just to see me. She’s amazing! We went to dinner and
I jabbered on and on about my trip and repeatedly hugged everyone. I was
finally home!
I made it safely back to the land of sweet tea and friendly
faces!
Jet lag is not my friend. I woke up every single morning
this week at 5:30 am, which is 11:30 am in London. I am a night owl, so this
sleeping schedule is not working for me. I did start to unpack this week, unpack
as in unload my suitcases in the middle of my floor and leave my stuff in
organized piles. I’ll get there!
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| My Daddy made me a huge welcome home banner! He even sang it to me when I got home. |
Now to the important stuff…It’s my BIRTHDAY month!
Thursday, my Birthday Eve, Emily White and I made the trip
to God’s country aka Starkville! First stop: Birthday Blue Plate Lunch at The
Veranda! If I had to pick a last meal it would definitely be The Veranda’s Blue
Plate Chicken. If you’ve never been, then you should put it on your Bucket
List! A lot of the usuals at my Birthday dinners had class or actually have
real jobs, but a few of my favorites made it to lunch. I filled them in on my
trip and Anna, the friend that I referred to as “the one that will
probably be getting a ring soon” and now has a beautiful ring, caught us up on
her latest wedding plans. Emily Moak surprised me with red velvet cupcakes too!
It was so wonderful to see all of them, and I was so happy to be back in
Starkville.
I had one more surprise waiting at The Veranda. Julio and
I share the same wonderful Birthday week, so I had written on his wall that we
would celebrate together Thursday at lunch and that I was hoping the singing
waiter would be there. Maegan, who works at The Veranda and happens to be from
Ripley, saw our conversation and jumped into action. She knew exactly who I was
talking about, and she said that he wasn’t working Thursday but she would see
if she could get him to come in that day. I didn’t think anything else about it
all week until he walks in with a birthday cake and candle to serenade me! I
immediately started blushing. Claude sang to me on my 19th Birthday,
my 21st Birthday, and now my 23rd Birthday! Maegan is
amazing, and my Birthday Eve was wonderful!
My actual Birthday was filled with sweet calls, cards, and texts.
Your birthday really reminds you how many great friends you have! Thank you
all!
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| My beautiful flowers from my Cali family! Thank you! |
After my birthday dinner with my family, it was present time! Mom and Dad
had me a quite a few surprises, but I told them to consider my ridiculous
amount of London shopping as birthday presents. Haha. The person that received
the most presents on my birthday wasn’t even the birthday girl. Baby McKay
definitely won the present lottery when Aunt Tiff went to London. He won’t be
here until May, but he is already spoiled. Imagine that! I gave him a million
books because I am determined that he will be a genius. Don’t be surprised if
my blog turns into a nephew brag book when he arrives! :)
