Yours truly celebrated her 30th this past Sunday. I had a wonderful birthday spread out over the whole weekend with a variety of special treats. I don't have anything remarkable to say about being thirty years old. So far, so good! Jonathan has let the celebrating continue way past the mark, and he's even promised me birthday ice cream sometime later this week. Yummy. These first few pictures are just because I think they're cute.
On Friday a friend and I took a walk to Starbucks, where I enjoyed a decaf caramel mocha and a cinnamon apple muffin. Later that day I did some baking for my small party on Saturday. Everyone was a little surprised that I baked my own cake, but it was my preference. I've been on a sweets-fast for the month of January, so I haven't baked since December. Because it's one of my favorite pastimes, I claimed the right to make my own birthday cake this year. Friday night Jonathan cooked the most delicious chicken tikka masala, which I had been craving for days. __________
On Saturday I got a lovely pedicure and manicure, while Jonathan stayed home with Guy. This was followed up by the highlight of the weekend~going to the obstetrician and seeing Baby Shirey #2 for the first time. Everything looks good so far, and the doctor is estimating that he/she will arrive around September 20th. That is five days after Guy's 2nd birthday, so September is shaping up to be an exciting and busy month for our little family. We got to see the baby's heartbeat and enjoyed calling our families and sharing the good news that afternoon.
Saturday night we had some friends over, and we enjoyed their company until about 11 p.m. That's late into the night for this early bird. Everyone brought either an appetizer or a dessert to share. I have never really enjoyed having birthday parties for myself, but I felt it necessary to open the party doors a little wider on my 30th. And I'm really glad I did. We have some wonderful friends here in Jordan, and it was really special to spend the evening with them. ______________
On my actual birthday we rented a car and headed east. Our original destination was an oasis located in Azraq, a town near the Saudi border. However (as we discovered upon arrival), after years of the water being routed to Amman, the wetlands are now non-existent. It's pretty sad, because 25 years ago they spanned about 12 square kilometers and were teeming with wildlife from this region. So we visited a couple of the local desert castles instead. The first one we saw was built out of volcanic rock by the Romans, and used by T.E. Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia) as his headquarters while he campaigned in this area. The second was built in the 8th century by the Umayyad family. It had some amazing mosaics and frescoes that were remarkably well preserved. Here we are setting out on our road trip.
Guy had his best car trip ever. He hardly complained and even took a nap!
The local scenery. This is pretty much what it looks like from here to Iraq.
Playing with rocks at the first castle.
Here I am out by the second castle.
Guy keeping himself entertained.
Starting to lose his cool. The poor boy was SO ready for an afternoon nap, but the sun was right in his face.
As you can see, I had a great birthday! Thanks so much to those of you who sent me notes via Facebook and email. I am ready to see what excitement this next decade has in store for me!
