"Happy Birthday to Me!" Or "Wait...WHAT?!?!?!?!"

So, last week I turned 30. Yep, it's true. And to be honest, I don't really care too much about no longer being in my 20s. (I think if I were single at this point I'd be freaking out, but I feel like I'm in a pretty good place right now with lots of good possibilities open for the future, so I'm good for now.) Nevertheless, who doesn't want to do something fun to celebrate their birthday? Especially when it's a milestone birthday, right?

The truth is, I hate planning my own birthday. I don't know why, but it bums me out to have to plan and organize it on my own, probably because it usually ends up with me spending half the day working and cooking and cleaning or whatever. I spent a lot of birthdays over the past 15 years or so at camp, which are fun, but mostly just work. And I have had some great birthdays, but I've also had some less than stellar ones. This one, however, blew all the others out of the water.

A couple days after my surgery in May, my best friend April called to check in and see how I was doing. She said, "I want to make you feel better. So...are you ready? I'm coming for your birthday!" She had called me a month or so earlier and told me she wanted to come up and visit. We discussed options for when would work best, then she asked about coming up for my birthday, and I thought that sounded great. When I didn't hear more about it for a few weeks, I thought that idea must not have panned out, so I was pretty excited when she told me she was coming! What better way to celebrate turning 30 than with your best friend from forever, right?!

At that point I was still totally cracked out on pain meds, so a day or two later when I was talking to my sister about her coming, I realized she was coming on the night my sister and I had planned to go to the Sara Barielles concert. Amy had told me not to worry about getting tickets, so since it was happening just two days before my birthday, I figured that was my birthday present, and was so excited--we saw Sara in September and she was INCREDIBLE! But now I was worried, because I knew the venue was a concert hall with seats--not a General Admission kind of show. So I was a little freaked out that she would be there and wouldn't have a ticket, and I mentioned that to Amy. She just smiled and said, "Don't worry about it."

As July started to get closer, April mentioned she wanted to spend a few days at the beach. She even started researching beach houses to rent and sent me links to look at. I thought it was funny that the one coming to visit was planning the trip, but truthfully I was so busy that I didn't think too much about it.

Since April was coming into town, I requested Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off from work so we could hang out and play (especially since I have gobs of vacation time saved up!). I was so, so excited to see her, since we hadn't seen each other since October, and I've been through a lot of craziness and hard times and ups and downs since that with the new boyfriend and everything else.

A week or so before she was due to get to Portland, my sister told me she was just going to pick April up at the airport. I thought that was a little weird--why wouldn't I want to pick my best friend up at the airport? But she explained that she would be getting off early that day, and since she works right by the airport, it made sense that she could just pick her up on her way home. I checked in about it with April, and she said that made sense to her, too, and Amy had mentioned it to her and it would be fine.

So July 19th FINALLY rolled around, and I got off work early, raced home to let Allee out and finish cleaning up my apartment for April to come, changed into cute clothes for the concert, and raced over to Amy's. April's flight was getting in at 3:05, and so I texted Amy to make sure she was still good to pick her up. At 3:30, she texted me and said she was just getting off work, but she was headed to pick her up and she'd see me at her house in a bit. I was a little confused about why I hadn't heard anything from April, especially since Amy was a half hour late getting her at that point, but I didn't really think too much about it in my rushing around. Now that I think about it, when April called on my way to Amy's, she said, "We're just sitting around, catching up with Amy and Ster."

I got to Amy's around 4:30ish and found April and Amy chatting in the living room. We hugged and started talking, and after a few minutes, Amy got up and left the room, and April said, "So, I found something in the Salt Lake Airport that reminded me of you, and I just HAD to bring it for you!" All the sudden there was yelling and a rush of blond hair and this:

VALERI!!!!!!!!

I was SO confused. First I thought it was my sister, but then it wasn't, then I was just thinking, "Wait...WHAT?!?!" So once I got over the initial shock, we were jumping around and laughing and hugging, and then we sat down and started talking while I was adjusting to the fact that not only was April in Portland, but Val was, too!!! :) Happy day! April told me that she had flown through SLC so that she and Val could be on the same flight, and they both planned to come as a surprise. Amy had gotten up and left the room again, and while April was explaining, I heard someone start singing, "Happy Birthday to you..." and peeking around the corner, there was:

JANNA!!!!!!!!

So I think at this point it's fair to say that I was MASSIVELY confused, as I stood there with my hands over my mouth thinking, "Wait...WHAT?????!!!!!!!????!!!!!!!!" There was lots more hugging and laughing and jumping around, then April continued to explain what was going on. Apparently April and my sister had been plotting for a long time to put this together! They told me Janna had been visiting her in-laws in Spokane, so when they planned this, they just decided she would drive over and pick them up at the airport on her way into town and meet me at my sister's house (hence why April wasn't too concerned that Amy got off work later than anticipated). Then the best news of all came, that all three of them were staying all week and we were all going to the beach together!! :) Hooray!

My sister then piped up and said we all needed to get ready to head to dinner and the concert...and she had gotten tickets for everyone (well, actually my dad bought them for everyone--he's the BEST!! Thanks, Dad!), so we were all going! Everyone got dressed up (the above photos are actually recreations of the surprise while we were getting ready), and then headed downtown for dinner.

There is obviously more to this story, but it is bedtime for bonzo, so this will have to be continued (probably after this weekend). :) Safe to say, though, my friends are the BEST!! In the meantime, here is my re-created surprised face (ridiculous!):