{the.BIG.27}

"today you are you, that is truer than true. 

there is no one alive who is youer than you."

 -dr.seuss

well it's that time once again.  i've been blessed with another year & today is the big 27!

birthdays are always special to me... you're saying duh it's your birthday...but it's more than just the day that i was born, it was the day that i survived.  the day that God blessed me with the gift of this amazing life.  last night i got to begin the birthday festivities with a lovely sushi dinner with my amazing family (minus a sick niece#2 & the bro-in-law) & the lovely e .  you know it's going to be a really good birthday when an assortment of yumtastic cupcakes is involved...

here's my beautiful mama & me.  this week i actually heard the story of my arrival into this world for the first time.  i realized yesterday that i've never asked her the details & her emotions of going through premature labor.  hearing her first hand account was beyond emotional.  to hear that her close friend, who was a nurse when i was born, told her that she just knew that my mom was going to lose me when she called that early morning before heading to the hospital, is really sobering.  life is so precious friends.  we are all amazing miracles!

there's nothing i love more than a good family, dinner, with a little bit of wine, yummy sushi, conversation, and ALWAYS laughter.  i couldn't think of a better way to spend my birthday...

and then came the real shocker.  my parents totally blew me away and surprised me with the camera of my dreams... the canon 5D mark II!!!  i'm completely overwhelmed, thankful, blessed, and totally feel unworthy of such an amazing gift.  this is something that i would never be able to afford at this point in my photography journey and i cannot even begin to fathom what is to come.  i'm so thankful for my family's undeserving love for me (and yes e is my family... she's my "other sister":) ...and i'm blessed beyond measure!

i'm so excited for this next year of life and all that it has in store... bring on 27!!

{aw}

"I want to live fully, so that I can look back and smile. I want love deeply, so that I can look back and cry. I want to give freely, so that I can look back and see the ripple effect my generosity started."