The Day I Turned 28

About 3 years ago, before Doug and I were ever even engaged, I threw him a birthday party.  It was a party just for him with silly kid invitations, food, gifts and party hats. It was a special day that I spent a lot of time planning because I wanted it to be HIS day, a day he could have for his birthday that didn’t involve traveling or a joint family party.  Shortly after that, Doug asked me what my idea of a perfect date was.  Then, he learned something silly about me.  He learned that I LOVE campers, 5^th wheels and RV’s.  I love to walk through them and check them out as they have gone from small trailers to houses on wheels.   My favorite day at the mall is when the traveling camper show comes to town and in the parking lot are tons of open campers to walk through.  It’s fantastic.  However, it isn’t Doug’s idea of a good time and I sort of thought he just brushed it off and laughed at my crazy quirks.  He took me to a movie the next night to thank me for the birthday party and a month later we were wrapped up in wedding planning.  I had totally forgotten about the silly birthday party and the conversation making fun of my love for campers….that is, until I turned 28 on the 4^th of February, 2013. 

I almost always share my birthday with the Super Bowl.  It’s inevitable.  If I don’t share the actual day of football, I am usually at least the day before or the day after.  This makes party planning troublesome, but I have never minded because I actually quite love football.  This year it would have been the best gift ever if Peyton was there, but since he wasn’t,we just enjoyed the commercials, good food and friends.  Doug made me this beautiful cake one day early and our Super Bowl company sang to me.  It was sweet and the cake was delicious.

 

Sunday night/Monday morning, The Hubs woke me up to tell me Happy Birthday. I sleepily opened my present and was so excited by my new Disney movie that I almost watched it right then and there!! However, in classic Ayzlynn form, my desire for sleep won that battle and I just went back to bed.

I took Monday off, mostly because months ago The Hubs asked me to.  He told me he had a day of surprises for me.  He silenced my phone and shut the blinds in our bedroom and let me sleep in.  I am normally up around 6 on Mondays so sleeping until 9 was pretty freaking delightful.  I woke up to a wonderful card and breakfast in bed.

 I showered and got dressed for the day and The Hubs told me to wear a top that could go either way and pack slacks.  We got in the car and headed south.  At Loveland, he took the exit and pulled into Dick’s.  Here, he bought me a Peyton jersey which he had already picked out, he just wanted me to try it on before he purchased it to be sure it fit.  Basically, my entire day was complete in this moment.  I was ready to go home, what more could he give me?! My life was complete!!! 

We had a light lunch at Rock Bottom, where he told the waitress it was my birthday and she gave me free donut holes with caramel sauce.  It was delicious. 

We hopped back in the car and headed south. I was certain we must be going to the city, because what else could we possibly be doing on this already complete day? I was wrong. Doug took the exit onto some service road and I started to lose faith in the day.  Service roads freak me out.  People get lost and murdered on service roads.  I kept asking him if he knew where he was going, he just laughed and told me to be patient. 

Then, it was like the clouds parted and the sun was shining down on the most amazing sight I ever seen. RV AMERICA!!! You guys! It’s the biggest indoor showroom of RV’s, campers, etc in America!!! (or so they boast anyway)  Doug told me I could look for as long as I wanted, we had until 5:30 when they closed.  Holy crap this was fantastic.  I started at the very back and I walked through each and every camper in that store.  I picked out at least 4 that I would buy if I won the lottery.  Doug was so patient and just followed me around and I opened every fridge and checked out every cupboard.  It was also a total bonus that the salespeople there are not pushy at all.  They didn’t even bother us, just occasionally when we walked past they asked if we were doing alright.  I wasted 3 hours in that store.  I highly recommend everyone go there. 

After I had thoroughly examined all the available options in the warehouse, we hopped onto the interstate and headed north again. Then, he took me to the movies – which if you know me, you know the movies is one of my all-time favorite pastimes.

 After the movie, The Hubs told me to change and we headed north again. I was beginning to think we were going all the way home when he finally stopped off in Fort Collins, where he took me to my absolute favorite restaurant: The Melting Pot!  He had reservations and these were waiting for me at our table. 

It was a really lovely dinner and I was so happy to be ending this incredible day with this incredible man eating delicious food. 

Here is the only picture I got of us TOGETHER that day!!! 

 When we left Fort Collins, we were driving through downtown and saw these lights.  I know they are left over from Christmas, but after the day I had, it felt like they were on just to wish me a Happy Birthday.  I usually don’t like surprises because I’m too type A and I can’t be in control of surprises.  However, this day, this surprisingly wonderful day, was worth all the anticipation in the world.  Happy Birthday to me, and remember to never, ever underestimate my husband.  He listens, he remembers, he holds onto an idea for years, and when the time is right, he pounces.