The Quarter-Century Club!

I am a fourth of a way through my life... considering the fact that I might live to be 100 years old. Now, if I only live to be 70 or 80 years then I should have written this post long before this blog was invented. Just sayin'. I am also now considered a "menace to society," in case you believe that still... I think I'm over that.

I am 25 year old now.

I'm waiting for a big change to happen. I'm waiting to feel different. In fact, I've been waiting for over a week now.

Nope. The change isn't coming. The only time I felt weird was when I thought, "In five year, I'll be thirty..." but that thought fled quickly and was replaced with what to eat for breakfast.

My birthday weekend was a great one - simple, but fun. It was filled with friends and my current "family" here in Germany, good food, thoughtful gifts, lots of laughter, and plenty of dancing. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?

This picture to the right represents the power of me being 25 finally... Okay, really I just wanted to take a picture with this funny-looking statue.

I awoke on the morning of Saturday, November 6th, to children and adults running up the stairs in my house, bursting open my door, and singing me happy birthday. I sat up, smiling, but a bit confused... many of you can recall how I am when I first wake up from a random accord. The kids quickly forgave my awkwardness and handed me what Nico called, "The Main Gift." I smiled as I opened the paper to reveal... a mini, mini cooper! Haha... The past few weeks, whenever the parents asked me what I would like for my birthday, I dodged the question by saying, "A car. I want a mini cooper." I have done this in past years of my life too. I told them about the times my parents bought me collector hot wheels cars - especially, this little red one - as a joke. They decided to carry on the tradition. Haha! Classic.

That afternoon, Koko and the boys (Patrick had to work) took me out to lunch at this little place downtown - very good food! We ate lunch, walked around the city, and got a Starbucks hot chocolate. Mom, you would have been proud. Haha! Koko also handed me my actual "Main Gift," while we were out and about.

First, she handed me a beautiful, little, gold bag. Inside was a sterling silver and amber ring. It's this cool swirly design... I love it! The only I have is my fingers swell often (I know, I should drink more water), so it can't be too tight... and it can't be loose either. The only finger it fits really well on is my ring finger on the left hand. Now, in Germany this is no issue, because people often don't wear wedding rings, OR half of people wear them on the right hand. It's just a different culture, and different traditions. Plus, no one assumes you are married or taken from a ring on your finger. However, in Utah...

In Utah, I have to be slightly more careful if I ever want to be asked out when I get home. People can obviously tell it's not an engagement ring, but people read into things and make assumptions from something as small as wearing a ring on the "wrong finger." Bizarre, I think, but it's the culture. So, we'll see... but I might have to ditch the ring when I get home and wear it as a necklace. I haven't decided if I care enough, yet.

The second thing Koko handed me was a ticket - a concert ticket... the see Jamie Cullum. JAMIE CULLUM. I was ecstatic! I have fallen in love with his music over the past year and own all his records. If you don't know him, he's a British, Jazz singer - like Michael Buble - but he writes all his own stuff and plays piano. The concert was that following Tuesday night, in Dusseldorf, and I could not wait! Below, you can catch some videos and pictures of the concert... INCREDIBLE. He sounded great live, his band was SO talented, and he made things fun. He had the crowd sing in this chorus round on one song, and it was SO beautiful. I just stood there in awe. It was also cool to see how different it was from in the states... part of it might have been who I was seeing (a jazz singer out of Britain), but I don't think it was completely so. The were older people on the standing floor seats, and people weren't really singing along unless we were encouraged to sing. There was more, but there's the jist of it all. Below are the links for the three videos I recorded while there!



Back to the actual day of birth celebration.

After lunch and gift giving, we headed back to the house, where we met up with a group of my friends from church to go ice skating. We ate cake first, made by Koko (chocolate and raspberry -YUM!), and then headed out. We got there and everyone kinda changed their minds. The place was more crowded than planned and more expensive than people thought. I was a bit annoyed because in my mind I was thinking, "This was everyone else's idea for my birthday - not mine. Did no one think to check prices and such before coming here? Is a crowded rink really going to stop people?" It was what it was, but we turned around and headed back to my place. I was surprised with myself, because I was actually in such a good mood, that I just let it roll off my skin. I was smiling and laughing, and just ready to do SOMETHING. Haha!

We went back to the house to order pizza, listen to music, and play Dutch Blitz! For those who don't know, Dutch Blitz is a card game I've grown up with. I've only met one or two other people in my life who know the game and play it with their families. It was a Sunday tradition in my house - a staple activity. I LOVE this game!

Sidenote: There's a game like Dutch Blitz here in Germany that's really popular, but I haven't played it before. However, because of this game, teaching everyone Dutch Blitz was easy, and people were really good at it really quickly. My brother, Derek, could still have slaughtered everyone on the table though... He is SO fast!

After pizza and card games, I left with Luise, Glenn, and Rahel to go bowling and get cocktails with a group of their friends in Bad Honnef. It was a lot of fun! We had a nice group and I got to use a bit more German... I'm trying to, anyway. Haha! Following cocktails, our group of four went to a little club next to the bowling alley, and the rest went back in to bowl another game. It was a blast! When I first got in, I was surprised by how stiff everyone was dancing. I asked Luise about it and she said, "They haven't had enough to drink yet." I said I didn't care, went into the middle of the dance floor (which was inside an old swimming pool floor) and broke it down. Some people thought I was a bit crazy... really. I just didn't care what anyone thought and was having fun! After awhile others started to loosen up and the atmosphere improved, which was nice.

Sidenote: I think I've turned off my "like button." I mean, there have been a few cute guys here in Germany that I've been interested in or liked, but not really very many... and it has not in one ounce been a focus. I don't know how, but I think I just turned my mind off to it all and focused on the little boys I care for right now. That's why I'm here, and I haven't let other things be a huge center to my life. The girl here tease me, saying, "How are you going to turn that button back on when you get home?" Haha... I'm sure that will come naturally. :)

(I wrote the above "sidenote" because I was told boys were coming up and trying to dance with me here and there, and in all honesty, I didn't even recognize it. Not one ounce. I've always been a bit oblivious, but yea... Haha!)

We got home that night right before 3am, and after a shower I was out in an instant... It was a long, tiring, really great day, and I was thankful I had great people around me to share it with me. I really missed some of my friends and family from home, and couldn't help but think about my "Thuggin' and 80s Lovin'" party from last year, but this year (though much more chill) was just as good, in a different way.

Yep, that was the day that I turned 25. I am now, 25.
*muah*

Song of the Day: I should just use one of the ones posted above as my song of the day, but I REALLY want to post one that is on no Jamie Cullum album, that he performed at the concert. I didn't record it, and that makes me monster sad... The one I am posting is a good copy from someone else at the concert that I found on YouTube, but the first few seconds are missing... Eh! It's still AMAZING. Here is Jamie Cullum's song, Lost. It's a new favorite song of mine - so good. Enjoy!