The Perfect 33rd

My 33rd birthday was far more exciting, a lot more fun, and way more special than I had been anticipating!

First, I woke up to this:

Actually, DH gave me a camera battery. A second battery to be exact. All of the above loot was from The Mad Hatter so DH wouldn't be in big trouble with me.


Apparently, I've commented on far more than one occasion about how great some people's blog pictures are, and how I wish I could take such great pics, and DH hopped on it!


At first, I was completely in shock and told him I couldn't accept such an extravagant gift.


He told me I've had a really crappy two years, and he just wanted me to have something really special that I would enjoy using. Of course, there were some emotional tears (by me, of course) after that!

Between his comments on how it was a gift the whole family would enjoy, many comments from others about how thrilled I'd be to have it once I got over myself and started using it, and getting further confirmation from my mom that he'd been working on this gift for over a month, researching, shopping for, and finding THE perfect camera for me (he actually has another one he needs to return!), I decided that the only thing I could do was accept this gift graciously and gratefully.


Now I need a photography class AND a Photoshop class!


Then, my mom, MH, and I headed to the beach for some of this:

DH and my dad joined us around 6:00 (my absolute favorite time of day on the beach) for some of this:

and this:

Of course, a family photo to commemorate the day:

And a nice one of the two of us (well, as nice of me as you can get after a full day at the beach):

It was a fabulous "hump day" birthday.

Thanks so much Mom, Dad, DH, and MH for making sure (as always) that my birthday was a day I won't soon forget! The weather was fantastic, and the ending to the day was my idea of perfection. I am one very lucky girl! As DH has already said, 34's going to be tough to match!!!