My Birthday

LM and I went to brunch at our friends house C&S. 

I broke my diet to devour and delicious omelet with
*wistful sigh* cream cheese

Our technology.

We chilled while they cooked.

They look different, but both were very good.

We left nothing .

C

Hot sauce, cream cheese, coffee and conversation! Thanks girls!!

I had to rush home to go to the market so that T could make my requested
birthday dinner. This picture is not blurry, it is just all the mold growing
on this tofu...yeah.

Family shop at the market. Lots of tofu.

Chickens, hopefully there are no die hard animal activist reading this.
Really, they should just never come to China....

Beautifully arrayed.

My requested dinner of pumpkin soup. YUM!

Our table.

AND last, but oh not least, my friends from TEXAS! 

This was my second birthday in China (sort of, I was on a plane to come here on my 21st). Turning 23 in China was slightly odd. It was a bitter-sweet day for several reasons, some of which are not important enough to say here. Of course, I missed my family, and our traditional Dairy Queen cake. I really, really missed having a cake, My 20th birthday was the first year I didn't have a cake. I think the family was busy and we weren't able to gather, so Lisa gave me a rice cake with a candle (picture below). On my 21st birthday I had a cupcake (picture below), then boarded a plane. On my 22nd birthday I had a glass of wine and beignets in New Orleans (picture below) and on my 23rd I was on a crazy diet because of my digestion and, alas, no cake : ( Cake is my favorite, so when I get the chance to make up this deficit I most assuredly will. Hopefully my 24th will end this Birthday cake fast in my life!! Anyway, after the wonderful dinner of pumpkin soup I joined my friends and then finished off the evening with a good study. Yeah, I studied, ha, so sad. One important thing I learned is that every family celebrates things differently. I believe Birthdays should be celebrated because it is a way of saying, "I am glad you were born, I celebrate you being in my life and what you are doing on this earth". When I have a family one day, birthdays will definitely be a day long festivity, no questions asked ; ) So that, my dear friends, concludes the sumasion of events celebrating my day of birth.

I miss you all dearly!

2009, Rice cake with Lisa.

2010 on my way to China
for the 2nd time!

2011 in New Orleans (sheriff shirt!) with Beth and other dears.