Birthday to Remember

So last weekend I celebrated my 27th birthday in style. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays - naturally- my birthday is just days before it. When I was growing up it was very easy to use it as a great theme for my birthday parties!

This year was extra special. I've lived in NJ for three years now. Next year will mark the longest I've ever lived anywhere since I left Ireland. Moving, as I've mentioned before, is never easy. For military brats it's always about rebuilding and moving to NJ was exactly the same as moving when I was younger.When you're a military brat with other military brats, you can make friends much easier. Being a military brat surrounded by civilians is another challenge. It's harder to break into friendship circles - despite my age.

The first year I lived here I flew back to Michigan to celebrate my birthday. I wanted to be with my friends and at the time I had yet to make one in NJ. The second year was different. By that time, I had switched jobs, had a very close friend and a group of solid friends. I took a leap and stayed in NJ and celebrated in a local town. It was a great night and I remember going home and thinking that I my rebuilding process was starting to work! I could have faith.

Today I am happy to tell you that my friendships here have grown leaps and bounds. I'm happy with them and feel confident that they will last. The past year has helped me realize who I really want as a friend and luckily those friends have felt the same way about me.

So this year for my birthday, I chose again to stay here. . . and throw myself a birthday party. Big step for me. The deal was sweetened when my two BFFs from high school promised to roll in to celebrate - Heather traveling from MI and Amanda from PA. They are pictured below.

Heather made my birthday cake. The front said "Happy Birthday to Melissa."
The back said "Happy Halloween Everyone Else!"

Amanda and I posing in costume! Don't we look great! Yes, I went as a birthday girl!

These girls mean the world to me because they carry my world in them. Sound odd . . . to you probably. These girls lived with me in Japan. Out of my friends, Amanda is the person I've know the longest. These girls are the girls I grew up with. They know what I was like in a world I can never return to. This is why I say that they carry my world in them. When I'm with them, I'm home. Having them join me for my birthday and meet all of my NJ based friends was incredible. And I'll be forever grateful for them flying and driving in from many miles away to be with me. Like old times. Except now it's legal to drink. And we have cooler clothes. And no one speaks Japanese. And we are in NJ. Love you babes and miss you every minute of every day.

Proud Wii Owner

My 27th birthday is on Tuesday. When Dan, my boyfriend, asked what I'd like for a gift I gave him my usual response . . . I don't know! I never seem to.

Since the Wii broke onto the scene it's been on fire. I've seen it fly of shelves in person. I've seen people fight over it in stores. And as much as it seemed to be the latest and greatest thing, I asked myself one question. Would I like it?

I'm not a gamer. My brother is the only person in my family who is. When we were growing up he'd ask for systems and games for birthdays, holidays . . . any time that he'd qualify for a gift! I can recall many holidays were Matt would jump out of bed, unwrap his gifts and spend the rest of the day in his room playing. I never got it. I tried to play - for the record, I suck at Halo. And it wasn't that fun for me. I thought, why spend so much money on a gaming system? Would I like it? Would I get bored with it? Would it be a waste of money? Should I buy something smaller and put the other money in savings? All boring questions I admit. But for someone who's not that into video games, it would be a big leap of faith to buy a Wii.

My boyfriend got word that I was interested in one (for the record, it was only so that I could play Mario Kart) and surprised me with one yesterday. Yes, an early birthday present. My reaction - I actually jumped up and down like a kid. So ridiculous, right! We set it up and played last night and I have to say . . . I get why this is the system for non-gamers. The system to make non-gamers into gamers.

In just one hour we played every game in the Wii Sports package. I rock at bowling and tennis. Totally suck at baseball and golf. This morning, before work, I caught Dan playing baseball. I laughed to myself. I then turned and said to him, hey, do you think they have Wii Volleyball. I think I could rock at that. He just laughed.

The addiction has begun!