Birthday Fun in Pictures and Captions!

It seems most people try to ignore their birthdays the older they get--I mean, who's REALLY excited about getting another year older, right?--but the past couple years I have decided that if I'm going to be getting older I might as well enjoy the day while it's here. I also think why limit the celebration to just one day??? Birthday on a Friday? Start on Thursday and ride it through the weekend. Birthday on Monday? Start on Friday and keep it going till Tuesday. BirthWEEKS are way more festive than birthDAYs!

I had a really great birthday this year and here are some of the highlights:

Boston Strong Pura Vida bracelets! I've been wearing these non-stop since I received them and they are a daily reminder of my goal and to work hard to reach it.

Mantra Band bracelets! I love these! The mantras are just what I need to get through the hard workouts: Just run, be fearless, and remember that the pain will not last.

Birthday card from my grandma! It arrived on Saturday, just in time for the Cats' last home game of the season. My grandma is the biggest UK Basketball fan on the planet and I love that my birthday card and her team spirit arrived just in time for me to cheer the Cats to victory. Go Big Blue!!!

Birthday dinner with my peeps! We all went out for Mexican. This girl was only too happy to get dressed up to celebrate.

Is this kid my mini-me or what???

My new waffle-maker has been a huge hit! I think the kids have eaten waffles every day for breakfast ever since we got it. My husband is the waffle-master! I can't wait to try these Spinach Protein Waffles

 This cool map! It's really neat to see what was here in 1876!

This was the best part of my birthday--spending all of Sunday with my twin sister! We had the most delicious brunch (there were mimosas!) and went to the art museum, then hung out in the sunshine on her back deck. I love being a twin and always having someone to celebrate my birthday with! Getting to spend the whole day with my sis was the best gift ever!

When I got home from hanging out with my sister, this was in my kitchen! Yay for a new pot rack! This will open up a lot of storage in my cabinets and provide some much-needed extra light! A huge thank-you to my hubby for making this happen--he had to re-run the wiring and everything!

My last workout as a 36-year-old!

A super fun birthday swim the morning of my birthday! Coach Crystal cooked up a special birthday workout for the occasion: 37 25s with push-ups and pull-ups in between. We did freestyle, backstroke, breast stroke, dolphin dives, corkscrews, kicks, pulls...all kinds of stuff! It was super fun and a really great workout!

I love my new Nike half-zip! It is SO SOFT--I may never take it off!

My new UK flag!

Pardon the patched walls in the background, we are prepping the living room at Ramshackle Reno for a new paint job!

Anyone else have a birthday recently? What's your favorite way to celebrate?