So much has happened in the past week! I feel like I just sat down for the first time in days. But hey, at least it’s been a lot of fun! Last weekend my family and I celebrated my birthday a few days early by making pizzas out on our deck, inviting Isaac and his family over and just enjoying the time together. Ever since my twelfth birthday, I have had either raspberry cream cheese swirled brownies or cobbler for my birthday “cake”. This year it was cobbler again!! I love spending time with my family, and I was SO happy the weather was beautiful that evening! 
The next day was Easter Sunday, and I love taking pictures in the bluebonnets, so I decided there was no better time to do it than when we were dressed in our Easter best! I love spending time with my family and loved ones, celebrating what Christianity is all about- Jesus’ defeat of sin and death! 
I think my favorite part of Easter this year was going to Isaac’s home church and participating in what they call the “blooming cross”. The cross was actually a torture device used by the Romans, that slowly and steadily killed the victims. It was a sign of fear among the people. However, because of what Christ did on the cross, it now reminds us of the power of God, the promise He gave us, the hope we have in Christ and that we have been reconciled through Him. The flowers remind us of the beauty of the cross. I thought it was so wonderful to see the people in Isaac’s church come together to fill the cross with flowers. It reminded me of what the Church should be- a time when we can come together as one body and worship Him. 
My birthday rolled around on Wednesday and I rolled out of bed to run 4 miles and do a little outdoor workout. The weather was perfect and I just wanted to enjoy the birds chirping, the cool breezes and fresh air before it becomes insufferably hot out there. I’m rooting for a mild summer… who’s with me?! 
After my workout, I decided to treat myself and make some healthy birthday pancakes. They were deeelish! I’ll post the recipe soon. 
The rest of my birthday consisted of taking a lab final, doing homework and going to work. I was a little sad that I had nothing planned for afterwards, but I knew I would have to grow up sometime! I was so surprised at work, though, when the secretary at my school said “Can Rebecca Campbell please come up to the office please? There is something here for her.” I had NO idea what I had done wrong. Yes, that was the first thing that popped in my head and no, I don’t have a guilty conscious! Turns out, my wonderfully thoughtful parents sent me flowers! 21 roses for (as I like to say) the 21 years I had been blessed to have them as parents. My kids loved them and talked about my flowers for the rest of the day! 
After leaving work, my plans of binge watching TLC, doing homework and making some paintings ended up not happening. Unbeknownst to me, my friends had planned a surprise birthday dinner for me! ! I carpooled with one of my coworkers that day and on our way back, she convinced me she had a present, but it was big and needed to blindfold me so I would be surprised when I saw it. Gullible me thought she was telling the truth, so I went along with the fun. Turns out, they were actually taking me to this burger place on the square! 
I cried when they took off my blindfold and Isaac was standing there waiting for me! That stinker had told me he had to work late that night and couldn’t make the drive to see me. I am so blessed to have such great friends who do things like this for me! I really enjoyed the fellowship with my friends and was so touched by the fact that they had planned this all out for me. I probably said “thank you” 100 times that night! But I meant it. 
After we finished eating and I thought all the surprises were done for the day, I looked up and there was my older brother! Needless to say, I cried again. I think that was the biggest surprise of the night! He and his girlfriend drove over two hours to see me on my birthday! I couldn’t believe it. 
All in all, what I had thought would be a pretty lame birthday turned out being one that I will always cherish. I have such great friends and family who go out of their way to show they love me, and that is something that means the world to me. As has been the tradition for the past four years, I went to the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival today. It is always the weekend after my birthday and I’ve been going since I was a senior in high school. I think this festival is what made me fall in love with Denton and is something I look forward to every year! The music, food, arts and booths are so fun to look at and it makes it even more fun when you get to spend time there with your close friends. I was obviously really excited about this because I had this outfit planned out since yesterday! 
We made flower headbands last night, and were excited to show them off at the festival! And poor Isaac had to put up with us picture happy girls. He’s a trooper! 
I apologize for the super long post and all the pictures! As I said, I had a busy week. :) 
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