I had a birthday, shout Hooray!

A lot has happened since the last time I posted; I have some catching up to do.

First of all, the attempt to go a whole day without talking with my hands was ruined in the first thirty minutes on my walk to school. I just couldn't do it.

Also, my birthday was on Sunday! I had a great day, except for the stomachache I had at the end because everyone provided birthday desserts instead of birthday meals. But you know what? It was worth it. I realized, yet again, that I am loved! I also discovered that people show me love through food, which is just too bad for my gut. But oh, that crème brulée. . . .

Yesterday, though, was the real party. At 2:00, we gathered at my apartment and eventually made our way up to Kiwanis Park to play some sports. We started out with Wiffle Ball, and then finished it up with football. The only problem is that I am really bad at sports. So why did I choose to play them on my birthday, even if I did get some sweet bruises to show off for it? Shouldn't I be doing something I'm good at, since I get all the attention on that day? Wouldn't you think that I would want to do anything besides embarrass myself?

Well here's the thing:
I don't care.

You see, I would have loved to have a Karaoke/Dance party for my birthday (not that I'm great at those, either), but I didn't want it to be all about me. Contrary to popular belief, I do not like to be the center of attention. I just about melted into the ground when they sang one of the Primary birthday songs to me at ward prayer (I never know what to do with my eyes!). But seriously, I wanted to do something that everyone who was coming would enjoy.

Also I knew no boys would come to my party if we danced ;)

We did have a miniature dance party at about 10 last night, though, so it satisfied that desire pretty well. But the main point is (and I realized this as I tried to make Scott understand why I find dancing such a wonderful thing) that it doesn't much matter what I'm doing, as long as I'm with people I love. And I certainly was surrounded by them yesterday.

I mean, I embarrassed myself and probably struck out three times in Wiffle Ball before I got a hit, but since I was the birthday girl, they didn't make all the rules apply to me. I figured it was a fair sacrifice. I make a fool of myself on my birthday, and they let me swing at the ball 20 times. Perfect.

I was extremely grateful for all my friends who spent basically the entire day with me yesterday. I felt loved and appreciated and special all day! So if you were a part of that and you're reading this, thank you so much. It certainly was a fantastic day to be alive.

Today, however, I am not doing too well. You see, last night we had FHE at the Cleggs' home again. And you'd think I would have learned my lesson and stopped jumping on the trampoline. But I guess I'm a glutton for pain (you may recall that I hyperextended my knee last time). That just left me a little bit sore for a couple of days. This time I may have done some more permanent damage, which scares me.

You see, I guess I just wanted to do something crazy. Probably on some level I thought more talent would come with age, so I tried to do a backflip. So much for the "wiser, too" part of being one year older.

You see, I had, after a few attempts, mastered the art of the front flip, and it was quite the rush! I was an adrenaline junkie. I wanted more. I needed more! So I tried the backflip. This kid in my ward, Andrew, is a gymnast and was kind of training me a little bit on how to make sure my head went back like it was supposed to, but when I tried it for real, it didn't actually happen. I landed on my neck with my feet behind my head, rear-end up in the air and all. Also I was about halfway off the trampoline. Andrew rushed over and as I lay on the ground his eyes got huge and he was like, "Are you okay?!" Poor thing, he looked scared to death. I had the wind knocked out of me for a minute so I just held up my finger and finally said, "Uh, I think so. . . One second." And then I could breathe again and all was well. My back actually felt really great. I'm always good at popping my lower back, but my upper back is always really tight. Well not anymore. I felt brand new, better than ever before last night. But scared out of my socks to try a backflip ever again. . . at least for a couple of months.

Anyway, I woke up this morning so stiff. If it is still hurting on Thursday I will probably go in and get it checked, just because I'm afraid I've made a huge mistake. It's a good thing my textbooks are all the size of small novels, or else I wouldn't have been able to carry my backpack today. I can't believe how much pain I am in.

Anyway, enough of the complaining; today and this week are going to be fabulous. I am determined to make it so! Plus I'm counting on the Lord to continue blessing me as abundantly as he has been these past two weeks especially. He has been looking out for me and guiding me in the direction I need to go. Now it is up to me to give up on my own sense of direction and rely on His.

I know He'll take care of me; I am His daughter and He loves me!