No Longer A Teen

So, I'm going to be completely honest here. This morning, when I woke up I completely forget it was my birthday.  I took my shower, made my cup of coffee, and ate my oatmeal before I even looked at my phone and saw that my inbox was filled with well wishes.

An 8:00am recitation section insured my early departure from Gramercy, where I literally skated down 3rd Avenue on my way to Modern American History.  All the streets were iced over thanks to last night's freezing rain, and I missed the 7:36 bus by milliseconds.

Cutest Card Ever!

Classes were nothing out of the ordinary.  Just a normal day as a NYU sophomore. Sure, my grandparents called to wish me a Happy 20th, but really the day wasn't really all that different until I went to work.  Now, 3 days a week I'm a babysitter for these super sweet kiddos in Brooklyn.  Well, when I went to pick up Oliver the first words out of his mouth were "Happy Birthday Ashley. How's your day been? I made you this Birthday card." Olie's only 7, and I'm sure his precious handmade creation took him no longer than 5 minutes to make, but it's truly something I'll always cherish.  Scribbled in red ink on a hot pink background, his birthday bulletin is just so darn cute.  Then, when we got home from piano lessons, he and his sister Sophie handed me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers-seriously adorable!

At 6:30, I was off to to ALPHA celebration supper at City Grace.  ALPHA is a 10 week introductory course to Christianity, and I'm one of the leaders for the college group.  When I first found out the beginning banquet fell on my big day I was a little peeved. Here I am beginning my twenties at a church event .  What a bad attitude I had.  In reality, I couldn't have asked for a better night.  Pastor Steve had the best one liner ever and I can't help but repeat it...Jesus is like the meat and potatoes in our lives.  He's the only one who can really fill us up.  Seriously, how great is that?  It's just what I needed to hear.

When I got back to the dorm, I checked my facebook account.  I can't believe I had over 100 birthday wishes.  Y'all are just oh so sweet.  I have such amazing friends, and it's days like this when you really grasp just how blessed you are.  I know this sounds nerdy, but all those people took time out of their busy schedules trying to make my day special, and I just want to thank them for that.

Tomorrow morning, my mom arrives in the Big Apple. Then, the real birthday celebration will begin.  I mean sure my day's been wonderful, but its just not the same without her.  I'm sure I'll be writing about all our NYC adventures in the days to come.

But anyways, now I'm twenty.  I heard the groundhog didn't see his shadowed, so we're supposed to have an early spring. I just hope this old wives tale is true. I'm really starting to miss my flip-flops.