My 28th Birthday

I have to say, I did well this year! My idea for my 28th birthday was to go mini-golfing and go-kart racing! Usually, my birthday is a specific kind of food potluck at my place. This year, I wanted to change it up. I'm pretty sure we all had a blast!

I wanted to do mini-golfing first so, a bunch of us did that. Three of my friends decided to do the high ropes course.  Personally, I prefer breathing so I didn't do that. I did, however, make Alaynah promise to not die or get hurt because I had no intention of attending her funeral that evening nor visiting her in the hospital. They smell like Lysol and bleach, which I hate.

The golf course was amazing and beautifully done. We did the one called Lost Journey. I'm no pro at mini-golf but I love playing! It's so fun and I'm so glad some of my friends were able to join.

Afterward, we raced go-karts! Man, oh, man! It's been forever since I had been in a go-kart. I think the last time I drove one was 7 years ago and my dad was the passenger. I can still hear his screams hehe Though on this day, about 3/4 through the race I got a leg cramp. Yeah, it hurt a bit but I was able to shake it off after climbing (literally) out of the go-kart when we were finished.

Then, some of us went to 3 Margaritas for dinner. The food and the margaritas were delicious. I was so happy some friends could join in!

Sunday night, I wanted some close friends to come over for dinner. They brought corn salad, Chipotle with chips and salsa. I made Chicken Cordon Bleu casserole. Yum Yum! Then, of course, we ate cake and ice cream courtesy of my mom. We have a long-standing tradition of her mailing me a homemade cake for my birthday. It's one of my favorite traditions. No one believes me when I tell them she mails me a birthday cake.

This year, she decided to be cleaver and wrote "Happy B Ruth Day" on my cake. Yes, my mother is weird. It's okay.

Overall, I had a great birthday weekend and I am so thankful for the people God has brought into my life since moving to Denver three years ago. Thank you to those who celebrated with me!

Alderfer/Three Sisters Park

My first and last hike of the summer (most likely)!! I finally got the chance to go on a hike last weekend and while my lungs hated me, I had a lot of fun. I always enjoy easy hikes in Colorado because there is no shortage of gorgeous scenery to take in.

This trip I took with CCC's (Colorado Community Church) Young Adults group. It had been a few months since I had gone to any events with the group so it was good to see them. I did meet some new faces too.

The weather was gorgeous! I loved the fact that I didn't need a jacket but also wasn't sweating bullets. For the most part, I didn't run into any bees. It's one of the nicer things about hiking in the mountains -- fewer bugs.

I don't know about you, but I have a hard time talking and hiking at the same time. Of course, people want to get to know one another and catch up. However, for me as a Deaf person along with a bum knee, having to watch where I am going AND lip read is quite a challenge. I can talk and hike just fine but when someone else is talking...I typically have to ask for things to be repeated. I also noticed that because there were many people I didn't know if they started talking I had no idea who to look at because I hadn't a clue whose voice it was.

Overall, it was a great time! We ended the day with a trip to Beau Jo's a Colorado pizza joint. I had no idea Colorado had its own pizza. Basically, the only differences were that the end crust was super high and they offered honey to drizzle on it. Interesting, right? The pizza was good and I am curious to try the different kinds of crust like honey wheat.

I'm so happy I had the day off. For those of you who know what it's like to work retail or any type of customer service job -- it's super rare to get a weekend off. I got my hike in for the summer. So yay! I didn't die! Didn't get to go swimming or camping though...next time!