My 33rd Birthday

Friday was my birthday. How it began was so over-the-top unbelievable that it could have an entire post dedicated to it...
Friday Morning at 5:20 am, from a deep sleep, I was awoken by 15 Filipino singing teenagers from our church. Many of these kids have become our friends. At least half of them attend our home group. They had been planning this surprise for weeks. As is Filipino custom, the "mangenita" involves greeting the birthday celebrant before dawn (I was told they initially planned to come at 4am but was advised by their youth leader not to go so early - thank you Bambi!) so as to be the first to sing the celebrant happy birthday. There is always singing involved. For me the kids had practiced and performed a song about friendship, complete with harmonizing parts and a special part with just the male voices. After that, they sang the Filipinized version of happy birthday (a bit more upbeat) and then each of them laid small bouquets of flowers and very elaborate homemade cards in front of me on my bed.
Talk about a shocker! First of all, I was dead asleep and NOT expecting any of this so therefore I wasn't dressed for the occasion. I was in my underwear! Thankfully I was also wearing a t-shirt and was safely under the covers. And my hair was a mess (hello! sleeping bed head!). Thankfully the songs were long because it took me a little while to figure out what was going on. I didn't know what to do so at one point I put the covers over my head but then I realized that was rude so I lowered them. I must have looked very confused.
After they finished they left the room and I was able to quickly get dressed and brush my teeth and make myself semi-presentable. When I came out of the room everyone was in the kitchen preparing a breakfast of instant coffee, rice, and eggs. We had a party before 6 am!
As crazy and as unexpected as it was, I was truly blessed by this celebration. I was overwhelmed actually. Man, Filipinos are the best at special occasions! I mean, they really do it up. They made me feel very special. One of the high schoolers wrote this in one of my cards. It's my favorite so I have to share it with you... "Hi Jen, Happy Birthday and bless you to live a hundred of age, and to have a child by the blessing of God, to live happily ever and ever and have a peaceful and happy relationship together with your husband. Promise you won't forget about us, not even when you are a hundred."
Apparently, they had been planning this for weeks. Also, they apparently had a co-conspirator to help them pull this off. Andrey!...



Friday Afternoon - Andrey was at work by then and I took the day off. I treated myself to sushi for lunch, a massage, and a pedicure. During lunch and the pedicure I got to relax and do some reading.
Friday Evening - Andrey bought me 33 long-stem, red roses and took me out to dinner at a fantastic restaurant in town. We hadn't been there yet so it was a real treat. It's a fancy place (by Cebu standards) with delicious food. We enjoyed steamed mussels in white wine and cream sauce with fresh bread, wine, a lovely salad, and melt-in-your-mouth chateaubriand (center-cut beef tenderloin) served with roasted potatoes and baby carrots. I was so full and so tired by the end that we didn't even order dessert. I was so ready to go home and sleep!
Saturday Morning - We hosted a small birthday brunch for a few of our friends. Andrey did all the cooking (bless him!). I planned the menu but he did all the work. Aside from a few small mishaps (he learned there is a difference between whole oats and oat bran) Andrey successful prepared cranberry oat bran pancakes and bacon. We also enjoyed delicious coffee, juice, fresh bananas, blueberries and pure maple syrup. It was a really nice and relaxing time with our closest friends in Cebu. I'll post photos of this in the next post because I can't add more here for some reason...
Saturday Evening - Saturday did not involve any more birthday events but we did have 3 IJM employees & their spouses over for dinner. We starting hosting a dinner like this once a month so I could get to know each of the employees better since I rarely see them. Each month we'll host a different group. IJM Cebu has over 30 employees so it's going to take several months before we host everyone. I made chicken thighs in the slow cooker with an apricot ginger sauce (inspired by a recipe by Mel Vose found on her blog awhile back- thanks, Mel!), coconut rice, stir-fried bok choy and snap peas, and fresh pineapple. It was so easy and very delicious and seemed to satisfy both the Filipinos and the foreigners which was the goal.
By Sunday we were quite tired and thought we might be getting a cold. We still made it to church though and then lunch after with a few friends but after that we decided to come home and rest up for the week ahead. We're feeling better today after a good, long sleep last night.
Over the past few days I have been greeted via phone, email, and Facebook by so many friends. I want to say thank you everyone! I wasn't feeling very festive about this birthday - not depressed or anything - just like it wasn't a big deal - but then so many people poured blessings out on me and I just feel so richly blessed! I know God loves me so much and I have experienced his deep and undeserved love for me this birthday through so many of you. Thank you!