Happy birthday to me!

A day to celebrate the blessing of a life that I get to live.

Today, I turn the big 3-3. I won’t lie, I’m not a big fan of odd numbers but there is something special about the same double digits together (haha, my little number idiosyncrasies). And I totally still feel 30, and my medical assessment age is 31 so I’m still a spring chicken!

Something fun today – thirty-three fun facts you probably didn’t know about me:

1. I LOVE to CELEBRATE. I love birthdays, holidays, and any excuse to celebrate the special people in my life, people I’ve just met or absolutely anyone. Celebrations bring love and joy, it makes people feel loved and special and God gave us beautiful lives to celebrate in every way.
2. I wear contact lenses. And I have since I was 12 years old. Before that, I wore very thick glasses from the age of 8. I am pretty close to being blind – very very blurry vision.
3. I do not eat avocado. Ever. Cannot. Gross.
4. My favorite numbers are 22 and 13 (my birthday and SJ’s birthday – 13 was also MC’s sport number when we met).
5. I grew up thinking I was gong to have three sons – I had boys names, decided on my favorite boys schools and I even always looked at the little boys clothes in the shops. But God knew I needed three precious, angel girls.
6. I won an award for being First in Class, and Dux of my Grade in Grade 3. I won a trophy and the novel, Oliver Twist. It was a very big deal for me.
7. I have a thing for playing with sticky objects in my fingers – Prestick, sticky tape and sticky labels – they are always between my fingers.
8. I don’t drink coffee. I drink English Breakfast tea (Five Roses in South Africa) with skim milk and one sugar. Every morning and every night.
9. I went to an all girls school my whole life. And I loved it.
10. I LOVED school. Total school nerd and teachers pet. 
11. I am OBSESSED with stationery. I was that kid that ordered EVERYTHING on the stationery list and so much more every year, I loved the start of a school year. I STILL love cute stationery, and even get excited buying stationery for my girls.
12. I grew up wanting to be a teacher and a mommy. And how amazing God is making my dreams come true.
13. I am a qualified Intermediate Phase teacher.
14. I have an addiction to Coca-Cola. But the real deal – not Diet, Zero or anything without sugar.
15. I wore braces for two years in high school. Best thing I ever did for my teeth.
16. I LOVE color – you won’t find me wearing black very often.
17. I am right-handed.
18. I don’t drink wine. Shock! Horror! But I do love champagne and a good G&T.
19. I sketched my dream home design and floor plan on paper as a child, and when we got the opportunity to build our dream home – I used that exact plan. I now live in the home I drew as a little girl. It is my forever home.
20. I have a thing for cars and always have. From my very first car, I have always taken great care and pride in the cars I drive and always been so involved in the decision making process when buying a car. Way more interested that MC.
21. My favorite food is potato – in any shape or form. French fries, mash potato, roast potatoes, potato bake – so delicious.
22. I am not a fan of birds. I love going into the African bush on safari but always request to not be in the same vehicle as “birders” or bird-watchers. I could think of nothing worse than stopping for ages to look at birds. 
23. I grew up with my nose in a book. Always. As an only child, books were my entertainment and my way to escape – I can thank these books for my wild imagination, my excellent spelling and being the grammar police. And I still love reading.
24. One regret I have in life is not going away to university. I would’ve loved to experience a university town, away from home.
25. I love watching sport. A husband’s dream because our TV is constantly on the Sports channel. I love rugby and cricket and pretty much any sport – except soccer/football.
26. I have a thing for beautiful handwriting. Mine is pretty neat (being a teacher) but I love seeing beautiful lettering.
27. I have the lowest pain threshold (hate having a wax or pulling off plasters) but I have a high pain threshold for surgery and needles. Those don’t bother me at all.
28. As a perfectionist, accepting defeat or failure has always been something I struggled with – but in Grade 7 when I was tipped to be Head Girl and lost out of this prestigious title, I learnt very quickly how to handle failure, swallow my pride and stand tall and strong to be a better person. It’s quite a lesson for a 12 year old young girl to learn.
29. I hate balloons. Th sound of them popping can make me jump and I am terrified of them. Pretty ironic as I love parties.
30. My favorite meals are Indian, Portuguese and Greek.
31. I have a dream to write and publish my very own book one day. And I’m going to make it happen.
32. Love at first sight and fairytales are real. I believe in it and I am living it.
33. Allowing Jesus into my heart two years ago was by far the greatest moment of my life. He is my everything. He is the reason.

Join me in having the happiest day today – and love the life you live.

x

*Photography by the talented Wilma Towell*