Normally, birthdays for me are pretty uneventful. Growing up, my birthday always fell near or during final exams, so there really wasn't much of an opportunity for big celebrations. Most times, it was a quiet evening with family and a cake. Even after college / grad school, I still worked for schools and my life continued to follow the same academic rhythm.

This year, however, Larissa decided that "35" was a significant enough number to throw me a party (and also the fact that this was my first birthday as a married man).

We invited a few friends over to Larissa's parents' house for a barbeque. We grilled burgers and brats, some folks relaxed in the hot tub while others made s'mores around the firepit, we had yummy key lime pie for dessert, and I opened many gifts (even with the invitation calling for "best wishes only" - our friends are very generous and kind!).

In fact, the whole weekend was a lot of fun. I actually had a chance to go play some golf with Kin Kwok at the Northville country club Saturday morning. It's a little more challenging than I would like (especially with my tendency for errant tee shots), and I ended up losing most of the balls in my bag. Still, I enjoyed the time with Kin, and I was fortunate enough to get a box of new golf balls at the party.

Sunday, we slept in a little bit and went to the late service at church, where it was communion Sunday. It was actually a good opportunity for both of us to reflect on the past year, and appreciate all that God has done in our lives together for the past 9 months - really, for the past year and a half. I guess life milestones such as birthdays are occasions for reflection.

Sunday evening, Larissa took me out to dinner at the Brighton Bar & Grill (one of our favorite restaurants in the area, even though we hadn't been there since our rehearsal dinner). The brick chicken entree and the skillet chocolate cake dessert were fantastic. And Larissa surprised me with another gift:

She had noticed that I kept taking off my old watch, mostly because the band was falling apart and because the watch itself was fairly heavy and uncomfortable. I thought she might be getting me a new watch band, but she surprised me.

And the celebration isn't quite finished. Tuesday, we'll be having lunch at work, celebrating a couple of birthdays in our office. Apparently, there will be a "death by chocolate cake" involved - I can't wait.

All in all, a great weekend and a great birthday. Thank you to friends and family, to Larissa, and to God.