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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Birthday Surprises

Hands Down, I had the best birthday EVER this year. Not only did my family throw me a surprise party, my amazing boyfriend cooked up an extra special surprise of his own. Of course I had to wait until the DAY of my birthday to learn what the suprise was. He made sure he brought it up daily as to drive me just a bit more crazy each time.

We planned on going to church that morning and we even made there, took our seats. I tried to patiently look at the bulletin but my mind was racing. I wasn't going to find out what the surprise was until we were on our way to wherever. Jared finally looked at me and said " we can go now if you want." I tried to shrug it off with an "only if you want to" but my inner 5-year old was saying " oh please,oh please, oh please can we go now". I finally said that I wanted to go early so we ditched church and got on the road to.. well, where ever we were going. I know ,I know..sinners! But honestly I wouldn't have been able to pay attention anyway.

Off we went to an unknown destination. Once we got on the 8, the thought briefly went through my head that we were going to Sea World. Then Jared told me to stay on the 8 and that really threw me off. I always take the 5 North to Sea World. In the end we did go to Sea World.
I was like a bouncy little kid. I have an annual pass but I hadn't been in a while and I was dying to go with Jared. I couldn't get the smile off my face! Apparently that wasn't the only surprise he had up his sleeve. A couple hours in,I was nearly begging to know what the other surprise was. Of course he couldn't just tell me. He made me guess. So I grabbed the map and looked at all there was to do. Took me a couple guesses but I finally asked if we were having dinner w/ Shamu. He said yes and I am not sure how but my smile got even bigger. I even started to cry. When did I become such a girl that I cry "happy tears"? I was overwhelmed by the effort he had put into making this birthday perfect for me.

Dinner was super yummy. Our table was right next to the water and Shamu hung out right next to us for almost the whole evening. The only times he wasn't next to us was when the trainer sent him off to do a trick. It was amazing and somewhat intimidating to see him that close. Literally 5-6ft away from Jared and I. I had to remind myself not to reach out and try to pet him.
See how close we are to the water?.. AWESOME!
This is taken from the chair I was sitting in. I DIDN'T zoom in with my camera


The trainers warn you that Dine with Shamu is a 24-Hour splash zone but they won't give the whale any signals to splash. Occasionally the large aquatic mammal will decide to do its own thing. I thought for sure I would be drenched in 52 degree salt water by the end of dinner. Much to my amazement, no one got splashed. The day went off without a hitch or mishap until I knocked my coffee over in true shannon a.k.a "grace in motion" fashion. My first thought was that I startled Mr. Shamu and I would have a frightened killer whale 6 feet from where I was standing. Visions of Free Willy flashed in my head. You know, the part where he gets upset and rams into the plexiglass wall... scary stuff. This particular whale weighed 5000 lbs. I'm not a whale expert but I am thinking it would hurt if he bit you. Rest assure Shamu did not attack.

We did just about everything there.Tide pools, shamu show, aquariums,Sharks, dolphins and even spent a long while cracking up at the sea lions and their antics.


It was a really amazing day followed by the 3 words I have been waiting 6 months to hear. "I Love You". Thanks, Jared, for a perfect birthday! I love you with all of my heart and then some!

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