30th Birthday

June 3rd was my 30th birthday, and Shanna went all out to make sure it was a great birthday.  Friday, the actual day of my birthday, she took off work and after finding out the type of cake I wanted, she spent all day putting together my favorite foods and the cake, as well as cleaning the house.  I should note that I helped a bit, but it was 95 percent Shanna.  She also gave me my birthday presents.  The first present she actually gave me before we left for Vienna because it was a cushioned carrying case we'd seen in the Sky Mall that's meant to make transporting bottles safer.  We used them to bring home some Slovakian wines last week.  On Friday she gave me a collection of The Walking Dead comics.  The big present, though, was a trip to a huge international beer festival being held in Strasbourg, France, in October.  It's a 4 day event over a weekend, and I am so excited about it.  It's still early, so they don't have a vendor list yet, but they have a list of the brewers from last year, and there were all kinds of fantastic American Microbrewers that came, as well as brewers from France, Belgium, Germany, England, South America, etc...  I can't wait for it!  In addition to beer sampling they'll also have workshops for brewing your own beer.  October can't get here soon enough...  That night was just a relaxed night with dinner & a movie.

Saturday morning around noon Shanna wanted me out of the house so she could set up all the things she had in store for the party without me seeing it.  Knowing that Shanna needed me out of the house, our friends Jenny & Chris invited me over to their place.  Chris & I played video games all afternoon and Jenny made us lunch...one of my favorites, grilled cheese with a large glass of milk.

Around 4pm I left, picked up a few things on the way home, and walked in to a great lay out.

Shanna had made her famous crock pot cheese dip, sausage balls wrapped around jalapenos stuffed with cheese, beer mug shaped cookies, sliced wraps, and more.  In the entrance hallway to the house she had placed beer mugs with name labels on it, as well as home made fudge on a stick in the shape of beer mugs.

Eventually people started arriving.  Jenny & Chris got me a large beer glass and inside they put slim jims (one of my favorites) as well as what I like to have the morning after having a few beers....Excedrin and Coke Zero.  I liked the personal touch there.  After that our friends Kate & Charles came over & brought their dog Pixel.  Pixel runs into the house and immediately starts playing with Milo.  They played all night last night and as I write this Milo is sacked out snoring next to me.  Kate & Charles got me one of the Lebkuchen (gingerbread) hearts they sell at Oktoberfest and Volksfest that says "Wake me in Stuttgart".  It's a joking reference to the train ride home debacle at Oktoberfest last year.  A little later our friend Katia came over and gave me a beautiful Stuttgart mug.  Every place we've traveled I've bought either a beer glass for the city, or a Stein for the country and/or city.  I realized when I opened her gift that I didn't have one for Stuttgart, so it'll be the perfect addition to my collection.  A few other friends, Craig & Adam, as well as a friend of ours who works with Shanna, Alton, came as well.

Once everyone was there, we played one of the first games Shanna came up with...guess the beer (do we see a theme here?).  Shanna had bought some beer during our most recent trip to Vienna & Bratislava, as well as a several beers from the base.  She went into the basement, poured them into unlabeled pitchers, and brought them upstairs.  She poured sample cups for everyone, then when you tasted it you got 5 points if you could name it right off the bat (you didn't say it out loud though).  Then she read off some hints, and with each hint, you deducted a point.  So if you figured it out after 2 hints, you got 3 points instead of 5.  You also got a bonus point if you could figure out the country of origin prior to hints being read off.  It was a lot fun, and while I came close, our friend Kate ended up winning and walking away with a bottle of Chimay Blue.

After that was dinner.  Shanna had soaked brats in beer over night, and I grilled them on the grill in the backyard.  They turned out great!  After dinner we played pin the beer on me.  I was WAY off, but our friend Adam got pretty close and ended up winning the other bottle of Chimay we had.

The rest of the night was just a relaxing evening with good friends and good beer.

Jenny, Chris, Kate, & Charles spent the night.  Since we knew they were going to prior to Saturday, Shanna got a bunch of stuff to make a breakfast casserole, as well as Cinnamon buns.  Jenny made blueberry muffins and brought those over.  Shanna put the casserole in the oven while we cleaned up, and when we were all finished, we dug in.  No surprise, it was DELICIOUS and hit the spot.  Eventually everyone headed home and as I write this, Shanna is taking a much deserved nap with the dogs.

I couldn't have asked for a better birthday, and I can't thank Shanna enough for all the hard work and effort she put in to making it a special weekend.  Thanks babe!

You can click here or any of the pictures above to see some of the pictures taken before & during the party.