My Birthday!

Hi Everyone,
I had an awesome and wonderful birthday! It was one of the best birthdays I have ever had. The celebration started by being sung two a few times at school. On Saturday Grant took me out for my birthday dinner at Tony Romas. I love Tony Romas because there used to be one in Omaha and my family and I went there a lot so when I came to Saipan, I was very excited about the restaurant. The waiters/waitresses sung to me and brought me a red velvet cake with ice cream, yes I did share it with Grant, and it was absolutely amazing. Then Grant and I headed to the Taste of the Marianas to hang out with friends and to enjoy the entertainment. That night was my favorite night of entertainment so far. I loved the hula dancing, warrior dancing, and most of all the fire dancer. It was a great start to my birthday weekend.
On my birthday which was on a Sunday this year I started the day by skyping with my family which was great. Then I headed to church where the entire church sang happy birthday to me:) From there I had no clue what was going to happen on my birthday.  I packed two bags full of items since I was not sure what I was doing or where I was going. As soon as we were in the car my friends handed me a list of things I needed to complete on my birthday so I thought I would share some of the items on the list:
*wear a pretty swimsuit
*pray it doesn't rain on your special day
*dress up cute for an evening of fun
*ask the lifeguard to borrow the red floaty
*ask for a ride on a golf cart
*shout I'm a pretty pretty princess while jumping into the pool
*get happy birthday sung to you at least 3x
*find 25 A's
I am happy to report that all of those items were completed and it was a lot of fun getting to play along with the list.
We started the day by having a mothers day brunch at Lao Lao Bay which is one of my favorite spots on the island. I was sung happy birthday there by the singer who was playing for everyone. I had a great lunch and enjoyed the mothers day cake. From there we spent the afternoon hanging out in the pool there and I had fun swimming, embarrasing myself by asking the lifeguard for his floaty, and hanging out with my friends. I did end up getting a ride on a golf cart right away since we parked so far away, one of the employees asked us and I said yes!
From there we headed to the Dinner Cruise. I have gone on the cruise 2 times before and loved it both times. It was fun since some of my friends had not gone before on the cruise. It was a night of dancing, watching the fish, hanging out, and having fun with friends. I spent part of the night sitting on the end of the boat with my friend Becky, just soaking up the beauty of Saipan and thinking about how much I am going to miss this place. The singer/entertainer for the night Jerry was a hit as always and I had a lot of fun singing along and dancing along to the music. I even did a duet dance with my friend Laura:0
After the Dinner cruise, we went night swimming. We ended up getting stung by jellyfish so that part was not so much fun. We ended up at my friend Amy's apartment pool so we could end the night swimming with friends.
It was an amazing birthday and the first surprise birthday I have ever had. I love my friends so dearly who made this day happen and shared this day with me. These girls are such a blessing from God and they have made my time in Saipan so fun and so meaningful.I will cherish all of the memories I have with them, but this day will always stick out in my mind because it rocked!!!!

Jade Lady Dinner Cruise

Dear Friends, Family, & Readers:
On Thursday 8-11-2011 the teachers who live on campus at S.C.S. were invited by the pastor to join him and his wife on a sunset cruise aboard the Jade Lady, a Catamaran, sail boat. It was also a dinner cruise that had a double meaning for the Pastor as it was in celebration of their wedding anniversary. Kara and I had not been on the cruise and found it to be a lot of fun. When “locals” go they receive a discount of $30 per person for the dinner cruise. Everything on Saipan is about getting deals, so what constitutes a local? That varies upon your definition. For those who are being truly honest it is a person who lives here, works here, and has a local I.D.. Foreigners who visit pay a lot more for the cruise.
The food is catered in or grilled on the back of the boat depending on what you order. The choices for the dinner cruise were steak, fish, or a vegetarian platter. I asked for steak and was not disappointed. The steak was the cheaper kind (cube steak) but it was decent. For the price I paid for the cruise and two hours in the lagoon with friends it was worth it. Kara had the unfortunate experience of ordering the vegetarian platter, which was a huge slice of tofu. Don’t get me wrong; I’m sure the tofu tasted great, but she expected a salad.
While on the cruise there is a guy named Jerry who has also performed at the S.C.S. Uke Jam for Mrs. Winkfield. Jerry is a local who plays guitar for several groups on the island including sunset dinner cruise and the Hard Rock Café in Garapan. The neat thing about the cruise is that he has set up speakers and is connected to them wirelessly so the music is great. Jerry also speaks fairly well in Korean, Japanese, and English (perhaps more). It is fun to hear him sing Korean songs and smile.
Should you wish to learn more about the sunset cruise. You can go to their website at: http://www.saipansunset.com/about.asp. For information about going on the cruise call their number at: (670)-234-8230. I hope you enjoy the pictures!