today is my 23rd birthday… but man i feel older than that…

is it normal to get less excited about birthdays? i just think about how i used to get really excited about my birthday. count down the days, plan the parties and be so excited the night before that i couldn’t even sleep. i find that as the years progress, they become more “just a day”. i almost find more joy in seeing other people excited about it being my birthday than i do about it being my birthday. why?

in trying to think of a post for today’s occasion, i decided to come up with 23 happy memories from my birthday past. follow me down memories lane (but please note these are not chronological… just simply 23 memories i could think up):

23: pizza hut (birthdays were the only time of year we were allowed to eat out growing up)
22: free ice cream from the banskin-robbins postcard in the mail
21: the same birthday card 3 years in a row from one of my grandmas
20: backstreet boys concert on my birthday
19: having flowers delivered to school or work
18: hotel birthday parties (thanks for working there & getting free rooms brad)
17: bowling party (my first co-ed birthday party)
16: 21st birthday party i …err… anne threw for me.
15: chocolate fountain (see #16)
14: westside student lock-in on my birthday
13: mom eating lunch with me at school
12: announcement on the school intercom (seemed like i was always the only birthday on the 19th)
11: david crowder with jennifer
10: little debbie’s with candles to brighten a bad day i didn’t know was coming (thanks megs)
09: merle making me sing “happy birthday” to myself, up front at staff meeting.
08: handmade signs down monticello road with notes and balloons on my locker
07: coolest present ever… and still have it (thanks kristi)
06: birthday scrapbook
05: ice skating… ice skating… ice skating (did i mention i turned down the junior olympics? lol)
04: Can Jam & the Sonic Flood serenade
03: californos with megs
02: facebook wall comments
01: traditional birthday lunches with becky (i miss you)