Big 4-0

I thought it would never come, but alas, it did.  Today I celebrated my big 4-0 birthday!  I had a great birthday!  I'm determined to stay young for at least another 18 years to raise my baby.  Instead of being down about being "over the hill", I've made a few goals to live by for my next 40 years...  One of them is to exercise everyday except Sunday.  It doesn't have to be major, but I have to do some exercise everyday.  This really makes a difference in staying healthy and I feel so much better when I exercise.  Also, my dad recently was diagnosed with diabetes.  It runs in his family, so it may be in my genetics too.  I need to cut back on sugar to stay healthy.  Eric and I are determined to stay young for Micah.  He is not going to have parents who are too old and tired to do anything with him. :) I hope the next 40 are as fabulous as the first 40 have been!

Jesikah had a miamaid sleepover the night before and all the girls made me breakfast in bed for my birthday! They are some of my young women that I've worked with for the past several years.  It was very sweet of them.

Yummy breakfast!  The eggs were so cool and perfect looking!!

Andrea also gave me a gift from she and her mom.  It's a plaque and chocolate.  Very perfect!

 Eric went to work and told me he would be back at 2:30 to take me on a surprise date!  The only thing I knew was that I had to dress up because our last stop would be the temple!  The kids were out of school for good Friday, so they took care of Micah a lot and I relaxed in bed and blogged in the morning.  For our date, Eric took me to the Parthenon in Nashville.  I'd never been before and I loved it.  It was a beautiful warm day and I soaked up every moment with my honey.

 This is full-scale replica of the original Parthenon in Athens.  Originally created along with many other buildings as part of the Tennessee Centennial Exposition in 1897.  Nashville hosted it about 20 years after the Civil War to try to change it's reputation from the slavery-laden South to one of progress and change.  The Parthenon was built to dub Nashville as the Athens of the South.  After the fair, all the buildings were intended to be dismantled because they were made of plaster, wood, and brick which were not meant to last over 10 years.  However, the Parthenon was wildly popular, and many people wanted it to stay, so it was left alone.  After 20 years, it started to fall into disrepair and funds were raised to save the building and make it a permanent structure.  The permanent version used concrete for the pillars (instead of marble as was the original) and was built between 1925-1931 with Athena being added in 1990.  All of the other buildings were dismantled after the fair.  The Parthenon has been used as a backdrop for movies and live performances.  In 2010, it was used as a backdrop for the battle against the Hydra in Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

Athena was in this exact place in the original Parthenon. Athena was unveiled May 20, 1990.

Athena is 41 feet, 10 inches high

The statue is gilt with 23.75 karat leaf gold in its entirety. 

 She holds a small statue of Nike(Victory) in her right hand.

Double row of columns along both sides of Athena

The largest bronze doors in the world

Details at the bottom of the statue

A serpent rears it's head between her and her shield which she holds in her left hand.

Eric fist pumps the gryphon

Check out the details carved along the top of the building

This thing is huge.  Look how small the people are next to it.

Detail along the border...each carving is different

And here we are taking a selfie

 After thoroughly enjoying the Parthenon, Eric took me to an awesome restaurant called Maggianos which he had a 4:45pm reservation.  It was our first time going there.  It was SO good and the atmosphere was amazing!  I had Salmon Oscar with a bed of pasta and a cream sauce.  It had asparagus and sun dried tomatoes too (some of my favorites).

There were lots of pretty flowers on the grounds leading up to Maggianos

Creme brulee for me and Boston Creme Pie for Eric.  The desserts were much bigger than we expected.

The picture doesn't do it justice.  That slice of cake was HUGE!!!

After a lovely dinner, we went to the temple. The temple is always the perfect place to end the night.  I always leave there feeling peaceful and refreshed.  I can't think of a better way to spend my birthday than with my husband!!!  It was a wonderful day!!