My Family...

...is kind of awesome...

When I got home from school today, there was a note in my mailbox: "Please pick up registered parcel at Office"

Parcel? I didn't order anything, nor was I expecting anything from anyone...But I LOVE LOVE LOVE getting mail so I of course dropped the "Go straight upstairs and work on fieldnotes" plan for parcel fun instead!

I finally got the box from the Office staff (I say finally because they are never actually IN the office when you need them) saw that it was from my parents, ran (aka took the lift) upstairs, all the while going over possibilities of what it might be...

...Popcorn? my fave moisturizer that they don't sell here? American Peanut Butter? But once I successfully ripped through the packing tape with my key, eagerly opening the flaps of the box, my eyes were greeted with this:


How sweet is this? Not only do I now have some sort of celebratory countdown to take me to my birthday (which is fun in and of itself), but I also have a distraction to get me through the rest of winter! Knowing that your birthday is coming up is one thing, but having physical evidence of the days counting down is another! I know it was my Mom's idea...she loves doing stuff like this (as do I, although I never seem to remember to get it together in enough time...maybe someday) And I am so grateful and overwhelmed that they would think of me so far in advance, and think so well of me to actually do it!

Even if each of the 25 gifts IS only popcorn, or peanut butter, it doesn't matter...because the fact that my family went through the effort to compile, arrange, and send this fun birthday package to me means so much more than a check would have (although the check is always mucho appreciated...lol)!

I love my family. They make me want to be a better person...a better friend, a better daughter and a better sister! I feel so indebted to them for how well they treat me, even at my age and living so far away...It makes me want to make a really grand gesture when I go home...But I feel like nothing I do could ever be enough...Until the day I can buy my Mom her Jaguar and my Dad a huge Sailboat...But I'll try, just the same...because they deserve it!

<3 I wanna go home and hug my parents...is it March 26th yet?!?!?