Here goes another decade!

- After much coaxing, Kate and Syd join us for horse back riding :)
- Birthday!
Well ... it's official ... I'm 30 years old! Can you believe it? I guess it's better than the alternative of NOT turning 30, but, still, it's weird.
Sorry that my blog has been inactive this week, but my priority has been entertaining two little hoodlums from the West Coast :) It has been absolutely, tremendously, fabulously wonderful to have my sisters here. I can't tell you how much I love it. They arrived on Wednesday morning at 5:30am and after big hugs, we headed home and allowed them to get some sleep. They hadn't slept at all the night before. Wednesday and Thursday we mostly hung around campus, as Pete and I had to work. We took them out to dinner and made dinner in a couple of nights. Friday afternoon we left for a little town called Bella Iskar (I'm not sure how it's spelled), where we stayed with this family who's business is to give horseback riding tours through the hills. They cooked us fabulous homemade dinners and were so friendly. Friday night we stayed up late (too late, in fact, like 4:00am) and talked, ate, and had a few beers. It was really fun. Saturday morning, however, was a little rough. I had to put on my mom voice to get them out of bed, but in the end they finally made it down to the horses. We took a tour through the hills and it was beautiful. I was really glad they they got to see a little bit of Bulgaria, especially a little village, as that's how so many Bulgarians live. I thought it was very cool. We got back to campus later last night and we were all pretty tuckered out. We just had grilled cheese sandies and soup last night, then we to bed early. It was a great way to ring in my 30's. (That's so, so weird to say!)
Today Nathan, Katy's boyfriend, gets in. Hopefully we'll have a chance to see a bit of Sofia. Katy and Syd haven't even been downtown yet. I'm hoping to give them an even better tour tomorrow.
Having them here makes my heart happy. It makes me a little homesick, too, I have to admit. I love all of you and am so thankful you are in my life - I wouldn't have made it to 30 without you! Hope you enjoy the pics!