My 25th Birthday.

I am a quarter of a century old.  I NEVER imagined I would be this old.  Ever.  I am 25 years old.  When I was 10, 25 was old.  I'm old.  This birthday was kind of a milestone.  I wanted to do something really great this birthday.  Something..."epic" as all the young (well younger than 25) kids say. So, if you know me, you know I Google EVERYTHING.  About a month ago I Googled "Cool things to do for your birthday".  I wanted to do something awesome.  And I did.  I had an amazing day.  Let me tell you about it.  After Google-ing and some research I knew I wanted to do this thing called "The Birthday Project".  Just one person started it and it has really taken off.  You can research it more yourself, but the basics of it is that you do one random act of kindness for each year old you are.  I thought of 25 things I would love to do and I did them all, in a day!  My husband took a half day and helped me and we had a lot of fun. Here are some pictures and details.  Hope this inspires you to do more "Random Acts of Kindness".

First of all, how can you have a bad day waking up to this cute little nugget?

Alright, So I know its lame but I totally kept myself organized with my iPad.

First thing this morning Ripken and I woke up and made brownies for the local fire dept.  

I delivered them while they were still warm and the men had just gotten back from a call and they were STOKED!  

Next I headed to Weis to get a few more things checked off the list..

 

I bought candy bars, flowers and a Weis gift card.  I gave the check out lady a candy bar and she told me that totally made her day and that she wan't feeling well.  On the way out of the store I handed this gift card to a lady and what I am assuming was her daughter.  She was so thankful and as I was walking away she told me that that was the nicest thing anyone had done for her in a long time.  

Next I went to the bank to get some cash and quarters for some things on the list.  I also gave Jeremy's mom some flowers, because she is more than deserving.  I gave a candy bar to each of the people at the bank, which were all excited.  

Jeremy took a half day and was with me the rest of the day.  First we went to Arby's drive through for lunch.  On the way we let a car out in front of us on Centerville Road (if you've ever driven on Centerville at noon you KNOW this is a serious act of kindness).  We then paid for the cars behind us.  Hopefully that man in the maroon car enjoyed his lunch and gave the two employees who waited on us there a candy bar.  They seemed so confused as to what was going on.  

Next we came home and took the pooch for a walk to the park.  We are so lucky to have a park behind our house.  It is a nice place to walk Ripken, and it really is a beautiful park.  So, on our walk we cleaned up all the trash in the park.  

I also put a special treat in our mailbox before our mail person came. I now know her name is Kee, because she left me a nice little "Thank You"

Next we headed out to Weis again. We hid jokes in places people would find them, taped microwave popcorn to the redbox, and filled all the bubble gum machines with quarters.  Also, we had to buy more candy!

 

Jeremy also saw these books spilled in the aisle, so he took it as an opportunity to get another thing checked off the list!

Who would have guessed I would go through so many candy bars? People LOVED them, and we gave them to every service person,

Next we headed out to donate some things.  We had abag of clothes we had been meaning to donate and this was the perfect day to do it!

Now, if you know me at all, you know I'm in love with my dog.  I would have 5 of them if I could, but I cannot, because my dog is a little terrorist and hates all other animals.  So of course we had to go to the humane league and make a donation.  Which included a bed Ripken never used, some paper towels, treats, and toys.  I think the worker may have been more excited about the Reese's I gave him than the donations.  He asked if we wanted to see the animals, but I was already feeling emotional and I lack self restraint so I declined.  

Next we headed to the Dollar Store o tuck some singles in the toy section. Hopefully some little kiddo is stoked about the free toy.  We also taped some quarters to a soda vending machine!  It is getting hot out there so hopefully someone appreciated the free soda. 

 

 

Next we headed to starbucks,  I bought the guy behind me a coffee and gave some random chick a $5 gift card.  The guy behind me literally thought I was losing it.  He couldn't believe it.  The lady I gave the gift card to was a bit taken back, I can't decide if that was because she just almost walked in on someone in the bathroom, or because a complete stranger was giving her a $5 gift card.  And of course, we handed out some more candy bars to the baristas.  They loved it.  

This may be my favorite of the day.  We went to Babies r Us and bought a "New Mom" bag and delivered it to Women's and Babies of Lancaster.  I took it in the the receptionist and told her that if she could just give it to someone that seems like they need it.  She was so surprised and taken back.  I thought this lady was going to cry and she just kept telling me how nice this was.  I told her that it was my birthday and it was a special day and I'd like to celebrate someone else having a special day as well.  Then I gave her a Reese's and she wished me happy birthday with tears in her eyes and told me someone would really appreciate it.

 

Next we headed to the women and children's shelter and donated some books.  I was unaware that you could not actually donate there, but there was a little girl there that said she would actually like the books, so I just gave them to her, with a candy bar and she was happy, so was I.  

 

Then, we went to a laundry mat and dropped off some detergent and quarters to help someone out.  The girl I gave them to was so thankful.  She had a lot of laundry.  

I did not get pictures of all of them, and tried to be respectful of others.  Yesterday I e-mailed an old teacher and got an e-mail back from her today saying how excited she was to hear from me, and she updated me on her life.  It was nice to hear from her too.  I also took a lovely Dooney into a nurse at work that is a mom that had commented to me earlier in the week how she never treats herself and wanted a cute little purse.  She loved it and was so excited.  Oh, and one more I forgot.  I gave out lotto tickets to 5 random people.  That was fun!

Overall I couldn't have asked for a better birthday.  I am so excited I stumbled on this.  I hope this inspires you to do a few "Random Acts of Kindness".