{"id":74,"date":"2018-05-04T20:20:00","date_gmt":"2018-05-04T20:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cherylrostek.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/04\/happy-birthday-ryan\/"},"modified":"2018-05-04T20:20:00","modified_gmt":"2018-05-04T20:20:00","slug":"happy-birthday-ryan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cherylrostek.com\/index.php\/2018\/05\/04\/happy-birthday-ryan\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Birthday, Ryan!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>Tomorrow is my husband\u2019s birthday.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>The following post is for him.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>(But rudely, first I will talk about me) <\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Birthdays have always been special to me \u2013 like <i>really<\/i>important.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>(Of course, selfishly it\u2019s always <i>my<\/i> birthday that\u2019s particularly important.)<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/span>My expectations for my birthday were always extremely high.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>I didn\u2019t realize until recently how much of a perfectionist I am, but oh I am! &#8211; and with birthdays I have a particularly low tolerance for deviation from perfection.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/span>I remember crying on my 16<sup>th<\/sup> birthday.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>Why? I can\u2019t remember exactly, but 16 is supposed to be an epic birthday and I was disappointed.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>I was around 23 or 24 years old when birthdays slowly became less important to me.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>In my mid-twenties I had a low-grade sorrow that this special day no longer held the same value.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>But I got used to it.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>I celebrated turning 30 with a bunch of friends and that was great fun.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>Then 31, 32, 33 came and went.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>At 34 I had just given birth to twins a week prior, I was nursing whilst eating cake, receiving gifts I knew I wouldn\u2019t be able to use for who-knows-how-long.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>Thirty five was looming and the twins\u2019 first birthday was coming.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>I stated to my girlfriends, \u201c<b><i>I<\/i><\/b>need a party for surviving the twins\u2019 first year!\u201d<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>My twin mom friend laughed knowingly and encouragingly.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>A few days later I was diagnosed with a brain tumor.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>One week post-op was the twins\u2019 first birthday.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>Ryan and I went out to Earls for my birthday.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>He was drab.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>I had no idea he knew I probably had cancer, as we were awaiting the pathology results.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>Birthdays\u2026.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>So for my 36<sup>th<\/sup> birthday I wanted to CELEBRATE!!!<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>The importance of birthdays was reignited.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>There was so much to celebrate.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>Being alive! My one year survival.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>It was huge!<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>With Ryan I planned a party for the weekend after my birthday and my expectations were also HUGE.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>I was disappointed when the actual day of my birthday was low-key.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>Oh I\u2019m sorry, Ryan, I\u2019m a hopeless creature when it comes to my birthday.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>And the party was great, but we had a bunch of people over and to be honest a quiet gathering is probably a better bet for me going forward\u2026<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>All this to say: birthdays in our family matter deeply to me.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>I had a great time throwing Rayna a party in March.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>And in working to set aside perfection (hopefully I\u2019ll do better at my 37<sup>th<\/sup> birthday) but in need of celebrating well: I\u2019m excited for Ryan\u2019s birthday (hopefully he is too!!!).<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><i style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\"><span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp;<\/span><\/i><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: italic;\">I will start the celebration here! (and it will continue to the next post, <\/span><i style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\">the forgotten battle, <\/i><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: italic;\">in a different sort of celebration<\/span><i style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: normal;\">)<\/i><span style=\"mso-bidi-font-style: italic;\"><o:p><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>I love my husband deeply and dearly.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>He has given so much for me.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>He places me first time and time again.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>He is a gentleman and at the same time he loves me fiercely.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>We\u2019ve celebrated much in our lives together and we\u2019re not going to stop celebrating now.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>Grab a glass and toast this amazing man I\u2019m privileged to call husband. <\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Happy Birthday, Ryan.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>It is my hope that your birthday is filled with the joys that a birthday ought to have.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>I hope and pray that your year ahead finds you the strength you need for your mornings (oh the strength to rise to your mornings!), the wisdom you need for your days, the fortitude you need to endure the nights.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>My hope and prayer is that this year finds you richer in the soul, richer in relationships, and that it finds you satisfied in ways that are both new and exciting.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Ryan, you are a natural at living boldly and confidently.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>As Isaiah 40:31 promises new strength, may you find new strength this year to live boldly and confidently! I\u2019m with you, 100%, wherever your dreams and hopes take you.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>What a blessing to write this post.<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span>38 and celebrating hon!<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp; <\/span><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>I love you!<\/div>\n<div>XOXO <\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Love Cheryl<span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/span><span style=\"mso-spacerun: yes;\">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tomorrow is my husband\u2019s birthday.&nbsp; The following post is for him.&nbsp; (But rudely, first I will talk about me) Birthdays have always been special to me \u2013 like reallyimportant.&nbsp; (Of course, selfishly it\u2019s always my [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-74","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Happy Birthday, Ryan! 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