Happy Monday to everyone! This Monday was rough, but it probably did not help that I was coming off of such an incredibly fun weekend.
My birthday was on Sunday (25 – seriously?!), and I was very blessed to have plans throughout the entire weekend.
I guess the best way to break it up is by the days, so here we go!
FRIDAY
I decided to go a little crazy and chop off my hair, or maybe it was the quarter-life crisis kicking in…
Short hair, don’t care!
After my haircut, my boyfriend, Zac, and I went to dinner at Applebee’s and then to see the new Thor movie. Anyone else see it? Thoughts?
I pretty much loved it because it had two of my favorite guys:
SATURDAY
Have I mentioned that I’m training for my first ever marathon? No? Well, I am. The Disney Marathon to be exact. Because if I’m going to run 26 awful miles, I might as well be in the happiest place on earth!
Saturday was consumed by my 17 miles long run. It actually felt really good – like maybe I won’t completely want to cry on marathon day. And then I remembered I have to add about 10 more miles to that. Prayers appreciated, friends!
Saturday night, I refueled the best way I know how – with Mexican food and margaritas. I went to dinner with Zac, his cousin and her husband. Sadly no photos : (
Which brings us right up to…
SUNDAY
I woke up bright and early to head to Atlanta with my boyfriend. Georgia residents get free admission to the Georgia aquarium on your birthday. Since I’ve been dying to go since it opened, I couldn’t miss this opportunity. Yay for free stuff!
Before I go further, I should probably mention that from the ages of 4-16, I was absolutely convinced I was going to be a dolphin trainer at Seaworld. Sometimes, I wonder if I’ve missed my calling ; )
Naturally, I just had to do the dolphin interaction.
This photo was taken right after I put my two fingers on the dolphins nose. She let out an incredibly loud screech that startled me as you can probably tell from the photo.
How could you not love that smile?
One of the other reasons I wanted to go to the aquarium was to see the four whale sharks they have. They are so incredibly majestic and HUGE!
The whale shark is in the top left hand corner of the picture. The ones at the aquarium are actually still growing believe it or not. They probably have another 10 feet or so to go!
One of the coolest things happened while we were walking through the whale shark exhibit. An aquarium manager walked up to us and asked how we were enjoying our visit. We told him it was our first time, and Zac mentioned that it was my birthday. This particular manager (shout out to Gary) went out of his way to ensure our visit was memorable. He took us upstairs above the tank for a private tour. It was incredible to see how massive the tank is from above and to learn more about the beautiful creatures in it.
There are 6.3 million gallons of water in this bad boy!
Did y’all know manta rays like to show off and do flips? I caught this girl belly-side up!
I know it’s kind of hard to make out, but that’s a whale shark right below us! I was just in awe being this close to this massive creature.
All in all, I had a blast at the Georgia Aquarium and would highly recommend it to anyone stopping by the Atlanta area.
After seeing all the exhibits, Zac and I made our way back to Augusta to meet up with some friends for my birthday dinner, but you will have to wait until tomorrow for those pictures!
Have you ever been to the Georgia Aquarium?
What is your favorite type of aquatic animal?
