It's the birthday that keeps going...

...and I'm not complaining! :)

My birthday(s) started on Wednesday--the day before my actual date of birth
--when I was sung to at Yamane Jr. High and given a beautiful handmade card from each student...

Never before have I received a b-day card with a big pop-up cucumber on it...

Ha! I've been teased about cucumbers ever since I was caught picking them out of my salad during school lunch a few weeks ago.

That night, I celebrated my birthday with my English conversation class by going out for dinner (no cucumbers, haha) and karaoke! I received a gorgeous bouquet of flowers and a beautiful orange scarf (that even matched the flowers)...

The scarf is so much fun because it can be worn so many different ways--as I was shown. :)

What a great group of people! I love meeting with them for an hour every Wednesday.

At the end of dinner, they sang & gave me a super cute cake...

Well, it was cute until I watched Keiko take a knife to my face! AH! Love the strawberry guys chilling out on the side. :)

The glorious day of June 17th had absolutely perfect weather, and I enjoyed the drive along the ocean to Misaki Jr. High School, listening to music with my windows down and stopping to take a few photos, as I love to do on sunny days...

Oh, happy day!

One happy b-day girl, wearing her b-day scarf. :)

At Misaki, Nakano Sensei told the students that it was a special day, and we would NOT be using the English textbook! (That announcement was received with much cheering.) Instead, we played English games in each class, and I also played guitar and sang a couple of Japanese songs I've been learning.

After work, Nate bought a "German Feasto" pizza for us to share, which we ate in a nearby park. He's been going on for months about the deliciousness of this potato-covered pizza, and it was about time I tried it.

Quite a historic moment: I finally have my hands on a "German Feasto!" Sure enough, it was really good, as are all of the unique pizzas I've had in Kuji. (Shrimp + corn pizza is one of my favorites.)

Afterwards, I practiced my guitar by the ocean (lovely!), had a guitar lesson, and ended the day with chats on Skype.

It was definitely a great birthday! Both days of it. :) And the celebration continues as I keep getting birthday greetings on Facebook today from the other side of the world (because of the time difference) AND I have a BBQ with friends tomorrow.

Thanks to everyone for the b-day love!! I have an amazing family & friends, and I feel so blessed!