YOB: #28. Have A Progressive Dinner

By Lara

I think I went on a progressive dinner when I was in middle school with the youth group I was attending at the time. I don't remember it being terribly painful. I don't remember much about it, actually. I suspect that my being a picky eater played a large part in my remembering the experience positively.

Progressive dinner sounded like something that would be fun to do as an adult, so Beth and I added it to the Year of the Birthday list.

When the day finally arrived, we decided on a four course dinner over several hours.

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YOB: #27. Get A Massage

By Beth

Who doesn't like being pampered? I mean really? I'm not sure I know anyone who would not like to just relax and have someone ease their stress a little. That being said, I have to admit that I had some qualms about getting a massage. Sure, I like having relaxed muscles and have had people give me neck and shoulder massages in the past. But I was married to that person, or in a serious relationship with them. Apart from those type of relationships, I really don't like being touched. I'm not a germaphobe or anything, I just like having my own personal space. My friends understand this about me and love me anyway. But it was with some trepidation that I entered the spa that August afternoon.

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YOB: # 6. Visit The Narnia Exhibit At The Franklin Institute

By Lara

As I've mentioned, I'm a huge fan of stories. I love literature. There are scores of books that I can read and reread without ever getting bored. However, no author has been able to capture my imagination quite like C.S. Lewis. The Chronicles of Narnia are amazing works of fiction, and I read them constantly. The only complaint that I would make to Mr. Lewis about his collection of stories is that he didn't write more of them. I want to live in Narnia. Seriously. I dream about it.

When I heard that Disney was making "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" into a movie, I was depressed. I was determined not to see it. I was positive that they would butcher the story. However, my curiosity got the better of me as it usually does. I saw the movie. Obviously, I had some complaints, but they were minor. I enjoyed the movie as a whole, and even purchased it on DVD.

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YOB: #16. Try To Meet Someone Famous

By Beth

I am a big fan of food. Perhaps this is why I also hate size two people and avoid them by going to the beach in the winter. The older I get, the more exercise I have to do to burn off the food I eat so I don’t end up weighing three tons. I think eventually I’ll have to accomplish everything on my daily to do list in exercise form. That or stop eating.

Being a fan of food, I watch the Food Network regularly. I was introduced to the show Ace of Cakes years ago while watching reruns. I couldn’t believe that what I was seeing was an actual cake! It was amazing, the people on the show were hilarious and I was hooked. It used to be a regular Tuesday night thing for my mom and me, sometimes the kids too. Now that we have DVR, I can watch it anytime I want. Duff Goldman is funny and amazingly talented. Mary Alice is awesome and Geoff, although quiet, has a dry wit to him that I find so attractive!

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YOB: #10. See Some Ridiculously Exciting Fireworks

By Beth

When I look at the Year of the Birthday list, it is easy to see where some of the ideas came from. Some came from our own individual lists of things we'd always wanted to do; some are on there simply because they'd make a good story, some ideas sprouted other ideas and some are from Veggie Tales songs. For the life of me, I cannot remember where "see some ridiculously exciting fireworks" came from. So, unfortunately, I have no amusing back-story to go along with this article. Many apologies, I will try to include a witty history in my next submission.

That being said, it is important to note that the specific item is: see some RIDICULOUSLY EXCITING fireworks. No simple, run-of-the-mill display would do It had to be enormous and loud and of course, ridiculously exciting! It has apparently been a while since Lara has seen a decent fireworks display and when we were discussing where we would go to see these ridiculously exciting fireworks, she said that ANYTHING would be better than what she normally sees.

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