photo taken and styled by my super talented pal, allie lehman. 

I'm not really sure how to start writing about the epic adventure that has been the past month of my life. The last month of my 29th year and the first month of my 30th year.. April.

 Birthdays have always been special to me for some reason.. not MY birthday (or even that I'm good at remembering other's birthdays), but THE birthday. YOUR birthday. It's a day to celebrate YOU. I love celebrating my favorite humans on their days of birth. I used to think that everyone was as altruistic and excited as I was to celebrate MY birthday in return. Not true. 

Over the past 7 years, I've come to expect to not expect. Just another day. It doesn't need to warrant recognition, and expectations of frolicking in the flowers on my April birthday quickly dissipated when I came to realize that not EVERYONE loved birthdays as much as I do. Go figure.

Despite this rant, I have secretly still held a love for birthdays in my heart... and this year's tricentennial birthday didn't disappoint. 

Lets start at the beginning, shall we?

On April 7th (a warm friday evening in savannah) I took this good-lookin' snap in my kitchen while I was washing dishes: 

Things to note:

• i hadn't been able to walk well in two weeks
• my amazing landlord/neighbor brought me this tight-ass walker from her dad's house
• it was the eve before lauren and matt's wedding at savannah station with sincerely yours events 

April 8th came around, and Lauren was getting married and I was shooting her wedding. My second shooter , Eric-Scott , helped me gather up our gear and brace me (quite literally) for the day ahead. I braced my left knee (I'm developing a new meniscus tear ) , my right ankle that I always roll and my wrist that holds my camera.. in addition to my silver ring splints for my hands. 

The first photo was taken around 2pm by the sweetest Emily of Sincerely Yours Events here in Savannah, and the second was taken around 6:30 pm when cognitive issues really started to get the best of me. Family photos didn't go as smoothly as they normally do because I couldn't read/wrangle/pose/shoot as well as I normally can. An hour after the family photos, I sat down to take photos of the first dance and my eyes started to fail me. I couldn't focus on anything, my legs wouldn't hold me up and I had this visceral feeling of fear overcome me. I'd been communicating with my body all day (see previous post), and in that moment my body said "you have got to get out of here now. If you keep pushing on, your going to really hurt me and I need HELP. NOW" 

Sweet Emily dropped everything when I limped over to her and told her I needed to find a way to get to the Emergency Room. Thirty minutes later, I was admitting to the ER and Keli came to let Emily get back to the wedding where Eric-Scott was shooting the remaining reception. 

While in the Emergency Room, we had a hard time convincing the on-duty physician that I only wanted an IV infusion and no tests or pain medication. Somewhere I had read that saline solution helps people with EDS, so my goal was to get that inside my body to give it the boost it needed to get to Baltimore the following week to see Dr. Francomono at The Harvey Institute of Human Genetics. 

The eve before my 30th birthday, I was able to get a saline drip that helped my body get over the hump to a better "recovery" from that night's wedding. Unsure of the "why" behind it's magic properties, I didn't question it and remained thankful that it helped me hold my head up and stand up straight. I'd learn more about saline in Baltimore the following week.

The sun rose on April 9th, and so did I. My thirtieth birthday started with breakfast in bed of the most amazing gluten free french toast delivered by The Five Spot , and the best mimosas I've had in a lonnggg time.

I looked over at my phone and saw the sweetest birthday present delivered to me from my mom and dad. They made a "happy Birthday" sign and took it with them to church. They were so kind and thoughtful and surprised me with a LOT of people who helped raise me holding my happy birthday sign. (you will be impressed by my mom's photo skills) Needless to say, the tears flooded my empty french toast plate rather quickly. 

Hopeful to make the best day I could out of the crappy night before and celebrate my birthday with a bang, I loaded up myself and my walker in my element and headed to the beach with Eric-Scott.

We tried THREE different boardwalks on Tybee Island. All three times I was unable to make it past the pavement in the parking lot. My walker didn't push on the sand, and my legs wouldn't carry my weight without the extra support the walker provided. Thirty and unable to make it 10 feet to the ocean. Defeating, yes. Did I let it ruin my day? no.

My 30th birthday was filled with sunshine, flowers, amazing food, wonderful company and I felt beyond loved by the people around me. Circumstances sucked, but I can honestly say that it was one of the best birthdays I'd ever had. 

I felt celebrated the way I want to celebrate people on their birthdays. I received cards, gifs, texts, flowers, hugs, food.. and felt smothered in appreciation for the journeys I'd taken to get me to where I was on my thirtieth birthday. I kept repeating the words "this is the best day ever." 

Stay tuned for several posts on presents I got for my birthday.. including presents I got myself during a stoned shopping spree. It's riveting.