Birthday time!

Well I just celebrated my 24th birthday. I had a great day of work and class made all the better by the lovely poster my coworkers made for me. They also got me an assorted cheesecake sampler that was divine. We continued the celebration into the weekend by going Cosmic Bowling. I suck with no music and full florescent lights so I was a little worried how I would fare with a fog machine and strobe lights lining the lanes. Turns out, I need to bowl left handed. I write left-handed but play all sports right-handed so I didn't think it would work but I got a strike the first time I tried. I decided to keep it up all night and managed to get scores of 29, 78 and 83 (can you tell where the left-handedness kicked in?). Daiji and Alfred bought a pitcher of beer for us to share so I like to think the alcohol had a nice effect on my game as well. It might have also contributed to me whacking myself in the thigh with the ball and getting my thumb stuck and tearing my nail. I also managed to walk through a screen door later in the night. It was dark and I didn't realize a screen was there so I just walked on through. Now I know how Max feels ;)

I got my birthday dinner a few weeks late when I decided to come home this past Friday. It gave my body time to process that massive fruit basket my mother gave me ;) Kyle was already over and Don and Amber were on their way home so Kyle called Devin to have her pick up dessert (an amazing pumpkin roll) and the celebration commenced. I haven't had a family birthday celebration in quite a few years so it was really nice. I received a package from Jess that contained (among other things) an awesome pic from the Grand Canyon and a DVD of our Spring/Summer 09 adventures. It was awesome to see a compilation of all our crazy weekends although it made me miss the West. I can't wait for 2009/2010 New York New Year platinum edition DVD!

It was Brick City homecoming at RIT last weekend and one of the events was an entrepreneurship conference I attended. It was gear more towards technology industries and just made me all the more frustrated. I know I go to the Rochester Institute of Technology but not every kid here needs to do beta testing for their entrepreneurial venture. Some students here already had their own businesses for goodness sakes. Quite intimidating. I on the other hand only need a couple hundred thousand dollars and a cowboy hat and I'm set. I've known since I was little that I wanted my own business although the nature of it has taken several different forms. I always had that fear in the back of my head of how scared I would be to actually commit to such a venture. However, now that I have discovered what I love and what makes me happy and what I'm good at, that fear is now dissipated. Granted I'm scared witless at the thought of that level of permanence and commitment, but I know that once I have it, it may actually feel right for once in my life. Now that I'm 24, I have to start thinking about being an adult ;)

What really helped me feel more confident was my amazing interview with Donna Davis who started the MD Resort Bed and Breakfast in Dallas, TX. I had to interview an entrepreneur for a class and it was kind of hard to find one because most ranch owners have just taken over existing businesses. I actually found Donna through Twitter (which I don't use but I googled dude ranch entrepreneur and that's what came up) Donna fought through a lot of trials and tribulations and her attitude is amazing. I loved her leadership style and approach to running a business. The business has grown beyond even what she dreamed and I am really inspired by what she had done because I see a lot of her strengths in me. Perhaps it may even turn into a job for me in the future. Gotta love networking :)