My Birthday: 32 Ways We Paid It Forward

My birthday is just around the corner and I don't have anything special planned, so let's reminisce about my birthday last year.  Because it was awesome.  

I wanted to share, not to brag, but to hopefully inspire someone to have a day as fulfilling as this birthday was for me.  

I can't lie.  I've been pretty blessed in my life so I decided I wanted to spend the day paying it forward with an act of kindness for each year of my life.  It turned out to be an amazing day.  I don't know how many times I cried, but I know it was at least 3 or 4.  It was SO cool to see how even the smallest things were SO appreciated.  

So here is what we did.  

We left quarters in all the gum ball machines at the grocery store.

We collected coats, hats, and scarves from some generous neighbors 

and donated a huge bin of them to the homeless shelter. 

I made fun Christmas tree waffles for my girls.

We baked muffins for the local firefighters and gave them a card thanking 

them for all they do for our community.  They were probably the sweetest and showed the most gratitude out of anyone all day.  They said thank you so many times and wouldn't let Addie

leave without all kinds of fun little trinkets.

I got up early with Addie and Sienna and let Brandon sleep in.  

Personally I think this counts as like 5 acts of kindness because I definitely like to sleep in.

  Especially when its my birthday.  

I left Operation Beautiful notes on bathroom mirrors. 

I took a break to have lunch with my mom and sister (and the Little Angel, of course). 

 They insisted on treating me to lunch

so I left our server an extra tip.

We cleaned up tons of garbage in parking lots.  

With the help of Miss Adison, we passed out lollipops to

 siblings and visitors at the childrens hospital.  

We held doors open for people.  

We donated food to the Utah Food Bank.

We delivered a little "get well" package to a sick friend. 

Left a treat and a thank you note in our mailbox for the postal worker.  

We made and delivered gift bags for all the kids with cancer at the Primary Children's Hospital.  

We wouldn't have been able to do this one without generous donations from friends.  We gave the kids coloring books, stuffed animals, nail polish, toy cars, lip gloss, bubbles, silly puddy, etc. etc.  

We weren't allowed to go into the kids rooms but the nurses were really excited to pass them out.  

This one was one of the more spontaneous of the day but also my favorite.  EVERYONE should try this sometime.  Its SO much fun.  Seriously.

We noticed a cashier at the grocery store who seemed like she could use a little pick me up. So we grabbed a few different gift cards and went to her check stand.  I told her that I was shopping for someone I didn't know very well and asked her which gift card she would want if it was for her.  She said Macy's and went on and on about why she would choose it. After  I bought it I said "oh wait, this is for you.  Merry Christmas."  She was stunned and speechless, even though it wasn't a huge amount.    She just stared at us as her eyes started to well up.  It felt so good to make her happy.

We took donuts to our favorite story tellers at the library.  

While we were at the library my cousin Abby and I left encouraging notes in the self help books.

We got a gift certificate at Walmart for Walmart and handed it to the woman behind us in line. 

We were oh so sneaky and hid dollar bills in the dollar toy section, with notes that said "For you.  Merry Christmas."

We bought toys to donate to Toys For Tots.

We tried to pay for the car behind us in line at Del Taco but after stalling for a while no one showed up behind us.  So instead we gave the cute little lady who worked there a note and little tip.  

I bought my cousin lunch.  

This one was the most meaningful to me.  My 3rd grade teacher was one of the most caring, kind, good hearted people I've ever known.  My mom was out of state in the hospital for a few months while I was in her class and she filled a little bit of that "mother" role for me.  She was always interested in how I was doing, and she'd stay and talk to me during recess when I'm sure most teachers are dying for a break.  I've thought about her over the years so I sent her a letter telling her how much I appreciated her.  

We passed out HotHands to the Salvation Army bell ringers and donate some money while we were there.  Bless their hearts, its freakin' cold out there in the winter!

We smiled at everyone we passed, and tried to be extra friendly all day.  

We donated to this cute boy who has Leukemia.  

We returned carts for shoppers at the grocery store.  Let me remind you it was FREAKIN' FREEZING so that is one that I would totally love if someone did it for me.

We went to the Laundromat and left quarters on each of the washing machines.  Those slick moves of Brandon's were a nice little bonus. 

It was a freakin' awesome birthday!  Everyone should do this at least once.  It's a lot of work but, as cheesy as it may sound, you're the one who really benefits from it all at the end of the day.  TRUTH!