After the amazing day that Ryan and I spent together on
my birthday (in March, which you should check out
here), we decided to start a birthday tradition:
Together we will perform one act of service for every year of the birthday girl or boy's life.
For Ryan's birthday, we planned just that. In addition, I asked 30 family members and 3o of Ryan's friends to do something on his behalf as well
It was a beautiful day. The weather was perfect and it was fun to be together (as always) and we set out to do 30 acts of service while also visiting a couple notable locations in New York:

(Liz Lemon's apartment)

(Jerry Seinfeld's apartment)
as well as a few other places.
OUR 30 ACTS OF KINDNESS:
1-Returned lost shoe to crying child
2-Helped a family carry groceries from their car an up 5 flights of stairs
3-Complemented a lady's shoes
4-Picked up garbage

5-Bought lemonade from a stand for us as well as another little girl and left a big tip
6-Gave a bouquet of flowers to a nice Russian lady walking past
7-Gave money to the homeless people we came across
8-Helped a senior citizen renew his bus ticket and added an extra $5 on his card
9-Bought a filet-o-fish for a homeless man
10-Helped a lady with a broken ankle carry her groceries
11-Gave a free swipe and directions to an out-of-towner
12-Bought a ride for a little girl on a mechanical horse outside a pizza place
13-Gave 30 popsicles to 30 people

14-Took a photo for a tourist
15-Gave money to a very deserving, young juggler
16-Bought carousel tickets for strangers
17-Gave money to a musician
18-Gave detailed directions to a few lost souls
19-Upped someone's chances at the Wicked lottery
20-Gave a Jamba Juice card to someone outside of Jamba Juice
21-Paid for a load of laundry but left before starting the machine
22-Left "Thank you" notes and post its all around the city


23-Bought a cheeseburger for a homeless man named Kevin
24-Bought 2 chicken and rice meals for a homeless couple
25-Left money in a random telephone booth
26-Handed out a flat of water to people near Penn Station
27-Were nice to the doormen all along 110th
28-Complimented (and talked to) sidewalk chalk artist
29-Bought Dinner for a stranger
30-Helped a couple with a huge load down the subway stairs
FAMILYUncle Mike: helped someone find a job
Uncle Bob: took tires to the dump for his mother
Aunt Luwana: took Zucchini bread to a neighbor
Craig: stopped a bus to help a stranger catch it
Nana: bought 10 ice cream cones for strangers
Janelle: threw a baby shower for a girl in her ward
Verdonn: cooked a spaghetti dinner for his landlord's handyman who had been working all day
Katie & Dougie: cleaned out their closets and gave her clothes to a homeless shelter
John: Gave someone who was running to catch the ferry a ride to the dock, and donated a backpack full of school supplies to an elementary school
Papa: Paid the ferry fare for the car behind him in line
Aunt Janet: visited a sick friend in the hospital
Jeff: Let all of his employees out of work early for the weekend
Scott: made breakfast for Marcelle's friends and helped set up tables at a function that night
Nanette: Made special zucchini bread for a neighbor
Marcelle: Sent a missionary care package to her brother
Kim Church: Gave the money that she would have spent on Ryan's birthday present to a woman in her office who is struggling financially
Paige: Helped an older couple
Tony: Helped co-worker with a project
James: made cookies for a family whose dad has shingles
Ann & Jim: Helped Mark and Shannon move and fed the Elders who helped.
Wanda & Lester: took fruit and bread to the sick and the elderly
Mark: Gave a copy of The Book of Mormon to his new neighbor
Shannon: visited with the neighbors
Catherine: had a very spiritual and uplifting conversation with a friend in need
Calder: unloaded a car of groceries for his mom
Christine: did an endowment session
Taylor & Todd: complimented people in the park
FRIENDS(I don't have everyone's act of kindness that they did because most of the messages went to Ryan's phone, however, here is a sampling of what was done:)Cy: Gave $5 to a homeless man
Ann: helped a co-worker
Kim G: gave money to homeless kids
Blair: bought doughnuts for her office
Lisa: gave her last lollie to someone in Times Square
Chelsea: sent a bouquet of flowers to a sad friend
Amber: shared her pizza with her roommate
Jeff: bought an extra Trax ticket and left it in the kiosk for the next person
Tracy: gave flowers to a friend
Tamara H: let her interns go home early
Megan: gave money to a lady on the subway
Tamara D: helped a paraplegic man and fed the missionaries
Heather: fed the missionaries
Anita: helped and elderly man down the subway stairs
Cristi: smiled at strangers
Holly: cleaned the hair out of her drain at her apartment
Roger & Heidi: helped one of their employees receive a very generous scholarship
Cameron: did his home teaching
To everyone who participated: thank you for being willing and thank you so much for doing something. It made the day so better than it already was. Getting your text messages and emails and voice mails were inspiring. I'm so amazed by people's creativity and generosity. I was thrilled to hear about the wonderful acts that others were performing all across the country.
To all the friends who helped: thank you for being a friend. Thank you for being Ryan's friend, thank you for being my friend, and most importantly, thank you for letting us exploit the friendship we share.
To all the family members who did an act: thank you for showing Ryan you love him. Thank you for responding to my request....whenever that was that you happened to respond...Thank you for giving such sweet service for your son, brother, uncle, new son, new brother-in-law, and new favorite uncle. I swear we won't ask anything else of you this year...unless maybe we could get some of you to come visit for Thanksgiving? No...? Too much to ask...? Okay then...we'll wait for 2010 to put any more requests in.
To everyone we helped: thank you for letting two crazy strangers pester you. Thank you for being so gracious. Thank you for being so kind to us.
To everyone who wouldn't let us help them: thank you for being honest with us that you wanted us to get the hell away from you.
To everyone that we stared down while we were trying to figure out how we could help: thank you for not hating us for staring. There were good intentions behind it.
To everyone that took a popsicle: thank you for taking them before they melted--we were stressed for a minute or two that we wouldn't get them out.
To President Monson: Thank you for reading this blog and using this same idea for your birthday (
see here). And even if you don't read this blog thanks for thanks for being a
Prophet and sharing your vision with us.
To Ryan: thank you for wanting to do a day of service again.
I love you.