One Year Older

Happy 26th Birthday to me and happy it was indeed!

I was spoiled rotten by my friends and family! 

Sometimes people complain about getting older and wish they could repeat a certain year.  Well, I can guarantee you that I will never yearn to repeat the past year of my life.  While a lot of good has happened, J-man coming to live with us, Ryan coming home from deployment, meeting tons of new friends in Virginia, making a house a home...there has also been a lot of challenges.  I've learned a lot, but if I never experience months of Ryan being gone, the emotional roller coasters, funerals of friends fathers and grandfathers, comprehensive examinations...again, I will be just fine.  All in all, this past year has been a beautiful journey that has made me emotionally stronger, more confident in the woman I am, much more intelligent, and one heck of a multitasker!  I know now how to write a paper, run regressions, vacuum, dust, do laundry, get dinner on the table, make sure J-man completes all his homework correctly and kiss my husband in an average 2-3 hour evening! 

Ryan went above and beyond to make my birthday perfect! On Sunday we went hiking as a family and played on the beach! Then we hung Christmas lights and I got on the roof and cleaned the gutters. Thanks to my dad, I am comfortable being on the roof for the most part! After a day spent with Mother Nature, we went out to dinner with some friends for Mexican food! Yum! It was a much needed and extremely fun night with friends!

On my actual birthday, I did a ton of homework! While that may not sound like fun, being productive makes me happy and I was productive for sure! I woke up to the smell of coffee and came home to the smell of cake! Yes, Ryan baked!!!! He then proceeded to make me an amazing dinner of my choice - grilled medium rare steak, steamed asparagus, and maple sugar acorn squash!! Heavenly!

Oh and the cherry on top, he made me a fun cocktail!!

What's a birthday without presents?!?!

I got my boots!! Yay!! They are tall Kamik boots in green. I love them! We ordered cream liners for them so they can be perfect snow boots too!

Jared got me super soft and cozy socks along with a wonderful homemade card! On the inside, he drew me with a bubble that said "homework" and then he drew him playing play station with a caption "ugh...okay..." Bahahahahaha so true! Four pairs of unique earrings and the Nicholas Sparks book "The Best of Me" rounded out my gifts from the boys! They were perfect!

Oh, a classmate got me LIPSTAIN! It's my first attempt at using it and I really like it! It isn't shiny, but it does give my lips a nice lasting color! Thanks Darling Dasha!

Much love.