25 on the 25th: The Golden Birthday

Someone in our family had a birthday this week. It wasn't Brandon, so I guess that only leaves one other person.... ME! My birthday fell on a Wednesday this year which happens to be the night that Brandon has to stay at school the latest. He is TA'ing for a class this semester and teaches a late review session until 9 each Wednesday. Since we knew Brandon would be unavailable to celebrate on my actual birthday, we decided to go out on Saturday night (the 21st) instead. We had a fun evening shopping at the outlet mall in Lehi and then topped off the night with a delicious meal at Longhorn Steakhouse in Murray. We LOOOOOVE Longhorn. There are quite a few of them back home in Georgia, but here in Utah there is only one that is relatively close to us. The food was delicious and we both left the pace feeling like we over did it! We ordered an appetizer to start off with and then we each got a salad, filet mignon, and completed the meal with the CHOCOLATE STAMPEDE. This dessert came highly recommended by my parents and it did not disappoint. It was massive and so so yummy. We ate a few bites and then decided we better just take it home before someone would have to roll us out to the car! It was a great night spent with my favorite guy. Thanks Mom and Dad for sending us!

On the morning of my birthday Brandon woke up early and made crepes. Yes, CREPES! They were awesome! We put Nutella and strawberries on the inside, and whipped cream on the outside. YUM! I love that I am married to someone that isn't afraid of the kitchen. I think he might even enjoy it a little bit.

When I got to school my students were waiting in the classroom for me. Elementary school birthdays are like Christmas. My kiddos counted down all month until "teacher's birthday". Many of the students had brought me gifts and homemade treasures. Third graders do a great job of making you feel loved and appreciated. Later during the school day one of my student's moms brought in their brand new Golden Retriever puppy as a birthday gift to me. Melted my heart! I love puppies, and I loved seeing the excitement on my students' faces as the puppy pranced around our classroom. 

Once school was over I went home and was surprised to see a nice spread of my favorite treats on the kitchen table. My guy knows the way to my heart! He also continued the tradition of writing me a poem in my birthday card. Every year since we have been dating this has been the case. I won't embarrass him by publishing it on here, but he deserves a gold star for this year's!

After eating a few pieces of candy I was off to SWIG to meet up with my long lost soul sista, Whitney. She lives in Kansas City, Missouri and we don't get to see each other enough! I loved that she just happened to be in town on my birthday. It was so fun to catch up and hear all about her adventures as a new mama....and to snuggle baby Macklin of course! I am so lucky to have a friend like her in my life--- she is the absolute best!

All in all, it was a fabulous birthday. This is the first birthday that I have actually felt a little bit older. To me, 25 seems like the changing point between adolescence and adulthood. Woo hoo..... someone finally grew up. I feel good about where I am in life. I have a loving husband, a rewarding job that pays the bills, an adorable pup, and the cutest little nugget cooking away in my tummy. Life is good. I have a feeling my 25th year might be the best yet!