I'm twenty-two!

This past Saturday was my 22nd birthday. And it was my best birthday ever. That's saying a lot, because I've had some really good birthdays (for instance, my friends threw me an insane 17th surprise birthday party, and I turned 18 on a cruise ship in Mexico with my very best friends).

It was so good because I got to spend it with most of my favorite people: my family, my friends, and my love. On Friday, I went up to Springfield to hang out with Ashley and other friends. We ate good food and danced. On Saturday, we went to Red Velvet (!) and I ate a red velvet cupcake and drank raspberry bubble tea... and it was so good, I may have ordered peach bubble tea immediately after. Elsie even gave me red heart shaped sunglasses for a birthday present! Then we came home, and I got to go to dinner with 12 of my favorite people on this earth. And I finished off my birthday by opening sweet, unexpected gifts, eating a cake that was as beautiful as it was delicious, and listening to live music with my favorite girls. It was the best! I'm a lucky girl.

Photos:

1. The adorable Sweet Shoppe at Red Velvet.

2. My birthday cake was made of buttercream white roses. So pretty and tasty.

3. The sunglasses Elsie gave me for my birthday! And the letters I made for Richard and I, which sit on our dresser.

4. Raspberry bubble tea + red velvet at Red Velvet.

5. Card from my little sisters! I'm not sure why it's upside down.

6. Nanna made me cupcakes!

7. Vintage ballet flats from Nanna (she also gave me a Polaroid camera!).

8. Chandelier above the dance floor.

Journaling.

I'm terrible at keeping a journal. And believe me, with all the opportunities, excitement, drama, and craziness that's come along during my 21 years of life, I should have been keeping one. I tried buying pretty, fancy journals, but I'd only write in them once or twice and then retire them forever. I tried keeping a personal blog, but that didn't work either. I tried writing little snippets of what I did each day on my calendar, but somehow, that even seemed to take too much time.

I'm a writer. I plan to spend my life writing for a living. I love to write. So it doesn't make any sense that I haven't been keeping a journal all these years. And I really, really wish I would have.

Right now is the start of a really big year for me. I'll be 22 this Saturday (eek!). I'm starting my final year of my undergraduate degree. I'm working as an assistant editor for a newspaper. I'm only a few months from entering the real world, getting a real job, buying a house, doing grown-up things. Things are about to change a lot.

On that note, I'm going to attempt to blog regularly, at least 3 or 4 times a week, even if it's just a picture or a quote or a few words detailing what happened that day.

But not this week! I'm leaving town tomorrow to celebrate my birthday all week... Look for me next week! ;)

This week:

I rode roller coasters and waterslides with my love and some friends and got a major sunburn.
I had the privilege of attending a keynote address given by the Dalai Lama. It was amazing. More on that later.
I planted some things: basil, parsley, and pink zinnias, to be exact. Let's all cross our fingers and hope they grow (unlike those pretty gerber daisies I killed last year).
I had breakfast early in the morning with my Nanna. She made chocolate gravy and biscuits, and all felt well in this world.
I got to spend an entire day with my oldest sister. This rarely happens! It was so fun.
I realized that I need have to stop drinking so much caffeine. But that will have to wait until next week when Starbucks no longer has half price drinks. Eek!

*Photo of my little sister Hali on her 10th birthday last month. See, caffiene addictions run in our family!

happy birthday richard!

my love's 21st birthday was friday. i spent weeks planning a big party in fayetteville for him & lots of his favorite people. but by the time friday rolled around, we were completely snowed & iced in & unable to leave the house, much less drive two hours to fayetteville! i couldn't even get the poor guy to a liquor store so he could make his first legal alcohol purchase. :(

it was a big letdown, but i think i helped him to make the most of it. we went on the longest hike of my life even though it was frigid (he thinks we are bear grylls people) & discovered a beautiful cliff overlooking the river. we went sledding on saturday morning up in the mountains with my sister & two precious little girls. my niece hailey was such a good sport on our two-mile trek even though she was up to her little knees in snow!

it was quite inconvenient, but i absolutely loved our snowy long weekend together.

a few of my favorite summer pictures!

good news!
i've decided to do a (very, very belated) several-post re-cap of this wonderful summer.

my summer was full of concerts,
more road trips than i could count on both hands,
old friends,
cupcakes galore,
roller coasters,
jumping on hotel beds,
exploring new cities,
good food (for which i'm now paying the price),
absolutely nothing productive,
and many wonderful moments with wonderful people.

i could not have asked for a better summer.
the only not-so-good things i can remember are
a) a trip to the emergency room in may after a bout with my asthma/allergies
and b) a wisdom tooth infection which left me drugged up on vicodin for days.
i'm so thankful for the audrey hepburn calendar in my closet
on which i wrote each day's highlights.
i will forever look at that calendar and remember some of the best moments of my life.

here are five of my favorite summer pictures,
and believe me when i say that there are so many more waiting to be posted: