Birthday Spoils

The big 2-5. A quarter of a century. I can feel that many good things will happen while I’m 25. The first thing that comes to mind is no more young driver fee at car rentals, but also Mike will graduate from law school while I'm 25. We will become real people. Exciting!

My first day of 25 started out great, mostly because I had a whole day to be with Mike. He was so willing to do whatever I wanted. Little did he know the requests would start at 4 a.m.

Here's how it started. Mike has turned me into a monster. We had a fan during the summer two years ago to try and keep things at a moderate temperature while we slept. (Wymount does not have air conditioning, but with a combination of a window unit and strategically placed fans, it’s not so bad.) He begged me to keep it going throughout the year because he liked the white noise going on and he said it helped him sleep better. I acquiesced because it didn’t bother me. Two years later, the night before my birthday to be exact, that trusty Wind Machine finally gave out. It had been running night and day since that summer of 2010, so we were pleased with its performance. However, I have now become completely dependent upon it for my own sleeping needs. It was too quiet and I simply couldn’t sleep. I kept being woken up by the slightest real or perceived sound. I couldn’t take any more of it come 4 a.m., and proclaimed I was going to Wal Mart to get a replacement. Mike came with me, which was very sweet of him, and we had quite a pleasant trip to the store. I even found me a shirt that I loved for $1! Plus we got an exact replica of our beloved Wind Machine. I was then able to sleep until 9:00 and felt very good about our early morning errand.

Our day together was nothing crazy or extraordinary, but I loved every moment. We just got to be with each other. It really was heaven. First we went on a walk together, enjoying the wonderful sunshine and pleasant temperature. Then we went to Paradise Bakery to eat some scrumptious cookies and delicious molasses bread. Then Mike took me to pick up one of my birthday presents. He took me to Runner’s Corner to pick out a new pair of running shoes. If you have not heard of Runner’s Corner, let me tell you about it. They have people who happen to know everything about running there. They watch you run, figure out what problems you have or don’t have (problems to be had in my case), and bring you a dozen pairs of shoes that will correct that problem and make your runs more enjoyable. I ran around that store so many times with so many different pairs of shoes on. It took quite a bit of time to discover the right pair, but I loved every minute of it. The hard part was not caring about how the shoe looked. I have never done that before! There was an adorable pair of pink Sauconys that I would have picked for sure, but this pair of Brooks were the ultimate victors. We have become best friends.

Next we went to Sweet Tooth Fairy to pick up a couple of glorious cupcakes to serve as my birthday cake. I grabbed my favorite Marble and Mike was feeling adventurous and got a Churro cupcake. It had a real Churro sticking out of the top. Very fun. Then we went home to open presents because we both simply couldn’t wait any longer. Mike was so good to me and on top of the running shoes got me a pink Swiss Army Knife (I had one before, but it mysteriously disappeared from off my keychain – I do not blame whoever stole it – it is essential to living), a 10-pound kettlebell to help me increase my sweating in my favorite exercise video, Elnet – a fancy hairspray I’ve always wanted to try, a Nalgene bottle I‘ve wanted since my last large bottle broke two years ago, makeup brushes, a mall gift card (YAY!), a subscription to Lucky Magazine (LOVE!), Modern Family Season 1 (may or may not have been a present for Mike as well – we both love that show incredibly), and last but not least – Never Say Never – the Justin Bieber movie. Oh, how I love that show. I was not a giant Justin fan before I saw it, but now I cannot get enough of that adorable, little Canadian boy. I’ve watched it twice since my birthday. I think Mike only bought it because he knew he wouldn’t be around to be forced to watch it as well. All of these gifts were so thoughtful! Stuff I really, really, really wanted and didn't even explicitly tell him either! I have such a sweet, thoughtful husband.

After the giant present palooza, we decided we were still kind of full from Paradise Bakery and eating 2 additional Paradise cookies each, so we decided to go wash Steadman, our beloved Buick. Mike will only take him to what he considers the finest carwash in the valley, Supersonic in Orem. We got Steadman looking stellar and headed back home to make some waffles and strawberry goo (just blended up strawberries) with whipped cream. Delicious! We then ate our cupcakes while we had a Modern Family marathon of glory. You could probably say that was the best birthday ever. Well, maybe if it included Ticket to Ride, my favorite game ever, but I forgot about it! I had made all these plans to make Mike my Ticket to Ride slave for an hour or so. I'm thinking he might have not reminded me of that plan on purpose. Oh well, that gives Mike a way to make my next birthday even better.

You would think the wonderfulness would end, but it did not! Next came family parties, which included beloved mall gift cards, and giant package in the mail, which came full of denim jackets, iTunes gift cards, water bottles, delicious granola, puzzles, and many other assorted, glorious gifts. Then, after that, a delightful afternoon with my dear, dear friend who stuffed me full of my favorite popcorn, cookies, skookies, smoothies and chick flicks. Cupcake keychains and cupcake necklaces soon followed.

What girl could ask for more?

I love being 25.