Bday 2k11!

When people ask what my favorite holiday is, I say Christmas because I don't want to come off as selfish. Truth is, my favorite holiday is my birthday. And no, it's not because of all the attention or presents, because I actually hate the attention. BUT it is a time when the people I love are nice to me and give me surprises! And I LOVE surprises. It's taken some time but I've managed to educate all those who are close to me so they understand that birthdays are important to me.

Jaime, being the best best friend that she is, started it out right the weekend before by taking me to the Heber Valley Railroad! I've always wanted to go so she got us tickets for my birthday. It's super historic and stuff...that's all I know about it.

This is not the train we rode on. The one we went on looked much less pretty.

It was freezing onboard! And the truth is...it was boring. The scenery was not that great since all the leaves had already fallen and there wasn't any snow yet. But Jaime and I always have a great time together so we still had fun! I'm really glad I got to go, and it was a fun afternoon.

Afterwards, Jaime tried to convince me that we were going on a surprise double date up in Logan. Never believed that for a second. We went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner, which was, of course, delicious. I'm gonna tell you a secret, but if you use this against me at any time when I'm in the restaurant, I'm going to be mad. So here's the secret which you may already know: we arrived and there was an 80 minute wait. That's almost an hour and a half, if you struggle with math. Instead of waiting, we just sat at the bar and we were in and out before we would have even sat down. The food was just as good and I don't think you're allowed to smoke in restaurants in Utah anyway, so it was awesome. The bar's where it's at.

That brings us to this past weekend - the actual birthday weekend. It started with a dinner with friends at a local Thai place. It was so good and the company was fabulous.

Lauren is my oldest friend in Provo. Ok, she's not the oldest in years. I've just known her the longest - since our freshman year in the dorms.

Aubrey and Jason, Danielle and Mitch, and Aubrey

Cody, Steve, Lucas, and Hailey

Angela and me

Aubrey and Jaime

Afterwards, Jaime said we were going back to our house to hang out with our closest girl friends, which I was super excited about! But then we got to the freeway and we got on it, which is not how you go to our house. I'd had the thought a couple weeks ago that maybe we would go to a hotel on my birthday because I love them. But I believed her when she said we were going home. Once we got on the freeway, though, I knew where we were going, except for when she straight up lied to me when I guessed. We stayed a the Hampton Inn in Sandy. Aubrey and Angela had some kind of connection through work so we got to stay for free!

There were eight of us in one room but we had such a great time! We stayed up talking and laughing and practicing braids. I wasn't really included in the braid party, though, because my hair's too short. Sad. I had an awful night's sleep, but it was still such a fun night. I'd live in a hotel if I could.

Roomies

Afterwards was the Breaking Dawn movie, which I already blogged about. As I mentioned in my other post, I loved it and would totally see it again. Another tip: for popular movies, go to the Megaplex in Lehi because you can reserve seats and you don't have to show up early to get a good seat!

When we got home, everyone scattered to do their own thing so Jaime and I took naps then went to Texas Roadhouse to spend my birthday coupon. Every year they give you a coupon for a free appetizer for your birthday. You have to buy an entree, but Jaime and I just split the appetizer and entree and called it good. This time, though, we were pretty full after our salads and oh-so-good cheese fries so we boxed up the rolls and chicken and brought it home for dinner the next day. The whole bill was 12 dollars, including tip, and it fed us both for two meals. That's 3 bucks each per meal. Sweetest deal ever. We went shopping afterwards with some money my dad gave me for my birthday. I never have enough money to go shopping so that was also very exciting.

Sunday was my real birthday, but since it's Sunday there's not a whole lot you can actually do. We got up and went to church, napped, then that night a few friends came for cake and games. This is the beautiful angel food cake Jaime made me. Those are strawberries on top, not tomatoes.

It was so so so good. I really think I ate about half of it myself. But it's angel food so it's super light, right? And the fruit makes it healthy so it's all good. That's what I'm telling myself.

I got lots of love from family members and friends and the weekend was full of surprises which is what makes birthdays great! I had so much fun. This morning, though, I woke up with a serious case of post-birthday depression. Now I have to wait 364 days for more surprises. The only thing that's keeping me positive is that Jaime's birthday is in 10 days and I've got some sweet surprises up my sleeve for her birthday. Coming up with surprises is almost as good as being surprised myself!

Here's to 26!