My birthday weekend (only a week late!)

Man, have I been busy lately! And there have been a lot of pictures to post, which always seems to delay my blogging. But things are finally slowing down (for a few days), so hopefully I can catch you up. Here's what happened the weekend before last -- with pictures!

Friday, Aug. 15:
I left work at 2, then went home to clean my apartment from top to bottom. I realized I was starting to sort of nest, but I can't really call it that since I'm not pregnant (it's literally scientifically impossible). I told K about it later, and he called it either QCing (Quality Control) or Preparing for Inspection. Both are so, so appropriate.

Either way, I found myself doing major, obvious things like vacuuming and scrubbing sinks. I did productive but less obvious things like vacuuming my couch. And then I did ridiculous things like shred papers and vacuum walls (stupid dust bunnies form in the texture from the paint).

That night, I went to an early birthday dinner with Brit, then came home to finish cleaning.


Saturday, Aug. 16:
I got up at 5:15 to go to my last training ride for the Ho.tter'N Hell Hundr.ed. We rode 84 miles. I got home a little after 3 (we rode in the middle of nowhere), showered, ate lunch, and then took a 45-minute nap.

I woke up when Rachel and Addy (two of my three college roomies) got here from OK to celebrate my birthday. We talked for a bit, then got cleaned up and headed out to dinner. I wore a comfy green dress with the hot 4-inch heels I got a few months ago but hadn't worn yet (I never wear heels that tall!).






















Heather, Elle, AJ and Shel (my coworker) met Rachel, Addy and me for a girls' night. One of AJ's friends joined us, and it worked out well because everyone had at least one person there that they knew well. We were able to see Michael Phel.ps get his 8th gold medal just before we left the restaurant. Everyone was cheering and shouting as we watched. It was fun.

































My yummy birthday cookie. We all enjoyed this thing!
















I enjoyed it so much that, in a desperate attempt to not leave any in the dish, I managed to get cookie AND ice cream on my dress. On my 25th birthday. (Hey, you're never too old to get that excited over chocolate!)





















Then, it was on to my favorite bar, the piano bar! Shel wasn't able to join us, which was a bummer, but we all had a great, hilarious time.

















Addy, me and Rachel
















Blogger buddies! Heather, me and Elle
















Elle bought me my choice for a birthday shot ...
















... and THEN told me she doesn't like tequila!
















We all started getting silly by the end of the night ...





















... which is how it should be!





















We left the bar around 1:30, and when we got home, I was so exhausted I just crashed on my floor. I have this thing about letting guests sleep in my bed, and I'll take the couch, floor or air mattress (I've done that since I was little). Since I was smoky from the bar, I wouldn't get on my couch, and since I was too tired to care about showering first, I was plenty happy with the floor. And I slept great.


Sunday, Aug. 17: (my 25th birthday)
Despite the late night, I woke up early that morning. Rachel or Addy had put a blanket on me in the night, and I put it under my head to use as a pillow. I was able to doze off again for just a little bit and woke up a little after 9. I knew I was awake for good, so I just laid in my floor running through the previous night again. After about 20 minutes, I thought it was late enough to get up and make some breakfast for the three of us. I baked some cinnamon rolls and took Piper outside.

The girls were still out cold, so I hopped in the shower. Just as I was finished, K called to wish me a happy birthday. We were only able to talk for a few minutes, since it was the middle of the day in Iraq and he had work to do.

Rachel and Addy finally woke up, so we ate cinnamon rolls, hung out for a bit, and then headed out for greasy cheeseburgers and fried goodness (cheese fries, beer-battered onion rings and sweet potato fries).






































After that, we went shopping. I bought a new pair of polarized sunglasses and some workout gear from an outlet mall. Great deal on the workout gear; not so much on the sunglasses, but oh well. It was my birthday. And they're my eyes. They need to be protected!

Soon after shopping, the girls had to head back to OK. As soon as they left, I got in my car and headed to AJ's so we could go downtown and watch some friends of ours whose band was playing. I really just wanted to hang out and go to bed early, but we'd already told the guys we'd be there. Their band was really good, so I'll probably go see them again sometime when I've got a little more energy.

When I got home, I was so exhausted. I needed to shower and wash my sheets, but since I didn't feel like waiting for them to wash and dry, I just set my alarm for a little earlier than usual so I could shower Monday morning.

K called me at about 1:30 that night. I was so out of it in our conversation that the next morning, I wasn't even sure how long we'd talked or that I remembered everything we talked about. Oops!

Rather than give them to me late once he gets here for R&R, K sent me my birthday presents in the mail. He got me the OU bag I wanted and a Son!care toothbrush. He just got a new Son!care himself a few months ago, and he loved it so much he had joked about getting me one for my birthday. I told him I didn't care, that I'd use it and probably like it, so I wasn't really surprised that he sent it. And for the record, that thing is AWESOME! I love it!

He also sent me the best birthday card ever. The card itself was nice, but nothing groundbreaking as far as cards go. K took the liberty of personalizing it, though, which was cute. But then he wrote me a note that took up the whole left side of the card. It was the sweetest thing I've ever read. It made me miss him even more, but it made me really excited that we'll get to see each other soon.

Nothing like a great birthday to make you feel like the luckiest girl on earth.


Tomorrow, I'll blog about another birthday surprise, which was definitely not a welcome one. I bet some of you can guess what it is ...