twenty three.

sarahmainesduke is twenty three and i can only celebrate with her in spirit.

some fun facts some of you may or may not know about sarah:

- she is an incredible artist. not just a creative person, she has actual artistic abilities that come out of her hands and onto whatever medium she pleases. she has a drawing that was in her room that i loved and then i found out she drew it and then i had a even bigger testimony of sarah's coolness.

- she loves cow tales. you know, that old almost chalky candy that you can't decide whether you like or not? also, why is it called cow tales? are they telling you a story? no. no they are not.

- she loves soccer. like she really truly enjoys watching it. that made the 2010 world cup a lot of fun, let me tell you. it also made it super awesome when she met her husband who is, to put it mildly, a soccer fanatic. presh.

- yes. her hair really is that beautiful in real life. as is her face and her spirit.

love you smd. one day we'll live in the same time zone again and it will be magic and birthdays will not go without birthday hugs and we will live [even more] happily ever after forever.

gina turns twenty one.

it was georgina's birthday on sunday. we had church and jade's famous indian chicken and renn's famous brownies and my famous picture strings. jk they're not that famous. but they are awesome.

happy birthday george. this was only part one. part two is coming up soon....

so there was this one time when i turned twenty two in dallas.

and it was awesome.

last wednesday [the 20th... mark your calendars for future reference. jk. not really.] was my birthday. and i turned twenty two. and it was so great. i was kind of worried celebrating my birthday so soon after moving to a foreign land but it was actually kind of amazing. i received many a text and tweet and facebook message and phone call and email [thanks gold's, you know i'm not a member any more, right?]. i was definitely feeling the love. i even had a package from my aunt waiting for me on my porch when i got home from work.

so the day. i will tell you about it. i woke up, went for a run and took a shower [i want to start of the year on a nice clean note, ya know?] before work. my coworkers took me to lunch to ihop because i was really feeling some breakfast food. no judging. 

when i got home from work i just chilled for a bit before some friends came and picked me up for dinner. we met a group at an asian fusion cafe called asian mint and it was delicious. they had some dang good thai food [my favorite] and they even brought some ice cream out and sang to me! it was awesome.

after that we went to a friend's apartment for some crazy amazing costco chocolate cake and ice cream. oh my goodness. it was incredible. and huge. i ate it for days. no joke. i had it for breakfast and or dinner for like four days. single living for the win. they also gave me a $50 gift card to world market to buy some things for my apartment! 

all in all, it was amazing and i could not have asked for a better birthday. well i guess if everyone i loved was with me that would have been cool too... but you get the point.

 thank you everyone for the incredible day!

deuces.

today was my birthday.

and it was amazing.

more to come.

photo credit: alexiss memmot

just little guys.

spending time with the children is my favorite. here are some of the fun times we've had as of late.

playing in boxes!

watching levi swing!

cason's 5th birthday at pizza pie cafe!

what a share bear.

levi being awesome!

luci's dance recital!

 making levi smile!

what a model.

 love this girl.

luci dresses like a rockstar.

 levi and lauren hanging out on the floor.

i love my family.

and wiser too.

happy birthday to my best friend who does more for me than anyone will ever know.

love you niki!

she loves me.

justin would be proud.

for my niece's third birthday, she wanted a purple party. and a purple party is what she got.

don't worry, there was justin beiber involved.

representing in my purple hat.

 even levi participated in the purple festivities.

 candle blowing is a family affair.

happy birthday sweet girl.

put my arms around his neck, hug him tight like this.

happy birthday to my amazing father who i love dearly. 

i would most definitely not be who i am and where i am today if it weren't for him.

it's always a good time when grandpa comes to town.

 this one is my favorite.

nice shirt, dad. i wonder who gave that to you. they must have great taste and know that plaid is in and that green matches your [our] green eyes extremely well and stuff. cool.

happy birthday sera!

happy 22nd birthday to my very best friend, sarah maines [almost duke]!

there is little that i haven't said already, but know that your presence in my life is a blessing that could never be replaced, destroyed, or distanced. this college life has been an adventure and i am glad we could spend it together. there is so much in store for us, together and individually. i know there will be no bigger fans of gmail, twitter, texts, googledocs, vimeo, and facetime as us. no one rocks long distance friendships like we do.

exciting things are afoot for troy and abed, rachel and monica, the wolf pack.

christmas eve eve

otherwise known as gina's birthday. we went to bear paw for brunch, walked about downtown st george and stopped in a bookstore and a cool vintage soda shop where gina got an old school dp. after we got home, gina and i went on the scooter ride of our lives. it was amazing and beautiful and fun.

one of gina's friend's brought over some cake balls so we used that for cake since we didn't get her one... before you start stoning me just know that gina doesn't like cake. what?! yeah, i know, right?

guess who's super excited for gina to be twenty?! hint: not gina.