First of all, before I get started, I just want to thank everyone for their kind words on my previous post. It means a lot to me and having those kinds of words in writing really does help to go back at and read.

Moving right along, yesterday was my 23rd birthday. It makes me excited because maybe, just maybe, I won’t be the youngest teacher at the school this year. Last year my nickname with many of the teachers was “86” because through one of the beginning of the year activities  we did to “get to know each other better, it was revealed that I was born in 1986. Which apparently bothered some of the teachers born in the 1940s. LOL. I would really love it if there was an 87 this year. 🙂

Yesterday was great. I woke up pretty happy because 1) I actually slept pretty well for once, and 2) I felt good about how much I got done yesterday.

I think due to my anxiety, sleep becomes an issue because I typically wake up several times a night after rather dumb dreams, making it difficult to fall back asleep. The end result is I generally wake up just as tired as when I went to sleep, or more so. So, when this doesn’t happen, and I actually sleep pretty well, it’s a big deal.

On #2, our house is starting to look more and more like a home, and you wouldn’t believe how nice it feels NOT to have a bunch of boxes lying around the living room or just stuff lying about the counters and floors. I also organized our closets (Jared and I both get our own closet… much to Jared’s relief!). Being able to see the possibilities and potential of this house is so exciting to me.

The rest of the day was a happy blur. Jared and I went to this great place downtown called Zilker Park. That’s just one of the cool things about Austin. First of all, it’s pretty dang cool that right next there downtown, there’s the big Colorado river. Secondly, Zilker Park is a real, and big, park. And within that area, you can experience wonderful things like natural springs and kayaking.

Jared and I were gonna do the kayaking, but my headaches decided to ruin that plan. It was a hot, like 100 degrees hot, long walk to the kayak place. Once we got there, they only wanted two things from us. Our cash, and our photo IDs. And naturally, because we didn’t want to get all that stuff unnecessarily wet, we left all but the cash amount for the kayaking in the car. We started the long trek back to the car… and suddenly that nagging mosquito buzzing headache turned into a throbbing mess, pounding in sync with each step I took.  Jared and I stopped by Barton Springs so I could rest enough to make it up the hill to the car. It was such a pleasant place! Dogs were allowed, people were just hanging out, and they even had a diving board! It was pretty awesome.

Jared was also sweet enough to make me all 3 meals yesterday. And I would just like to say, as the main cook in the house, IT WAS AWESOME to have a break. I need to make him cook more often…. or help me out at least. 😉

Presents were AWESOME. Thanks Aunt Linda and co. for the Inkheart books- I seriously have meant to get around to reading them, but haven’t yet, so I was PSYCHED to get those. Especially because I was really struggling to figure out that cool flowerpot card. Apparently, not all cards open up, y’all. The pretty “flower” part slides out of the flowerpot part and THEN you can read the message. And the sad thing was, Jared had to tell me that after I examined the card for 2 minutes. ha. Along with the book theme, the in-laws sent me the remainder of The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. Seriously cool series for those of all ages, and I get that extra thrill from it because of how much I LOVE Greek/Roman Mythology! I had the first book, and the last book, not the 3 in the middle. So I think Jared must’ve colloborated with that, cuz I got the remaining three! Now, I just have to figure out how to read all of these 5 books in the next week before school/training starts. 🙂

My mom sent me this pretty purple jersey dress that actually looks pretty good on me. I also got this very colorful apron from Nana and Grandpa, Jared’s grandparents. I think she might have made it herself! And I can’t wait to make Jared put it on sometime and get a picture of it. It’s just a matter of time. DON’T THINK THAT I’M NOT WATCHING FOR THAT OPPORTUNITY!

Last, but not least, because perhaps he didn’t think the day had been awesome enough, Jared surprised me with tickets to WICKED. ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! 3rd row. I seriously don’t know how I resisted the little girl squeal because I was so excited. It’s showing in Austin for the next 3 weeks, so I can’t wait to go to that. I have heard from several reliable sources that the play is completely different (and better) than the book. (Take my word for it, DO NOT read the book. Unless you enjoy sickeningly pornographic images and seriously twisted relationships happening.) I also love the music from the musical version, and even Jared gets a kick out of “Popular.”

We ended the evening with Neapolitan ice cream,  succulent chocolaty chocolate Costco cake, and watching one of my favorite movies, Stardust. This cake was the 7 pounder glorious cake that you gain weight just by looking at it. We’re hoping there’s some left when my mom and Stephen come next Wednesday. We might just eat ourselves sick before then. Just because it’s there, and we can!

Ok, back to the movie part. And even though Jared isn’t a big fan of such movies, he didn’t fall asleep until the last 30 minutes of the movie were left! Which, according to him, “are the best and most exciting parts of the movie!”And since it was late, and no longer my birthday, I figured it was okay to pause it and go to bed.

And that, was my intensely awesome and busy birthday day. And I can’t believe that it took me a good 40 minutes to type all of that. If you made it to this ending, congratulations. Go get yourself some chocolate. NOW.