Best Birthday Ever!

Next year is my Golden Birthday, but I have to say that this year's birthday was the best so far, so I'd like to brag about it.

It started Thursday night when two fun girls, Kate and Denett, decided to throw themselves a birthday party and invited every girl in the ward to come. When they found out it was also my birthday, they let me be included in the birthday celebration. We ate dinner at this great restaurant, and I swear about 30+ ladies showed up. I tried to get a picture down the table, but it was so long that it only showed about a quarter of all the ladies who were there.

I did get a picture of the Bishop and 1st counselor who showed up for a minute just to sing to us.

They were so nice to do this, especially since the restaurant we went to wasn't super close to where we live.

Then Friday morning, my awesome visiting teachers Alison and Kindra came over to give me a Nothing Bundt cake and a board game. I'm so glad to have them as my VTs. They come every month, and they're always so good to me.

At lunchtime, my Oldest Bestest Friend Julie invited me to lunch to celebrate. I chose Cafe Rio since they put a new one just down the street from her house. Lucky girl! I wish I got some pictures because Julie is the cutest pregnant lady. Thanks for lunch, Julie. We need to do it again very soon!

For dinner, Kevin took me out for sushi, which is such a treat because we usually can't afford it. A highlight that I will never forget is that they sat us at a table right next to Carey Hart!

The craziest thing about this was that right after I figured out he was Carey Hart, a Pink song came on over the speakers. (FYI: He is married to Pink, and they are currently getting divorced.) I tried to listen for any kind of reaction, but he just kept talking to his friends like he didn't even notice the song. I actually think he might have known that I recognized him (because I kept staring at him), and I wonder if he deliberately tried not to react to the song so that I wouldn't call US Weekly or some other tabloid magazine. I could be wrong.

Finally, I couldn't talk about my birthday without telling about my present.

This box had been sitting on my counter like this for TWO WEEKS! I think I always knew what was in it, but it was still torture that I couldn't open it until my birthday.

This was what was inside. Just what I thought. Kevin even preordered the next book for me. I'm so excited to read them again, and I've already gotten started. Thanks, Babe.

Thank you to the girls in my ward, to my family and other friends, and especially to Kevin for making this birthday one to remember!

Strange Blogging Phenomena

I just looked up the exact definition of phenomenon to make sure I was using it correctly, and I noticed the plural form is "phemonema". Originally I had "phenomenons" in my title. Anyway, people have been blogging about things they are noticing, and there are a few things that I've noticed since I started my blog that I would really like some advice about.

1. Google Reader won't let me add subscriptions for some of the people on my "Friends" list.

When I started my blog, Janet showed Rachel S. and me a few tips, including how to use Google Reader, and I finally got around to trying it today. When I started adding subscriptions, it wouldn't let me add some people. Has anyone else had this problem? As I've gone back and tried to add those people again, some have worked, but others still are not working. And Emilee, yours comes up as a completely different blog. Am I doing something wrong? Should I just keep trying to add people until they go through?

2. If I add you to my "Friends" list, and you know me but don't really consider me a friend, does that make me strange?

I like people, and I like to look at their blogs. I add those people to my "Friends" list just so that I will remember to look at their blogs. I also do this because Kevin likes to look at the blogs on that list. And I also like to help others connect with people they might know from my list. But I'm afraid people might glance at my blog, see their name on my "Friends" list and think, "I'm not her friend." There are people I would like to add, but I don't because I'm afraid they might see their name and think I'm trying to force a friendship. Does anyone else feel this way? Do you have some kind of system for choosing who you add to your "Friends" list? Should I just add these people to Google Reader (if it will let me) and not my "Friends" list so that they won't see their name and think I'm a weirdo? By the way, if you happen to read this post, and you see your name on my "Friends" list and would like it removed, please let me know. And conversely, if I know you, and you read my blog, and you have a blog, and you are not on my "Friends" list, please let me know so that I can add you. I probably don't even know you have a blog, or I forgot about it if I've been there before. Like I found Lauren's blog, and my name was on her "Friends" list, and I wished she told me that she had a blog. (If you're reading this, Lauren, I'm so glad I found you.) There are probably not any more people like this, but if there are, I want to know because I want to read your blog.

3. My house is mysteriously messy lately.

It's no mystery. I spend too much time on the Internet now. I'm just trying to keep with the strange phenomena theme of this post. Does anyone have any advice for limiting the time you spend blogging so that you can get other things done?

4. William all of a sudden likes to eat vegetables.

Okay, this has nothing to do with blogging, but isn't it weird that he hated the Gerber vegetables when I started giving them to him, and now that I've started giving him more than just fruit, he likes the Gerber vegetables?

5. One of my favorite bloggers, one of the few who got me to start my own blog and whose blog I love to look at every day because she is so much fun, hasn't updated her blog in almost two weeks!

Rachel, if you're out there, I hope everything is okay, and I miss you.

I hope a few of you don't mind how I've copied the style of some of your posts. You know who you are - Rachel B., Janet, Wendy, Cynthia. These are just a few things I've been thinking about, and I would appreciate any advice people have to offer.

Game Nite

Once a month, Rachel S. has Game Nite at her house, and it is probably my favorite night of the whole month. All of the ladies in our ward are invited over for games, snacks, socializing, and endless entertainment. I'm usually a lightweight (to steal Wendy's term) and leave before midnight, but last night I stayed and partied with the hardcores. I got a picture of the clock as I was finally getting ready to leave.

Yes that's 3:00 am. We stayed so late that we were there to see Rachel's husband Tom come downstairs to get ready to leave for work in the morning. He was nice enough to get some pictures of all of us crazies.

For those of you hardcores who had to get up in the morning to drive out of town, you guys are troopers, and I'm so glad you stayed. I hope you had fun trips.

Rachel, Game Nite rocked. I can't wait for next month.

Crouching Liger Hidden Dragon

After this semester, Kevin will have his degree in film making, and I'm so proud of him for sticking with it. He is the only person that I know who really enjoys going to school.

This is the short film he made for our ward's Untalented Show. Don't mind the terrible acting of the second actor. Just look at the sweet film making skills.

Ten Months Old Today...

...and finally crawling.

He started doing this just days before he turned ten months. So I can say he crawled at nine months, right?

Two Places That Make Me Happy

I just wanted to post a few of the highlights from our trips last week.

I was only in Salt Lake for a night, and a whole day, and a morning, so I didn't get too many pictures, but this is my favorite. That's my mother-in-law Celine with William at The Garden restaurant at the top of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. Salt Lake is like Disneyland to me; it makes me happy to be there. I love Temple Square and all of the malls, and it reminds me of my days at BYU.

This is the plane ride home. I was a little worried about this part because I was by myself. But they both fell asleep during take-off, and everything was fine. Thanks, Celine, for flying us home so that we didn't have to drive all day Sunday.

Sunday night we drove to Anaheim.

This is William with my nephew Spencer. Sometimes I wish I could be pushed around Disneyland in a stroller.

This is Rebecca and cousin Ryder on their first roller coaster. Did you know that you only have to be 35 inches to ride the Matterhorn?

This is the meltdown she had after the Matterhorn. We won't be doing that one again for a while.

At the end of the trip we got to go visit my old roommate Jenny who lives like twenty minutes away from Disneyland. Lucky girl. I am really upset that I didn't get any pictures from our visit. We'll just have to take another trip down and get some pictures next time. Thanks for letting us come by, Jenny. Your family is so dang cute.

Thanks for taking us to Disneyland, Mom and Dad. We had a great time.

Daddy's Little Helper

This is Kevin posting this. Emily wanted me to be a part of it and so here it is. We got home from our Disneyland trip and I had two filthy cars to clean. And Rebecca wanted to be my little helper.
Her favorite thing to do was brush the tires. She probably would have preferred the hose if I would have given it to her. I thought she would just help me for a brief minute, get bored, and go back to playing in the house but she stayed out with me the whole time and helped me with both cars. We had a great time (I at least had a great time) working with my daughter and I just wanted to share.
It was obviously a bright day, and I guess it is just her right eye that is sensitive to the light. She is so much fun.