best birthday ever.

my 21st birthday was last sunday.  i gotta admit, i was a little bummed about my birthday weekend since clark was in utah going to school and i've only lived in columbus for a grand total of 2 months; i just wasn't sure what i was going to do for my birthday...

...then this kid showed up.  funny story: i had a job interview in dublin on friday, which is where clark's family lives, so clark called me in the morning and told me his mom had a present for me.  the weather was terrrible that morning so georgia drove me and she hung out at the mall across the street.  i decided i would stop by clark's house after my interview, which lasted over 2 hours.  so we get to clark's house and go inside and talk with his mom and siblings for a little bit, and then his mom goes to the basement to get my present. then clark walked into the room! i froze...i didn't even know what to do.  at first, i told myself it wasn't real, since clark was in utah. but it was real! it was awesome. best. surprise. ever.

for dinner on saturday night clark, my parents and i went to dirty frank's, my favorite local hot dog place that has tofurkey hot dogs and a variety of vegetarian toppings.  we feasted.  i shamelessly ate 2 hotdogs and a plethora of amazing tater tots.  best. meal. ever.

here are all my birthday goodies.  turns out both my parents and clark got me 7 brides for 7 brothers.  which makes sense since i've been talking about wanting it for months. it is seriously the best. musical. ever. and who doesn't love modern family? no one. that's who.  

My cake was too cute to boot.  red velvet with hot pink icing, of course. the "sparkler" candles were slightly terrifying.  as you can see in the above picture, my eyes are filled with fear.  they kept flickering and refused to be blown out.  half funny, half terrifying.  

seriously. my birthday was amaaaazing. and on monday afternoon clark, his parents, and i went to this fancy little italian restaurant that was pretty delish.  then i dropped clark off at the airport.  

i'm so grateful for my family and friends who made my birthday so special and fun!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

oh my goodness, it's already january! so, i haven't blogged in a few weeks, but i have an excuse! ...i've been busy.  ok, lame excuse but i have so much to share.  i'm not a fan of super long blog posts so i'll just give a super quick update:

1. so far, being back in the the midwest has been amazing. my entire family was together for christmas break! this hasn't happened in years, so it was super special.

 2. i visited indiana and finally got to see this little boy! i also was able to see him when kaylea and josh stayed with us over the break, but i couldn't wait to see the baby! my little nephew gus is the best, cutest, funniest baby ever, and i'm not even biased. (ok maybe just a smidge, but seriously, he's perfect.)

 3. for christmas, clark got me tickets to a blue jackets game and a snazzy jersey! the jackets lost in a shoot out, but the game was so fun anyways.  before the game we went to my fave local restaurant dirty franks. 

4. i was able to see my sister emily and her hubby ryan! they are expecting their first baby in march, so it was so cute to see em all pregnant and adorable.  since they live in boston, i never get to see them, so it was awesome to spend time together this christmas.

now for a few things that i don't have pictures for:

5. i won my first week of fantasy nba basketball

6. i drove in a decently terrifying december rain storm

7. i agreed to play playoff fantasy football

8. i saw clark off at the airport (he's heading back to byu and i won't see him until april)

all in all, christmas break was amaaaazing and our house is now super quiet and empty now that it's only me and my parents. now i just need to find a full-time job. gross.

three pointers and timtams

this school week was easy.  too easy, really.  i have a feeling it means that the next two weeks will be terrifying busy.  that's ok, because this weekend was a ton of fun.

clark came into town in the afternoon on friday so i made cheddar mac and cheese. it was delish, if i do say so myself.  afterwards we went to g's dairy to get some heavenly ice cream and we really hit the jackpot with some black tie cheesecake ice cream: chocolate cheesecake ice cream, fudge, chocolate chips. it was amaaazing.  we went back to my apartment and watched seven brides for seven brothers until curfew.

saturday morning consisted of orange rolls (they are a weekend tradition) and college football (also a weekend tradition).  after being lazy for a while we decided to head to the icenter to attempt to shoot some hoops.  we kind of had to sneak in since we weren't wearing school issued work out clothes, but luckily we found a basketball behind one of the court dividers and shot hoops for about an hour.  after clark dominated me, as expected, he coached me forever on how to shoot a three pointer. after like 200 attempts i finally made one and we went crazy.  clark was so patient and helpful the whole time; he's the best.  it was glorious.  

after that we went to a classy restaurant in idaho falls called the snakebite.  fun fact: they open up at 5 pm on saturdays, and we showed up at 4.  so, we walked over to the public library and read children's books to one another.  my favorite one being sneetches by dr. suess; so cute.  

after that we went to by byui christmas concert where i heard a nice little medley of songs from the nutcracker and i am now determined to see that play at some point in the near future; the music is mesmerizing! oh, and brian mitchell stokes was there, in all of his cheesy, awkward glory.  mormons love him.  

we walked back to my apartment and this is where something amazing happened; i learned about drinking ho-cho through a timtam.  timtams are these amazing little chocolate covered wafers.  you nibble off opposite corners of the timtam and sip the hot chocolate through it and it's absolutely amazing. it gets all melty and gooey and then you eat it and it's life changing.  

sunday consisted of church, dinner with the couple that clark stayed with, and sopapilla  cheesecake. all in all, this weekend ruled.