the anniversary of my birth

I woke up in the morning feelin' like P-Diddy... 

Oh, wait: that's not me.

Ahem.

I woke up this morning feeling like myself, or rather, a stuffier, itchier throat, coughing version of myself (luckily not puking glitter, though): I managed to survive two weeks with lil Braeden face and his sick sickness (he has bronchitis), but one weekend in Kansas City and I caught whatever Ashley has. Classic.

However, my morning was brightened by the sea of balloons (24, of course) that my sweet fiance blew up and put out as a surprise for me in the living room.

(Good thing I cleaned it up for dinner with the missionaries last night!) Also most of the balloons are hiding behind the tv: there were a lot. I promise.

He also put this super cute note on the coffee table:

Then he drove me to the university InstaCare where we waited for almost 2 hours so I could get a prescription for what I was pretty sure was a sinus infection (it was).

Fortunately the rest of the day went much better. I came home and checked my gmail and saw that I had

new emails, almost all of which were facebook notifications from people wishing me happy birthday. These continued in a pretty steady stream, along with text messages and phone calls throughout the day from people far and wide expressing their undying love for me...or just wishing me happy birthday.

I opened the package my friend Erin sent me (look how cute she is wrapping every piece separately!).

Inside were these lovely presents:

Those thank you cards will definitely come in handy!

Braeden also showered me with gifts, (one of which still hasn't even arrived due to mail mix-ups and slow postal service).

I put this book on my blog wish list and he got it for me!

And he came up with this lil gift all on his own: adorable.

Aside from just balloons and gifts, Braeden took me out to breakfast, gave me a massage, and generally took care of me all day. He also helped me with the flag book I needed to make for my class tonight. (I meant to take a picture before I turned it in but forgot: when I get it back next week I'll post a photo of it.) Braeden is seriously the best of all boys. He is so patient with me and so loving and so sweet: I could not be luckier.

Later I received a lovely package from my mother containing some of my favorite candies and an amazing green tunic shirt which I put on (along with the earrings from Erin and, you know, other clothes) when I finally had to leave the house for class.

Check out my sexy model pose... Yes.

Thank you to everyone who made my birthday so great: from raps to songs to phone calls and texts and facebook posts, I am lucky to know the people I know and have the friends and family I have. Fact.