28 I am

Well I think I'm officially old (mature maybe?) considering as how I got new bath towels for my birthday yesterday and was absolutely elated! They're Egyptian cotton and so thick and soft and heavenly and I was so ridiculously happy.

I had a nice birthday. Very mellow and low-key and nice. Jamey and I went to see the Animated Shorts and got take-out for dinner - Wings Over Columbus, yumm. We were going to go to Cheesecake Factory with a giftcard but I nixed it last minute. I just wanted to bum around at home. So we did.

I was a bit spoiled by friends and family yesterday - with both presents and well wishes. Best thing though was my new butter dish (I know, towels and a butter dish, but they're awesome). I forgot that I'd been admiring this little butter dish at Christmastime when I was doing some online window shopping. But Jamey remembered. And love of my life that he is, he ordered the cute little thing for me from Anthropologie of all places and totally surprised me. I'm in love with the dish for sure, but moreso that Jamey actually, willingly - consciously - paid full price for a ridiculous little purchase just to make me happy. I didn't need it, forgot I wanted it, but he still did it. Love him so much.

**Note: Personally, I've never myself been able to justify purchasing something from Anthropologie and only go to their website occasionally to browse. So he gets extra points for that too. The deal I made myself was when I get my first actual grown-up real-world paycheck I'd allow myself to splurge and buy something full-price from Anthro and not feel a moment's guilt over it. He beat me to it. Now I need a new deal. 

love query

Jamey and I sat on a little panel at Church today for the Young Men and Young Women about how our youths prepared us for the big decisions in life (marriage/missions/school etc). We are in a new ward and really don't know too many people yet so we were excited to get to see some new faces, but then again I was a little nervous because I hardly knew anyone! It was us and another couple, that we did know and they were so fun too. I swear Jamey is the perfect person for these kinds of things because he can put an entire room at ease, he's just so good at relating to anyone on their level. One of the questions that was asked was what did Jamey do while we were "courting" that made me think/know I could happily spend my life with him?

#1: He makes me laugh -at jokes, at him, at myself, at any and everything. He is fun to be around because he can find humor anywhere and really helped to balance me out when I get a little too focused and stressed about one thing in particular. Because of this he was so easy to be around and I was so comfortable with him that I loved every moment of it and never wanted it to end.

#2: He is so supportive. We're both in pretty high-maintenance school programs (meaning you can't neglect them for very long). He never asked/demanded me to put him before my studies. He planned dates around our schedules, and mostly we had study dates. And even on our real dates he'd make fun of me but never actually made me feel bad about toting my note cards along with me (they were like my safety blanket).

In short, a respectful funny man did me in.

a lesson learned

"For we pay a price for everything we get or take in this world; and although ambitions are well worth having, they are not to be cheaply won, but exact their dues of work and self denial, anxiety and discouragement."

- L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

I just read this quote tonight as I was finishing up the novel. I love it. I hate to compare myself and my life to others', and actually I think I do fairly well at avoiding it, but sometimes I slip. I like to see my friends' pictures and to read their blogs - especially the ones at home with little kids. Sometimes I wonder where my personal ambitions have got me. I am so pleased with where I am in life, but looking at the lives of my friends that I grew up right alongside with it's as if I can see through a looking glass. Sometimes I have viewed my choices as trade-offs, but I think that is wrong. I often wondered if a person could really "have it all" and my conclusion is that you can. But maybe not all at once. And why should I want it all at once anyway? How could I ever attempt to appreciate each individual blessing appropriately? Patience. And hope. Faith for the future with sheer determination to never settle for less. My life is much richer than I had planned for myself so long ago. And so these long days I spend in class and at work, the weekends and late nights that I spend studying, are not in vain at the expense of greater joys, but they are my present leading to an incomprehensibly beautiful future.

Team Puffs

Puffs tissues are the best. Far superior to any other brand. I hate having a runny nose but Puffs make me not mind quite so much. Silly. I've had a rather annoying little cold/cough the past couple weeks (I actually think it's 2 separate ones because there were a few days in the middle that I did not have to blow my nose once and that was nice). And I really don't like to blow my nose in public. If it's busy public I don't really care, but if it's in the middle of class where the room is silent except for the lecturer and my blow echoes off the walls, I don't like it so much. But some days I've forgotten to stash my coat pockets with more Puffs and I've had to rely on toilet paper, paper towels, and actual kleenex brand tissues which are decidedly inferior. They make my poor nose raw. But after using as many Puffs as I need my nose is still intact. And their boxes are cute for my house.

Anne with an e

I just started reading Anne of Green Gables today and I am loving it! I will be 28 years old in less than one week and I'm wondering how this story has evaded me for so long. I was searching for some good books a couple weeks ago and my girlfriend Jess had the series on her shelf. When I told her I hadn't read them it wasn't even a question for her- she just handed them to me. Now that I've started I'm sad they weren't the ones I picked up first! So silly to be this old and completely taken with these stories. By page 16 I already completely adored Mr. Cuthbert. He reminds me of my own sweet Grandpa Heaton in the quiet unobtrusive way he's Anne's co-conspirator and advocate. My classmates laughed at me as I giggled my way through all of Anne's woes and delights (yep, I read between classes, on our breaks, and at lunch). And just now Mr. Gilbert Blythe has joined the cast of characters and I am so excited to see where this all leads. Doesn't look as though I'll be getting much studying done tonight and I am completely ok with that.