Happy Birthday to Me!

Well it's over. You might be wondering just what is over. The answer of course is my mid twenties. I am officially 27 years old. I looked on the Internet to try and find great accomplishments by 27 year olds. I found nothing. My birthday celebration started in Utah and lasted for more than a week. I have amazing friends who made my birthday feel like the event it should be. I had three cakes, five versions of Happy Birthday to You, and a grip of thoughtful Birthday Wishes.

The Office got things started off right with a Chocolate Cake and Vitamin D milk. Just about my favorite treat.

Because my birthday was Monday which happened to be the first day of the fall recess and many people would be gone we had cake and ice cream. It was delicious and I ate a ton of it. I probably ate a third of that cake myself.

Now my birthday last year has started out kinda lousy, the girl I was dating at the time was mad at me and my roommates bless their hearts tried to make me breakfast but we had no ingredients and the pancake mix had gone bad. This was all remedied by my amazing trip to Texas. Jordan, Jeff, Matt, their wives, my parents and the Stanworths made up for it in a big way. This year there would be no Texas trip, but there was Miss Mary McMullen.

Mary is the best event planner I know. She gets things done and is no nonsense. Anytime I go to an activity and it isn't running smoothly I think "man if Mary had planned this things would be a lot better" it happens frequently. Mary asked me if I wanted a big party or a little party. When I hedged she asked, "You want both don't you?" The answer was yes of course. So she planned a small dinner party for after church on Sunday, the day before my birthday. Mary asked me what I wanted to eat. I chose taco salad. Mary said go ahead and tell me which close friends do you want to invite. My "close friends" quickly ended up being about 33 people.

I don't know about you but I get a little nervous anytime I plan an event or an event is planned on my behalf. You can't help but wonder if anyone is even going to bother to show up. Well show up they did. I think something like twenty five of my good Washington DC friends were there ( I only qualify them as DC friends because I know my Whittier friends and my college friends would have been there given a more reasonable distance.) The taco salad was excellent. Everyone who knows me knows that I am a narcissist (not sure when it started) so when the group went around the room and mentioned reasons why they liked me I loved it. But even for me it is kind of weird hearing people pay tribute. Apparently people like me for a lot of reasons some of which included, my willingness to make people laugh, my unapologetic fandom of Professional Wrestling, my commitment to BYU athletics, and perhaps most importantly the recognition that I am genuine. It really was touching to hear all of these nice things. Never one to be at a loss for words I took a moment to thank my friends for all they had done over the last six months.

They like me...they really really like me (or they fake it well which is a distinct possibility)

I woke Monday morning. Wow I'm twenty seven, it feels kind of old. That is when I had my little moment of the whole experience. The realization that there would be no card, no phone call, no gifts, and no singing from mom. Gosh, I miss her so much. She always made birthdays such a big deal. She would call and tell me about the day I was born, constantly reassuring me that my dad did take the day off and was there when I arrived (something I am still not totally convinced of : ) ) and how excited my sisters were to have a younger brother. So I sat on my bed for a few minutes feeling sad. It's hard not having your mom...it just is.

Thankfully that attitude regarding the importance of Birthdays is something my sisters have inherited. Jenn and Savannah left me a happy birthday message while I was riding on the metro and the whole Whittier gang called me at 10:47. What they lacked in harmony they more than made up for it robustness as Haydan, Bronte, Gavin, Chrissi and Dad all sang their hearts out complete with cha cha chas. I chastised my father for waiting so late to call, which is his favorite thing to do when I call him on important days. He sheepishly admitted to thinking my birthday was the 22nd. (only adding credence to my theory that he wasn't at the hospital but was instead working at the Market the day of my birth)I was also very pleased to hear him say "We'll get you a birthday gift when you come home for Christmas." Hooray!

Molly, Veronica, and Frederick took me out to lunch to my favorite lunch place. It is Vietnamese restaurant. It was a slow day at the office so I headed home to get ready for party number two. Dan and I went to the mall to find me something to wear to my big party. I settled on an Argyle sweater from the Gap and a pair of Skeleton covered Vans I'm sure Jennifer would really like. We met up with Matt Waldrip and Brian and had dinner at the CPK. They even brought out a brownie sundae for me.

Dream Come True...Birthday smooches from the cutest red heads in town Tracy and Stephanie

I was actually late for my own party. I dashed up to my room and changed clothes. I hurried over to my party and was so happy to see my friends there. I was really excited to see my good friend Veronica there. It was her first time at the DC version of a Mormon birthday party (not entirely different from any other Mormon B-Day party). I was favored with a phone call I had been waiting for and I made an admittedly rude exit to take the it. After agreeing to talk later I went to my party and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Miss Beal's class made this card

Melanie rocked my socks with an awesome birthday card made by her second grade class. They asked many important questions and wanted to know my opinions on Baseball, Wrestling as well as a few other. I absolutely loved it. It is placed prominently on my night stand. Matt Waldrip gave me a bottle of Febreeze. Dan, Matt and I thought this was extremely funny, I'm not sure anyone else did but it's an inside joke so I wouldn't expect them to.

I took lots of fun pictures that I will at some point put on facebook and soaked in being the guest of honor.

527 Buchanan Residents...Past and Present

Amber, Kat, Brian, and Mary stayed until 12:01 and the official end of my birthday. It was a fantastic celebration and I was honored to be celebrated.

It feels special to be a part of Mr. Waldrip's "special event" glad I could help and thank you for the Febreeze.

Thank you to everyone who sent me Birthday wishes, I will do my best to mention everyone.

Dad, Chrissi, Jenn, Haydan, Bronte, Gavin, Savannah, Marc, Don, Dan, Jordan, MF Josh Rose, Danielle, Mary, Mandy, B Squared, Joe John, Kenny my Intern, Laura Lamb, David, Scott, John P, John W, Woodpants, Maggie, Jenell, the Besseys, my little bro David Dickinson, Janet, Millie,Katie Magelby (not the dean though), Tracy Joy Marie, Kristi, Michael, Matt, Melanie, Derek,Lincoln,Diana, Jenny, Kami, Leo, Ian, Jenny Corry, Stephanie, Mike Whitting, the twins, Chris, Patrick, Rachel, Natalie, Tia, Kaitlyn, Kristin, Jared, Joni, Lou, Abby, Jen, Loren, Lori, Dave, Amy, Aaron, Jolee, Kat, Amber, Ben, Dan Ricks, Sam, Sven, Holly, Jeanette, Ellen, JF, Clint, Jay and Julie. I think that is everyone. If missed anyone let me know and I will make amends.

Thank you for all you did to make my 27th birthday so special.

JJ you are on notice.