Yesterday was my...

...24th Birthday (April 6). Horraayyy (right?)....I guess I'm one of those weird ones that semi-freaks out at the changing of every year. It started when I turned 19...I know! However, I'm getting better at just embracing each new candle..somewhat better!

This past weekend was beyond perfect. The weather was phenomenal. Both Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were all beautifully sunny and in the low to high 80s. PERFETTO!!! Saturday was spent with my brother and his girlfriend Jin. We dropped by their apartment in South Austin around 11:30 and ate a great lunch of alfredo with shrimp and Italian sausage. After which we dropped by a "Keep Austin Beautiful" festival that promoted the usage of reusable, canvas bags instead of GROSS plastic bags that take over 10,000 years to biodegrade. We turned in 10 plastic bags for two canvas bags and partook in some faux rock climbing...barefoot :-)

Then we drove even farther south to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center! The place was beautiful, beyond green and amazing wildflowers growing everywhere! We learned the correct names for each flower, although I still prefer to call them by what I grew up calling them. It was also a great chance for us to play around with our new fancy camera. When we got home we had full intentions on going for a long walk with the dog, sadly that didn't happen and we lounged around the apartment for the rest of the day!

Sunday, was my BIRTHDAY! Every year I wake up saying that......it goes something like this:

me: moan* groan* yawn* (sits up with smile on face) "It's my BIRTHDAY!"
alex: "Happy Birthday Monster!" (yup, he calls me "monster")

unfortunately, the night before I went to sleep with a terrible headache and took two Tylenol PM to help me go to sleep. And when I woke up the medicine head feeling had yet to wear off....BOOOO. I actually felt as if I was getting sick, which makes sense because I get sick ONCE a year (always around my birthday)! Ironic, isn't it?

It wasn't too terrible though and I was able to spend the day at my parent's house. My mom put together a lovely brunch for my birthday of Strada (with egg, day old French bread, asparagus, ham, and mushrooms), carrot cake French Toast (so my idea after eating it at SoCo Cafe), fresh fruit, assorted muffins........and birthday cake a few hours later! It was very very delicioso and I highly recommend making your own version of carrot cake French Toast! We spent the afternoon playing numerous board games, I tried to not let my competitive side out TOO much (I'm told I can behave like Monica from "Friends" at times). We left my parents house and took Saci for a walk amongst the squirrels at our new favorite park! The day ended with us dipping our feet in the "still too cold for swimming" pool and watching the movie, "The Jane Austen Book Club." The movie was great, even Alex liked it and the day was relaxing. Happy Birthday to Me!!!

and oh yeah, now Alex and I have been engaged for exactly ONE year as he proposed to me on my 23rd birthday last year :-)