Birthday Fun!

Over the last several years my birthday has become a bit of a non-event.  This was mostly just because of timing and location, so I really didn't mind.  But this was the first year that I was at home for my birthday, so I got spoiled rotten.

First thing in the morning, Jason informed me that he had 4 presents for me which I could open at different points during the day.  And I had to choose which one to open first.  I picked "the most comical" gift.

It was my own mechanical kitty cat (one that Jason isn't allergic too)!

Then it was off to work.  Word that it was my birthday had spread and some of my coworkers brought in some fruit and yummy fruit dip to help celebrate.  My blondie run buddy Summer also gave me my very own copy of a Spidey-Girl poster.

After my shift, my parents took me out to lunch at Macaroni Grill.  Since I haven't been around to spend my last few birthdays with family, I really enjoyed this.  Being sung to in operatic Italian and eating deliciously moist chocolate cake helped out too.

Once Jason was done with work, we were off to eat once more.  This time our destination was Cheesecake Factory.  This restaurant already has a lot of good memories for me, so I enjoyed adding another.

The dulce de leche cheesecake was, of course, delicious!

Then it was back home where I got around to opening my other three gifts.

"The most practical"

A bag full of monthly necessities

"The most entertaining"

Super Mario Galaxy 2 (which I have already beaten)

"The most thoughtful"

A giant, homemade love letter (that was filled from top to bottom)

Yup, I was spoiled and loved every minute of it!

Year One

It has already been a year since all of the wedding plans and chaos which culminated with Jason and I being tied together for time and all eternity.  How incredible is that?  The past year has certainly been filled with ups and downs, and I am so grateful that I have had Jason with me through it all.

Here are some highlights of the year:

Wedding Day (duh)

Honeymoon

Open House in CA

Yellowstone

California at Thanksgiving

Darlene's Endowments

Las Vegas

Moab

Not to mention beginning our lives together and all of the work, compromise, and communication that that entails.  Oh, and having such a loving, constant support in everything I've done.

To celebrate this first year, we have pretty much been celebrating for two days.  We exchanged gifts:

Wall-E on Blu-Ray for Jason...

...and a beautiful bouquet of roses for me!

Then, last night, we went and had dinner at the Mandarin with most of my family (Jared, I hope you had fun on your date.  Annie, you are a punk).  Good food and great company!  Then we went at saw Iron Man 2.  The first movie was actually our first official date, so that was kind of a fun tie-in. 

 Later on today we will eat the layer of wedding cake that has been in our freezer, but the best part has just been enjoying each other's company and marveling at how fast time flies.

I love him so much!  Happy Anniversary!

Moab: Kicking off Spring/Summer Right

Over the weekend Jason and I took a quick camping trip to Moab, UT--gateway for Arches and Canyonlands National Parks. This has always been one of my favorite places to visit, so I was thrilled to be able to share it with Jason (who had never been).

We left early Saturday morning so that we could have as much time as possible down south. Once we arrived, we pitched our tent at Pack Creek Campground and then set off to see us some arches.

Pack Creek Campground

Welcome to Arches!

We opted to start off at the end of the road and hiked to Landscape Arch (while stopping at a couple others along the way). This spectacular. long arch was definitely a good one to start off with. Goes to show the amazing power wind, sand, and water can have over millions of years.

Landscape Arch

Pine Tree Arch

Tunnel Arch

Unfortunately our Camelback tainted our water (apparently you have to rinse these things out when they've been in storage for almost a year), so we were parched by the time we made it back to the car. Thankfully, it wasn't too terribly hot. Regardless, we then decided to hang out in the cool shade of Sand Dune Arch and watch some little kids play around in the sand.

Sand Dune Arch

We ended our first day with a drive up the canyon along the Colorado River, dinner at Pizza Hut, and a campfire (complete with marshmallow roasting and S'mores).

The next day we started off with a hike to the Delicate Arch Viewpoint. This was a lot steeper than I remembered, but well worth the view! I had to make sure that Jason at least got to glimpse this famous arch.

Delicate Arch

Can You See It?

After a picnic lunch, we headed off for the Windows area of the park. We did the loop here that incorporates three arches (North and South Windows and Turret Arch).

South Window Arch

Turret Arch

North Window Arch

We wrapped up our time at Arches with a stop over at Balanced Rock to take some of the obligatory poses. Jason was quite amazed that such a large boulder could be balanced by such a small neck of rock.

Awww

I So Strong!

Watch Out!

Then we took off for a nice scenic drive down further south. Our first stop was Newspaper Rock. It is interesting that there is this random wall of rock in the middle of nowhere with thousands of years of pictoglyphs on it and yet no one knows why or what they all mean.

Newspaper Rock

The next stop on the tour was Canyonlands: the Needles District. This was a fun drive with lots of gorgeous views.

Admiring The View

This day was once again concluded with dinner (this time at Smitty's Golden Stake) and a campfire.

When we awoke, we found that our vacation was quickly coming to an end. So, we packed up all of our gear and piled into the car once more. Before we officially headed home, we made another detour. This drive took us through the Island in the Sky District of Canyonlands. This park is definitely all about the beautiful lookouts of various canyons.

Feeling On Top of the World

Unfortunately, vacations must come to and end and reality must begin once more. But we made some great memories that will last a lifetime!