Happy Birthday to Me :)

Well, its the big 25 for me now, and I couldn't have had more fun hanging out with my sister and her family (and blowing off studying for a few hours).

For my birthday, Kristen gave me an awesome rice cooker and a list of her 25 favorite memories of me. Being that I am now a quarter of a century old, I thought I'd come up with my own list of favorite memories of myself and my interactions with my family.

Warning: these are not all that funny, just what I thought up in twenty minutes.

25. The Lake Powell trip (or was it Flaming Gorge) I was standing behind Kristen while she was skipping rocks. She somehow managed to fling a rock in my face, almost blinding me.

24. The time I was doing certification for work and had come to visit Kristen and Rob on spring break, only to have my computer die right as everything needed to be turned in. I never would have finished that without Rob's help.

23. When my family called me on my mission for the first time and the majority of their questions centered around "What color is your bicycle?"

22. The time my mother sneezed soup into my face after a Relief Society Broadcast--classic!

21. Going through the temple with Kristen to get my Endowment...that was pretty awesome.

20. Sitting in a random church parking lot with my older sister while we ate Ben & Jerry's ice cream and drank hot chocolate from Warren's as we talked about what we thought the temple was going to be like.

19. Riding the SkyCoaster and the Catapult with Katelyn and Kandice (respectively)

18. NOT learning how to snowboard and sitting in the lodge. Both for the class I took in college and right after I had foot surgery.

17. Winning the Reflections art contest in Kindergarten and bringing home my piggy bank. Up until I told my mom and showed her the prize, I thought I had gotten last place--which was confusing, because I got the biggest prize.

16. 'Chick-fil-a Thursdays' with my sister Karlee, though we quickly started having 'Chick-fil-a Mondays' and 'Chick-fil-a Wednesdays' too.

15. Going swimming with my nephew Joel for the first time in my swimming pool. That kid loves the water!

14. "Skiing" down my grandparent's front yard with my cousin Tara--we didn't have on any snow clothes other than a coat, and we just shuffled down the hill until we made it icy. Then we'd see who could stand the longest as they slid down the hill--up until our moms found out.

13. Going to the Olympics, Jazz Playoff Games, and Vacations with my family. We've done some pretty cool stuff.

12. Freaking out over my mom's 50th birthday. I don't know how it all came together, but I'm so glad that party planning endevor is over with.

11. Adversity--I know this sounds like a weird one, but after health problems and different struggles, I learned a lot. I wouldn't change anything about it.

10. Quitting my job at Living Scriptures--that was the best day of my life.

9. Quitting my job for my dad to go to law school.

8. Playing 'Clue' with Kristen and Rob. The best line ever "Rob, why don't you let me win? My dad would my mom win!" To which she later discovered was not correct. My dad is the most competitive person in the world, I don't know why she thought differently.

7. Moving into my own apartment. I had always thought that nothing could be better than living somewhere for free. But I was wrong. I love my family, but there's something about growing up and living on your own that is liberating.

6. When my mom came and picked me up from school whenever I was hurt. I remember especially after I had torn the ligiments in my foot, I had never been so happy to see her. I realized in that moment that I never wanted to take advantage of that woman.

5. The realization at five years old that a spanking was the worst discipline my parents would ever do. Of course, this revelation made me all the more obstinate, but it was a good memory for me :)

4. Helping my sister Kandice get her YW Recognition award. One project she did was to mow my grandparents yard, and though it was horrible, Kandice is a trooper and a hard worker.

3. My mission. It was such a defining moment, I don't think I could even break that whole year and a half into individual moments of awesomeness.

2. Coming home from my mission. As I came down the escalator and found my family there waiting for me--cheering, I was so overcome with gratitude and love. The only thing that made that night better was that we got to go to Robintinos for pizza. Mmmm...pizza and family...can there be anything better?

1. My life right now. It's an incredible feeling to achieve what I've always wanted to do. Fulfilling my goals has made me happier than anything else.