Back in the states

I am beyond exhausted. After almost 12 hours of traveling I am finally at my sister’s house in California. It was a fairly easy trip. I was worried after I got out of customs at Denver airport because I only had an hour until my flight to Fresno was scheduled to leave. That wouldn’t have been so bad but I had to go through security again. I made it just in time though and it was a fairly non eventful flight. Sorry for all the quick updates. Hopefully I’ll have time to put together a real post in the next day or two. Good night!

Sun!

Flew first class down to beautiful Cancun. What a way to start the trip. Every minute since then has been fabulous. I spent eight hours soaking up the sun today. It´s just heavenly here. I can´t believe how gorgeous it is. I can´t wait to post pictures. I´m on a public computer so this can´t be any more than a quick update. I just wanted to make all of you painfully jealous really quick before I go grab another delicious dinner. Adios!

Off to Cancun

I’m off to Cancun. This is my first time flying since I went on leave in June. JUNE! What?! Yeah, I know it’s crazy. Anyway, I’m so excited to get away, relax and enjoy the sun. I don’t know if I’ll have Internet access while I’m there but if I do I’ll try and post an update. If not, see you in two days!

Birthday Weekend Extravaganza: part two

*Long post, lots of pictures. You’ve been warned.*

My birthday weekend is complete. It was a lot of fun. At the end of part one everyone was hanging out at the hotel, relaxing or taking naps.

Melvin, Anthony and Jordan napping on one couch.

David tried to teach Joel some Xbox 360 shoot-’em-up game on the other couch.

I won’t share the other pictures of almost everyone else sleeping in different areas of our rooms. I’m pretty sure they’d kill me. After everyone got their beauty sleep most of us headed over to Joe’s Crab Shack for dinner. My dad and Bekah stayed behind because they weren’t feeling well.

I ordered a “shark bite” which was not only delicious, it was fun to play with. Yes, my mom is biting my hand in the background.

Here is a much more normal picture of my mom and me. See, we’re totally not crazy. Really.

Anthony was “coloring” using Joel’s hand to hold the crayon.

Anthony is such a little flirt. Here he is dancing with the waitress.

Happy mommy and son.

Anna and Jordan were being silly.

It was my first time at Joe’s and my first time eating crab. I didn’t know how to do it. Once I figured it out, yum!

Since it was my birthday I got to be the center of attention for a few minutes. I might have loved it.

My little brother was the camera man so it’s a little jerky but you get the idea.

After dinner we enjoyed another night of swimming, hanging out and playing games.

Group shot!

I couldn’t have asked for a better birthday weekend.

30 by 30

I turned 24 today. I’m officially in my mid twenties now. Weird. I have so much I want to accomplish in my life and I figure it’s about time I write it down as a list of goals. Putting them out in public will help hold me accountable, plus I have a real tangible reminder to look back on so I can see how far I’ve come. I figure 30 is a good round number and a good age. So here is my list (in no particular order) of 30 things I want to accomplish by my 30th birthday:

1. travel to India
2. become a mother
3. speak another language fluently
4. read all books on Time 100 best novels list
5. run a marathon
6. sky dive
7. go skiing
8. celebrate 10^th wedding anniversary (This will be April of the year I turn 30)
9. visit every US state
10. see all movies on Time 100 best movies list
11. have a habit of exercising daily (at least 30 minutes)
12. knit or crochet an item of clothing
13. make a quilt
14. earn an award with Phoebe
15. take a painting class
16. join a book club
17. take a photography class
18. have a recipe box of at least 100 things I like to cook
19. eat some type of local delicacy (ie. insect)
20. memorize Deuteronomy
21. complete a scrapbook
22. do the splits
23. dye my hair something other than it’s natural color
24. go scuba diving
25. visit the grand canyon
26. keep a blog or journal daily for one year
27. drive across the country on route 66
28. milk a cow
29. ride a horse on a beach
30. one mile on a hippity hop

I’ll be updating as I make progress. Wish me luck!