You say it's your birthday?

Holy cats, I turn twenty-one today! This means absolutely nothing as far as the most people view this occasion, i.e. I'm not planning on going out and getting plastered. In the Mormon community, all 21 implies is "You mean you're not married yet? You should really get working on that." (Joking! Mostly.)

I love everything about birthdays. I love the food and the tacky decorations and the attention and who are we kidding? I love getting gifts! But looking back on my past birthdays, I can remember more about what I've done to celebrate and who I've spent it with instead. (Look at me, getting all wise in my old age!)

Age 3: My first birthday party! I was the only girl in attendance, as my parent's friends conveniently managed to have all boys. (Seriously good odds. It's really a pity I was too young to care.) We made crime scene-style tracings of our little bodies on butcher paper. Mom and Dad? That was kind of morbid, but AWESOME.

Age 7: We went to a strawberry field and picked strawberries. When we came home, every girl got a jar of homemade freezer jam to take with them. Best. Party idea. Ever.

Age 8: Baptism day! My Grandma Teedie made me a cake with pink marshmallow flowers.

Age 9: The fourth grade class was supposed to go on a field trip to a gem mine. It was too rainy and I was so sad--we had one of those giant Mrs. Fields Cookies with frosting to take with us and everything. My mom was chaperoning and decided to take me out of school. Her, the Lil' Bro, and I went to go mine our own gems, just the three of us. This? This is why I love my mom. I found garnets, moonstones, and lots of other treasures, now tucked away in a box somewhere.

Age 12: This was the first time I was away from home for my birthday (this year being the second), because I was spending the week at Girl's Camp. When I got back, my family took me to Marie Calendar's and I got my first real camera.

Age 14: I had such a tight group of friends in middle school. We went to the zoo for a night concert and ate angel food cupcakes with chocolate whipped cream. Later that summer, I'd find out we were moving to Utah--I was devastated to leave them behind.

Age 18: This was the Senior Dinner Dance--I had a blast, but it was also difficult knowing that high school was really, truly coming to a close. You can just imagine the senior class in one big circle, all hugging to the strains of Vitamin C's "Friends Forever."

Age 20: The night before my official birthday, the family and I went to go see the Pioneer Theatre Company's Broadway-quality Les Miserables. That was as much a spiritual experience for me as just about anything else. Cried my guts out.

Age 21: Internship, Class, Work, Lab. Boring! No huge plans, but I'm still going to enjoy the heck out of the day. Here's to another great year!