seesh, i'm old!

It's official: I'm 26.  

Whenever my birthday rolls around, I tend to keep quiet.  I don't like making a big announcement about it, and I'm definitely not one of those girls that celebrates it all month long.  But this year was different - I'm really happy and content with where I'm at in life right now.  No, this isn't where I thought I'd be at 26, but overall I'm sittin' pretty high on life.  I can wholeheartedly say that I like Richmond.  I'm glad that I moved here; ecstatic that I bought a house here; pumped about all the kind, fun, and silly friends that I've made here - friends that I can call family.  Needless to say, I was bouncing off the walls at work and couldn't wait to simply celebrate my life and all the amazing blessings in it!  So naturally I had to round up my ladies for an evening out to dinner at Edo Squid - my favorite restaurant in Richmond.  

I like to think that my core group of Richmond gals are classy, mature, and profesh (which between the hours of 8-5 we are), but more often than not we're constantly cracking jokes and goofing off.  It's much more fun that way :)  Dinner at Edo Squid is quite the experience, and was even much more so with my gals.  Me, Laura (Laura King), Osl (Emily Osl), and CJ (Carolyn James) are a fabulous group of four.  We are all in different paths in life whether it be with our careers, relationships, etc. but we all mesh together perfectly.  I love them all dearly and felt really special that they wanted to celebrate my night with me.  We had a wonderful time at dinner - I got to open gifts, we ordered wine by the bottle, ate delicious food, and we all laughed constantly.  It was a perfect night.    

Laura and I

Osl and CJ

Can't wait for the Mustachio Bashio!

Geek Chic

That weekend I continued the birthday celebration by going to the VT game with my Mom, John, and Rick.  We stayed in Lexington with family which was definitely a highlight.  Ann and Steve live in one of the most beautiful homes I have ever seen.  It's out in the middle of nowhere with a beautiful view of the mountains.  We had our little happy hour at their house before we went out to The Palms for dinner.  I was able to talk shop with Steve and enjoy Ann's story about her granddaughter, Logan attempting to play soccer (quite possible one of the most hilarious things I've heard about).  These are some good people, folks and I'm so happy to be a part of their lives.  We drank, ate, and laughed until I was all tuckered out.

John and Steve lighting a firecracker to scare a deer

John and I performing our card trick for Ann and Steve

We woke up bright and early the next morning to leave for Blacksburg.  We had to stock up on a few items, and as always, get our picture taken at the Bedrock car wash, a tradition we have.

Bedrock Car Wash

Me and Rick - I made him pedal

We tailgated at the German Club, and had quite a big group this year.  We grilled out and essentially stuffed our faces.  Isn't that really what tailgating is all about?  Rick and I had tickets in a different section of the stadium.  We had to go on a hike to find it.  Rick was leading the way, and I was bee boppin' around from the different concession stands trying to keep up.  We finally found our section, and as we started up the stairs we asked the guard if he knew where 5Q was.  He laughed at us and said, "Just keep on goin'.  It's all the way at the top."  Yeah, he wasn't kidding.  Rick and I were literally in the very. last. row.  That's right: the ultimate nosebleed section.  It made for a few good laughs, but after a while we left and went to sit near our group since they had empty seats around them.

The weather was fantastic for football too - all you really needed was a sweatshirt.  It did get a bit cold towards the end of the game though.  Judi and I had Rick get us hot chocolate to warm us up :)  The Hokies won the game (which was expected), but we stayed until the very end of the game anyways like we typically do.  We went back to our tailgate for dinner, packed up our items, then headed back to Lexington for the night.  

Me and Wes

LET'S GOOOOOOO!

HOKIESSSS!!!

Me and Rick.  Yes, that is the very last row in the stadium.

Hokie!

Me, Rick, and Judi

I'm excited to see what will happen in my life this year, and the things God will teach me along the way.  It was a great birthday week and weekend.  I felt loved, relaxed, and extremely blessed.  It was truly a happy birthday.

xo,

A