Making a big deal out of birthdays.

I LOVE birthdays. I think it's because I have so many great memories of birthday parties from my childhood. My parents and siblings did a great job making me feel extra special that day and throwing my a fun, themed birthday party. When I was turned 6 I had a "Princess Party" where we all dressed up in princess costumes and my dad made everyone crowns to wear. We had a very fancy tea party on some of my moms best dishes.. and it was the BEST. Another year, when I turned 7, we had a "Camping" themed birthday party where my dad made me a very special cake and we camped outside in tents. Because of this, I have pretty high expectations for birthdays.  

There are many different ways people interpret and celebrate their birthdays. Some people have "Birthday Month", other have "Birthday Week" and some people treat their birthday just like any ordinary day of the year. 

Let's start with one of the extremes... the "Ordinary Day" extremes, also known as the "Scott" birthday celebrators. Let me preface this...After my sisters birthday, she had a conversation with my dad that I have also had with him in the past...
My dad always says things like "your birthday is just another day". When he said this to her, she argued and said no it's not, and she likes to always do something special or celebrate all day.
She did some serious thinking about this apparently, because she came up with a theory...
If you have ever sat first class on a plane, your birthday is probably not that big of a deal. If you have eaten a steak that costs over $50 for "no reason", you probably don't think your birthday is a big deal.
However... if these AREN'T things you do on a regular basis, you probably DO go all-out on your birthday and try to make it as special as you can because... being fancy isn't exactly something you just DO on a normal day.

On the other hand...I have found that if your name is TREVOR or KELSEY, you REALLY love your birthday. You love your birthday more than even the average-really-excited person loves their birthday. These kinds of people go out of their way to let you know their birthday in many different conversations, but ESPECIALLY in the first initial conversation you ever have with them. If you are casually talking about how you love a certain restaurant or how your favorite sports team won, they ALWAYS find a way to bring it up. Example: "Oh did you watch the game? Great game. The score was 79 right? Oh weird, that's how many days until my birthday!!!" 
(we all know these people... trust me, I know more than one)

 

I consider myself to in the middle/excited side of birthdays (like I said, I have pretty high expectations although I don't expect everyone to care as much as I do). Bryan and I recently celebrated our birthdays and it got me thinking... I LOVE making big deals out of holidays, even the small ones. However, it is really hard to be excited for your own birthday. It is much easier to be excited for someone else's birthday (i.e. your BFF, significant other, etc.) 

As I'm getting older, I was afraid my birthday was going to be completely pushed to the wayside this year. LUCKILY I have such a great husband who went out of his way to get me extremely thoughtful gifts, and made my annual themed birthday cake that I feel is essential to make it through the next year. 

Anyways, being 25 is pretty great so far... except it's making me think of all these big life decisions that I don't want to think about yet. But I guess that comes with growing up and becoming mature and, in the words of the young, hip youth..."adulting".

oregonians.

Well... we made it!

We are officially residents of Corvallis, OR

We have only been here for a week, but it feels like much longer. 

We love our little apartment! We were afraid it was going to be too small and not fit all of our stuff, but it's the perfect, cozy size. We have a little patio that Bryan likes, and I like our kitchen here WAY more (plus it has a stove from basically the 1800s)

Yesterday we attended church and people asked us what brought us here... sometimes we say "school" because sometimes it sounds better than "... we just like it here"

 Some of the highlights of Corvallis 

The COAST!!! since we are currently unemployed, we decided to spend a day at the coast.  It was a beautiful, sunny day and we saw the most amazing waves! I love the ocean, I literally can't believe it has taken me so long to live by one!

The GYM! this is not your average VASA... there are no peak busy hours, no meat heads, and no annoying pop music playing in the background

The Driving: no one is riding my bumper 24/7. and people actually stop at yellow lights! No one is in a hurry, so it is inspiring me to calm and slow down my driving.

Our Relationship: It sounds cheesy, but seriously it feels like we are newly weds again.  We unpacked our new home together (which was so fun), and we feel like we are just trying to figure all of this out again.  Everything is so new so we are on this natural high. We don't really have any friends (except for my sister and her family) so we spend time doing things just us- and it feels like we haven't done that in a while.

The Weather: when we went to the gym at 6:00am this morning, we didn't have to scrape all the ice off of our cars. And despite the rain, we can see the sky probably more than we did in Utah (because of the inversion)
Biking: Riding our bikes is a lot more fun for me because the roads are flat, and the air is easier to breathe.

People: I can go to the local grocery store with no make up or wet hair and not be afraid I'm going to run into someone from high school

with a new year, and a new home I'm feeling particularly motivated and sentimental... I saw this quote yesterday and it really just resonated with my heart

"sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life"

and as far as being motivated...

In the podcast I listen to, "Happier" by Gretchen Rubin, she mentions the Clean Slate Theory, which is essentially, when you have a new year, or a new job, or a new home it is easier to stick to your goals. So on that note, here are some of my new years resolutions 

(currently taking suggestions)

 

Kiss every night before we go to bed
Floss every day

See more whales
Find a job.

 

in the past I've had goals like
"Eat more Cornbread"
"lose weight"
"watch more TV" (before Netflix was a real thing)
So... if you have anything you would add to my small list, let me know, because I'm really trying to utilize my "Clean Slate Theory" to the max.