lovely little update.

Hey friends and stalkers.
I'm back.

Life has been nothing but crazy the last few weeks and I feel like I can finally breathe! Hallelujah!

So what's happened since my last post on March 21st? Well, lots.

For one, I turned 21 in the 22nd! It was probably one of the best birthdays I've had in a long time. I have never been that big of a fan of birthdays, at least my own. I love other people's birthdays, but I usually dread mine. I'm not really sure why. I guess there could be a few reasons.

1. Getting older freaks me out. 

Matt Wertz said it perfectly in his song Waiting when he said, 

"I guess I'm just scared 

I'm the only one here

Growing old, growing old,

But not quite growing up."

Seriously. How am I  21 already? Wasn't it yesterday that Kylee and I were making "soup" out of leaves, berries, and whatever else we could find in the yard because we were pretending to be hobos? 

Now I know you 30 and 40 somethings are probably thinking, "Girrrrrrrlll! Just wait until you are my age, then you will really feel old!" Or you are thinking, "Quit your whining, you are still so young! You have your whole life ahead of you, you crazy head!"

But guess what? That's what freaks me out. I have my whole life ahead of me. So many huge decisions to make (transferring, grad school, marriage, career, family, just to name a few in no particular order), so many things I'm unsure of, and so many other things I don't even want to get started on. (You probably don't want me to get started on them, either). 

2. I don't particularly like the attention on my birthday. 

Does anyone else think it is the most uncomfortable thing to have people sing "Happy Birthday" to you while you awkwardly sit there smiling and looking around, all the while a fiery fortress is burning right in front of you (and wax drips on the glorious cake)? 

I would be perfectly fine without having "Happy Birthday" sung to me. I would also be perfectly fine without the candles. One, because they get wax in/on the cake. Lame.  Two, I hate fire. And three, I usually forget to make a wish anyway! I also don't appreciate that each year the number of candles on the cake goes up one. It's just another reminder that I'm getting older. (See reason number one why I don't like my birthday). 

3. Birthdays were never that huge of a deal when I was growing up. We had cake, sometimes had a party, but they just weren't a huge deal. So having it be made a huge deal (JESSIE aka birthday queen) is something that's just a little weird for me. 

4. It's always awkward when you see someone on campus and they haven't been on Facebook yet, so they don't know it's your birthday. And then you see them later that day after they have checked Facebook (and consequently see that it's your birthday) and they ask you why you didn't tell them it was your birthday when you saw them earlier. Oh, I'm sorry, what was I supposed to say? "Hi, it's my birthday. Give me a hug, tell me happy birthday, and buy me a cupcake from Cocoa Bean." AWKWARD. Mmmm, yeah, not going to happen...if only I was that bold. Because let's be honest, I wouldn't mind getting a bunch of cupcakes from Cocoa Bean. 

However, contrary to all these reasons I don't really like my birthday, my birthday this year was so wonderful. I have been so blessed with amazing family and friends.

My roommates and former roommate, Julia decorated our apartment the night before. It was so cute. And hilarious.
That night we went to Olive Garden for dinner. That's just about as fancy as it gets in Idaho. After dinner we had a bunch of friends over for cake and games. It was SO much fun!
See below.

A banner of my face. . . . thank you Julia and Jessie. . . .

Balloons everywhere! 

My present from Jessie. A six pack. Each bottle
had a different kind of candy in it, all my favorites. The note said
"The only 6 pack you'll ever have. . . .besides your abs."
Pshhh. Like I'll ever have a 6 pack of abs, especially after eating all that candy.
Nice one, Jess.  

Beautiful flowers I got from my parents!
And an adorable note that references my secret admirer.

Dinner!
Julia and Jessie also made the birthday hats. 

Lemon Creme Cake from Olive Garden. . . . delectable!
Please note the pope hat Julia made me wear. 

Normal behavior. 

Love these girls! 

And finally. . . . Me trying not to be awkward while everyone sings. . . .

It was such a fun day and I am so grateful I have such wonderful friends and family.

It was simply lovely. 

Moving on...what else has happened since my last post? 

My roommate Brookie's birthday! Her birthday was exactly a week after mine! We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner (thanks Brooke's dad), and then had way too much cake. So fun! 

Easter! Easter weekend Jessie, Julia and her husband Brennan, and I went down to Utah! We were planning on going to the Festival of Colors in Spanish Fork, but decided going once was enough for us. We went last year and had so much fun, but were miserable the rest of the day. So this year we went on a hike instead. We wanted to hike up to the caves at Mt. Timpanogos, but they are closed until the end of May. So we drove for a little while and ended up at Tibble Fork Reservoir. 

So fun!

It was beautiful. We hung out there for a little bit and then hiked around. It was a beautiful sixty degree day. We encountered some snow, ice, and lots of mud on the hike, which made for some very funny moments. 

Julia please don't kill me. 

Julia fell down into the mud. It looked like she had a literal blow out. 

Luckily Jess was there to wipe away the. . . . mud. 

And I'm the terrible friend that was taking pictures and peeing my pants laughing. 

Brennan was off who knows where being Bear Grylls at this point. 

It was hilarious. Sorry Julia. 

After our hikety hike we went to dinner with Brennan and Julia's grandparents. We went to my favorite....Bombay House!!! 

It was so yummy and their grandparents are basically the cutest people in the world. Seriously. 

The next day was Easter and it was just lovely. We went to Church, and took a little nap, and then I left to have Easter dinner with my Advani side of the family and the Daines side. It was so fun to see family from both sides! 

Since then, life has been madness as I've finished up the semester with final projects, final exams, and packing all of my  crap  stuff that I've managed to accumulate at school. 

I left the land of potatoes on Friday morning and now I'm babysitting three of my cousins for a week while their parents are in Hawaii! That has been an adventure to say the least, but I'm enjoying it! 

All in all, life has been just lovely lately! I can't wait to get home and see my family, though! 

Sorry for this lengthy post. 

Again, congrats if you made it through this whole thing.

While this summer is going to be crazy busy with work, the fam, and preparing/going to India, I'm hoping to post at least semi-regularly. 

That's all for now.

Love you all!

Love, Kir

P.S. 84 days until I go to India! Woo!