Birthday, mavs game, and a few more....

Yesterday was my birthday and it was grand. I really did have a great day.

It started out on sunday night, when Steve and Jessie came over and gave me a birthday/going away present (They are going away, not us.) She has spent the last couple months making this beautiful quilt for me. I saw the process she went through on her first quilt and how much time it took her to complete, so I really can't say how much this gift meant to me. It was the perfect start my birthday, and truly, truly touched me. She even made it to match the decor in our living room (Not to mention that they are my favorite colors to decorate with). At the risk of sounding way over emotional gushy, I must say that Steve and Jessie have just been the greatest friends to us that anyone could ask for. We love them very much, and will miss them when they move this week. I've known Steve since high school, and he couldn't have married a greater girl. She's someone I truly trust and really admire. I'm really excited for them to be moving on from the student life in Provo.

So for good reason, I went to bed feeling very loved and very happy. The next day, my work let me pick what restaurant we have for lunch and what kind of dessert we have for lunch. I picked a thai restaurant called Thai Lotus, and a triple chocolate cake for dessert. It was delicious and nice to have everyone in the office acknowledge my birthday.

After work was done, I came home to an amazing surprise from Preston. I knew that Preston was planning some kind of surprise, but I was wayyyy off on what it was. Preston got me a new iMac! It is a BEAUTIFUL machine. My laptop has been out of commission for months now, and have been wanting some kind of computer for awhile, but kinda just put it on the backburner until a later time. I'm sooo excited to have this computer.

Then we went out to dinner with some friends at Shoots. It's a chinese restaurant that we used to go to and wanted to try it out again. It was great. It was fun to celebrate with friends.

We invited everyone over afterwards for cake and ice cream. It was a great day, and I'm so grateful to all the people that made my day fun.

A few other noteworthy events:

A couple of weeks ago, we got tickets for the MAVS JAZZ game!!!! If you know me well enough, you know that I'm a Mavs fan. I grew up watching Mavs games with my family and I just love basketball. (Which is a really good thing considering who I married...:)) We got to the arena about 5 minutes late. All the scalpers were still trying to get rid of their tickets, so we asked one of them how much they would sell tickets to sit in the lower bowl. We had cheap upper bowl seats, but thought it was worth a shot if he would give them to us for cheap. We negotiated down to 40 bucks for seats on the 12th row. IT WAS AWESOME. Seriously, more awesome than we thought it would be. And we already thought it would be pretty awesome. It kinda felt like a dream come true for me, as silly as that may sound. We were right by the Mavs bench so I got to see Dirk and the rest of the team up close. They look so massively huge when you are sitting up closer. It was close until the 4th quarter and then the mavs pulled away for the win. Now if we can just pull away with this playoff series against the trailblazers, I'll be a happy girl.

Dirk in all his glory....

This is a picture of Preston and I on our Valentine's day dinner a few months ago. Preston has a black eye in this picture, but that's another story. :) Think basketball, an elbow to the face, and a trip to the emergency room.

We also were able to see my family this past weekend. They were in town for my sister's graduation from BYU, so it was nice to spend some time with them and the rest of my family that lives in Provo this past weekend.

I'm grateful.

I'm grateful for my good job and for my good husband.

I'm grateful that he's sweet to me when I'm sick.

I'm grateful that I end most days exhausted, because it means I'm busy. I like being busy.

I'm so grateful that we don't have to be constantly worried about money.

I'm grateful for the support of families.

I'm grateful to my mom and dad for having so many kids. Being from a big family shapes the way I think and act a lot of the time.

I'm grateful that Preston helps me cook dinner.

I'm grateful that Preston pushes me. He urges me to try new things and makes me less fearful.

He makes me excited for life.

I'm grateful for two amazing sets of parents who teach us in different ways.

I'm grateful for my independence and alone time.

I'm grateful for the knowledge that I can do hard things.

I'm grateful for my testimony and for the spirit.

I'm grateful for temples and bishops and visiting teachers and callings and tithing.

These are the things that keep me on track.

Today I did yoga at work. Thursdays are my favorite work days because of this. Taking 45 minutes in the middle of the day to stretch and focus and breathe {not to mention work out...yoga is hard work!} makes all the difference in my state of mind.

Our teacher's name is Jen. She's everything you think of when you think of a yoga instructor.

I feel like she can tell my mood just by being in my presence.

I have no idea if this is true, but it seems this way.

Tonight, we'll probably make dinner {salmon and steamed squash, or perhaps mongolian beef.} and then go to the gym. Watch our tv shows and make a smoothie. Yum.

Many of our nights consist of these activities.

But big plans for the weekend. Golfing on saturday {weather permitting} and dinner with dear ole' dad whose in town for a church calling training thing. Then off to Keys on Main, a dueling piano bar in Salt Lake, to celebrate the birthday of a dear friend, Jessie.

Then sunday is church and NBA playoffs and Navajo Tacos. Go Mavs. Yep. Should be a good one.