Happy Burpday

I'm 21! I never thought I'd see the day!
This was the last good, big birthday. I don't know how excited I'll be to turn 30, 40, 50....etc. I wanted this one to be a really good one, and Ben made sure it was. He kept saying how he "dropped the ball" this year. He builds up my birthday too much, then he feels guilty when it doesn't meet his expectations. Poor guy. He did a wonderful job of treating me all day. I was able to get the day off from work, so we were able to spend the whole day together.

First, I had to go renew my drivers license, 5 years went by really fast. The whole time I was at the DMV I was just remembering the first time I was there, getting my license for the first time.
After, Ben took me to the mall, and we went on a bit of a shopping spree. We had dinner plans at P.F. Changs, one of my favorite restaurants, so then we headed over there. 
Ben had planned a huge get together to celebrate my birthday with almost all of my family and all of my friends that are in town. It was a wonderful surprised and I love that he put so much work into getting everyone together. Kristine helped so much too and I know both Ben and I appreciate it.

To end the festivities, on Wednesday we went to the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert up in Salt Lake. My parents got me tickets for a gift, and I loved it. They put on such great shows! This year was my least favorite of their performances, but still so entertaining.

Birthdays come but once a year, and I'm so lucky to have people surrounding me that help to make it such a special day

It puts a big smile on my face:

I want this on my wall. It's so wonderful.

Baby It's Cold Outside

It's Christmas time, and it's Ben and I's first Christmas, therefor we are going to do Christmas cards! I've never really felt like a Christmas card person, but I wanna try it out at least once.
Kristine took them for us in her yard, I wasn't wanting anything super fancy, I just wanted it to be fun and I wanted to have a few more pictures of Ben and I. Here's a preview:

 

Our Humble Abode

It took Ben and I longer than expected to move into our own place. Gotta love paying tuition....
About a month ago we were able to move into thee perfect apartment. It's got everything we wanted and needed, I don't know how we got so lucky. Patience I guess.
It's a fourplex directly behind Outback, I mean RIGHT behind outback. Ben walks to work in 4 minutes, that's right, 4 exactly.
I really didn't want to post about the apartment until it was completely decorated and put together, but let's be honest...is ANYONE'S home completely decorated and put together? So let's do this.

 Welcome to the Jenkins' home, where most are welcome, especially if they bring treats.

Here's the view from the front door. Walls are still pretty dang bare, we aren't allowed to use nails or tape on the walls so it's been a little more difficult to hang things up.

This is most of our kitchen. The only parts you can't see are the fridge, I'm pretty sure everyone knows what one of those looks like, and our kitchen table. If any of you have ever been to my house in the last 20 years, then you know what our kitchen table looks like, we inherited my parent's old one. The kitchen was one of the biggest selling points with me. No hand washing dishes, and no going to the parent's house to do laundry! There is hardly ANY storage space though, we've been getting creative.

Our cozy living room. Two incredibly comfortable couches, a massive old school TV and a handmade afgan (The thing hanging over the blue chair. It was a wedding present).

The bathroom, it's super tiny...but it does the job.

Our bedroom is a bit of a joke right now. We're on a full mattress on the ground. All I want for Christmas is a king sized bed, and box springs.

Ugh...and here it is, my worst enemy right now. This was supposed to be the room filled with movie posters, all kinds of video game consoles and a futon!! This room right here was supposed to be the fun room, how much fun does that look like? Every time we try to clear it out I swear it only gets worse. When this finally gets done, I will show you just how much fun it is!

Well, there it is! Now a whole lot to it, but we sure love it. Did I mention we don't have any tv, what so ever? Our basic cable got cut apparently. We also didn't have internet until about a week ago. We mostly watch our tv shows online now or watch movies with the DVD player. We also never turn our heat on, so be sure to bring your winter coat with you if you ever come to visit...and a treat.

Not my Mom

Earlier this week my parents invited Ben and I to dinner and a Dexter party (our favorite show).

My parents called and said they would meet us at the restaurant, so Ben and I hopped in the car. When we got there, this is the first thing we saw:

Tell me that doesn't look like Shonagh Davis' back side?!? I thought it was her....until she stood up at a table across the room. Then my dad came to talk to us, and I told him that was NOT mom standing in front of us. He replied, "Woah, that really does look like her! Good thing I didn't grab her."
The best part was when she turned around. Her face looked much, much older than then rest of her. Quite a shocker.

I've been laughing about this picture all week.

p.s. one of these days we will unpack our apartment, but until then I cannot post about it. Patience.