One Years Worth of Marriage Tips, Tricks, and Advice

It's my anniversary month! I wanted to put up this post closer to my anniversary, but this particular post has taken me months to create and it has been delayed. But it's still May, still my anniversary month, so here it is!

No, I did not document my first full year of marriage the way I probably should have. But I have worked hard in the past year to show my love for my husband and to build our relationship. We've been through trials, we've been through changes, things weren't always the way we thought they would be. But we learned how marriage works together and marriage has been the greatest blessing of my life. Note: Just because I wrote all these down doesn't mean I'm perfect and follow every last tip, I'm not perfect and still have things to work on.

(PS, there is a very good chance the pictures won't all show up, I apologize for that but I don't think I'm going to take the time to fix them if they end up not showing. I'm trying to get ones that work but just know that there's a possibility of a blank picture. I also apologize for any grammatical issues, but again, not going through and fixing them.) 

So, here is a years worth of marriage tips, tricks, and advice... 365 days worth... A lot... As in, the longest blog post of my life... yeah... you don't have to read it all in one sitting.

1. Don't forget the kisses everyday!! 
2. When you burn the food, laugh. 
3. "Oh money, where did you go? Maybe we should keep track..."
4. Changes happen... again and again and again and again.
5. I think even grownups need a time-out sometimes. 
6. "How dare you do this! I'm so mad at you! [Insert How I Met Your Mother Quote here]" Laughter ensues, argument over. 
7. "I want to do this." "And I want to do this." Always make decisions together.
8. .....
   
9. Relax and take a trip, get away from being an adult. 
10. "Aww man, we eat out too much I'm getting fat!" You put on the weight together, take it off together. Gym time together can be super fun! 
11. "Life's a dance you learn as you go!"
12. Balancing school, work, homework, and life in general is difficult, but always, always, ALWAYS make your spouse your main priority.
13. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made.
14. When you watch a couple enough on TV, sometimes you start acting like them, and there is nothing wrong with that. 
    
15. Date nights become fewer, but sometimes that makes them all the more special.
16. Your in-laws can be family too and you can learn to love them as much as your own family. 
17. Sometimes Little Caesars Pizza is the best "going out to eat" can offer. 
18. Just hold your spouse for a minute a day. Just hold them and let them know you'll always be there for them. 
19. ... 
    
20. Love is meant to make you feel happy and wonderful. Accept it. 
21. Stop looking for the negative, every day find another positive.
22. .... 
    
23. Have confidence in your spouse and they will return the favor.
24. Make a cake, celebrate!
25. How do two people use so many dishes???
26. "I don't want to clean." "Me neither." "Let's make a game out of it!!!"
27. "Love is never ending!" 
28. Act like a child sometimes. If it's real love, your spouse will allow it.
29. You don't have to be exactly the same and like all the same things all the time... that just sounds exhausting.
30. A Disney movie sing-along and some popcorn is an excellent date night.
31. Marrying a fisherman means fish for dinner. 
32. And marrying a man who can cook fish very well is a good idea... because I dislike cooking. So I'm so grateful Chris can do it and do it well. 
33. ... 
    
34. Sometimes you have to remind your spouse how sexy you can be. And slutty. But you're married so it's okay. 
35. "Don't worry, be happy!" 
36. Car rides can be the absolute funnest thing with your spouse! Sing-alongs, car games, and long talks. Best thing ever!
37. Take time to step out of your comfort zone and do something the other one likes. Don't hide in your shell.
38. My husband is a soccer player and he's obsessed with the sport. He can tell you almost all the players in the EPL, he always knows the most current stats and news. Sometimes it can be hard with him always looking up soccer news on his phone, but when I go to his soccer games I can see that it's all just for the love of the game and it's so incredible seeing how happy it makes him. I'm proud to support my husband in something he loves.
39. Cooking together, making messes together, all means having fun together.
40. Hold hands. Be an otter.
41. Make your spouse feel beautiful... or handsome, pretty, ravishing, etc.
42. Just because you're married doesn't mean basic manners go out the window. Say yours please's and thank you's.
43. Take care of your spouse, "for better or for worse, in sickness and in health." 
    
44. Remind your spouse why you love them. Never let them forget it.
45. RESPECT. It's not dead. 
46. Make couple friends. Eat dinner together, bond over movies and games. 
47. "How can I help? What do you need?" ...are some of the greatest questions you can ask your spouse.
48. Spend as much time together as you can. He's going to the hardware store? Join him! Hold his hand as you walk through the aisles. 
49. Clean the car together and get in a water fight. Fun! 
50. Always look for ways to help. Helping others is incredibly important. 
51. "I love you" everyday. Every. Single. Day.
52. Let your spouse become your life. It's the greatest feeling in the world. 
    
53. "Nice butt." {wink wink} Let your spouse feel loved and sexy.
54. Laughter is the best medicine, especially in marriage.
55. Yes, you may be married for forever, but never let a single day go by without being grateful for your marriage.

The Story of Ted and Tracy

While I am still a little upset over the finale of How I Met Your Mother, I found this video on the YouTube and I'm so happy I did! Because through the whole series I just wanted to meet the mother, and when I finally did, she was better than I ever imagined! She was perfect and this video shows it.. without reminding me how the finale let me down. It's just a beautiful 30 minute love story and I wanted to share it here... because it's so adorable.

April Stresses Bring May in Texas

It's stressful enough to work every night and be going to school (while also not wanting to be in school and trying to figure out what to do with my life) but add in the fact that we're moving to Texas at the end of finals week and you have a stressful me.

I just feel like I have so much to do to prepare for Texas! I mean, this is a big move!! Neither of us know anyone in Texas, Chris may have a job ready there for him, but we're just kind of going to Texas blindly not knowing what to do or what to expect. We can only bring what fits in our little car (which I'm nervous about our car even making it to Texas) and there is just a ridiculous amount of change going on here.

I have some doctor appointments to make before we go, we have to find a storage unit for all our stuff that we're not taking with us, we have to donate plasma twice a week to make sure we have enough money to make our journey to Texas, nothing is packed yet, the apartment is currently a mess, we have a duck with five or six eggs living right next to our front door and soon we'll have ducklings as pets, I have to give away my beta fish because they won't survive the trip to Texas, oh yeah, and we only moved four months ago!

I absolutely hated our move last December, it was super stressful and I felt completely alone in whole process. But that was just a move a few streets away from our last place! This is to Texas! 1385 miles away!! As Britney Spears said in her amazing role on How I Met Your Mother, "Welcome to Stressville, population: me."

So this post is to basically say that as I'm going through all the stresses of moving and getting done with this semester of school, this blog is going on the back-burner. I'll still be writing some posts, but it won't be as much of a priority for me right now, and I hope you understand that.

When we get to Texas I have lots of blog posts planned and we have tons of "Texas Adventures" that we will be going on and I will write about them all! I also have a special giveaway planned for the summer, so don't forget to keep coming by!

Thank you to all my new and loyal blog readers! I love you all and I am so grateful for your support in this big change in my life. Thank you for reading my blog! I love y'all!!! (See, I'm preparing for Texas.)

Style Icon: Lily Aldrin

Chris and I have been watching How I Met Your Mother for a long time. And I've talked about it a lot on this blog  like in my Top 10 Reasons I Love HIMYM, and if you look at the last one, main reason I love the show is Lily's outfits.

Seriously if I could raid Lily Aldrin's closet, I totally would. I pretty much love everything she wears ever. (Except her whale costume in the final episode last week. That was just plain awful.) So while I'm hoping to do future "Style Icon" posts on my blog, I absolutely knew I had to pick Lily first. Yes, she is a fictional character, but she truly is an inspiration for my personal wardrobe. 

I love how Lily can dress up and dress down but still look comfortable and cute. She wears lots of bright colors and patterns that really add excitement to her wardrobe. She's a kindergarten teacher, which is the career path I'm looking towards, and she dresses nice while still wearing clothes that are easy to move and take care of kids in. Even her maternity wardrobe is adorable! I'm also in love (most the time) with Lily's hair. It always looks super cute. I especially like it in season 2 and the final few seasons. 

I cannot say enough good things about Lily Aldrin's style. It's totally an inspiration for me as I'm trying to find my own style and buy a new wardrobe. Her's is always my favorite and so I'm happy to publish her as one of my "Style Icons". 

(Favorite wedding dress ever! I even think I like it better than mine.)

(This one is Alyson Hannigan, not really Lily, but I totally love this outfit! Maybe I'll do a separate post about Alyson Hannigan, because I do love her and her personal style as well.)

(It's cheesy, I know, but I totally want these sweaters for Chris and I.)

(Okay, this one is totally a joke. I do not like this dress.)

But I think what I like most of all is her perfect relationship with Marshall. And I don't mean perfect in the sense that everything is always good, but perfect in the sense that they are the most realistic couple on television because they truly get along and they fight but are able to deal with their fights. Basically I love Lily and Marshall and think Chris and I have a similar relationship. And Lily and Marshall are the only thing I'll miss now that the show is ended.... especially after the final episode where everyone else in the gang just forgot everything they learned over nine seasons and reverted back to who they were in the very first episode. Ugh. I don't think I'll ever get over how mad that last season/finale made me. 

Anyways, that was a whole lot of pictures! But I hope you enjoyed them! And if you got down to the end here, congratulations! And don't forget to read my other fashion posts found HERE. 

Who are your style icons? Leave a comment below and let me know! 

THANKS FOR READING!!! 

How I'm Genuinely Upset Over the "How I Met Your Mother" Finale

SPOILERS BELOW!! 

Chris and I first started watching How I Met Your Mother the summer of 2012. We were having a rotten summer and just laid around his apartment most days watching Netflix and we found How I Met Your Mother. We immediately fell in love. We quickly went through all the seasons and we found similarities of Marshal and Lily in ourselves. We loved the show and we became strong and loyal fans.

For the past few months I begrudgingly watched the final season of HIMYM, continually finding myself disappointed in these boring episodes about nothing... and that made no sense at all. This last season was truly disappointing me.

And then Marshal finally returned and I though things would get better. I knew there would be a fight between Marshal and Lily, but I felt I knew their relationship and felt confident that they could work things out. Lily walked out and I was beyond angry. I felt they had betrayed Lily's character as well as Marshal and Lily's relationship. 

Additionally, in the previous season finale I had been angered by Ted's sudden decision to move to Chicago because he was suddenly so in love with Robin again. I felt that I had watched the show enough (every episode on Netflix at least three times) to know the characters, but they were changing unnaturally before my eyes. 

So during this final season I was continually disappointed and I felt as if the show I had once loved was falling apart before my eyes. But I tried my hardest to get my hopes up for the finale. I mean, they had shown the mother now, and she was absolutely perfect for Ted. I waiting impatiently for them to meet and start a beautiful life and marriage together. 

So we get to the final episode...

And they just skip over their meeting and move on to future events that I honestly do not care about. I didn't want to know the future of the gang, the gang seemed to have an ended already! I wanted to know how he met the mother! I wanted them to focus on their relationship! 

I was ticked off over Barney's change back into his season one self and then having a baby with a random girl who they couldn't even give the courtesy to name and that suddenly entitles Barney to be a perfect father and tell girls in the bar how to live their lives?? Umm, no! That was just ridiculous! 

Marshal and Lily I still remain loyal to, because in a way they are like Chris and myself. My only complaint is that Lily's whale costume was the most awful thing ever, and next week I have a blog post about how Lily is my style icon. 

Robin went off and focused on work, which fit incredibly well with her character. But why did she and Barney have to get a divorce? They spent this whole, terrible season building up to their wedding and in less than a minute we have to learn they are no longer married! I felt incredibly cheated! I was totally accepting of their relationship! They had a bond that Ted and Robin didn't. For Example:

Example 1: Ted and Robin dated a full year and after that year when Robin found a ring she immediately freaked out and told him no. After a year of dating. 

Example 2: Barney and Robin I'm pretty sure never dated a full year. But even when they hadn't even been dating, the moment Barney proposed Robin said yes. What does this tell us? 

If a girl's first instinct isn't yes, it's not meant to be!! 

I'm sorry Ted, but you weren't even proposing and she said no. Isn't that a clear sign that she doesn't want to be married to you? Ooh ooh!!! I have another example!! 

Example 3: When Kevin (love him) asked Robin to marry him, she couldn't answer right away, which was a clear sign they weren't meant to be together. 

So why is it that the writers chose to falter from a basic human instinct and break Robin and Barney up after convincing the viewers for so freaking long that they were meant to be together???

And Ted, are you an idiot? This new girl was beyond perfect for you!!! Why on earth would you ever think back on Robin who clearly never was? Yes, you had a great relationship at one point, a truly beautiful one, but it never once felt meant to be. The mother, and you were perfect. She was your perfect girl and I feel that Ted and the writers completely betrayed her and it was awful! 

And she didn't have to die! That's just rude and terrible! That we've waited nine season to know how he met his wife and in the same episode we meet her she dies is the worst thing ever! Why would they do that to their dedicated fans? 

In the pilot episode the pretty much said flat out that Robin wasn't the mother. And yes, she technically wasn't. But it just feels like cheating to put them back together again. And I honestly, wholeheartedly loath it with every fiber of my being. 

I know there are people out there who think it was a good ending, but I've never been more disappointed in my life. I truly feel cheated. Chris had to comfort me as I was almost in tears over the finale of a show I had felt such a connection to and having it completely blow up in my face. I'm upset. I'm "literally, literally, literally" upset. I basically just wish this was all an April Fools Day joke... 

And because I'm too upset to write this well and clearly just read THIS ARTICLE because it basically says everything I feel, only written much better.

What did you think of the season finale? Did you feel cheated? Or did you feel the peace that you should feel in the finale of a show (take a look at the Friends finale or WatchMojo's Top 10 Best Finales)? Let me know it the comments below!! 

THANKS FOR READING!! 

March Favorites

Welcome to my March Favorites! To read all my other Monthly Favorites post CLICK HERE! 

FAVORITE BLOG: Me, You, and Hayley Larue

Have you ever met someone and you just click? That's how I feel about Hayley over at "Me, You, and Hayley Larue". (Which is a bold thing to say because I'm not sure if she feels the same way.) She left a comment on my blog so I headed straight over to hers. Not only is her blog beautiful, but she's a great writer, an incredible dancer, and she has a very enchanting blog! Also we both have an uncle that works at Disneyland, we both dance, and our birthdays are one year, one month, and one day apart. I just absolutely love her blog and all her beautiful pictures and quotes. She's amazing and I love finding new friends through blogging!!

FAVORITE WEBSITE: 100happydays.com

As I'm trying to figure out exactly what it is I want to do with my life, I realize that I need to gain my more positive attitude and just be happier! So I found the 100 Happy Days Challenge and knew I had to do it. With the stress of school and moving to a new state, I felt now was the best time! My 100 days ends in the middle of June and hopefully by then I will have gained a more positive outlook on life. If you haven't already, I urge you to take the challenge as well and spend the next 100 days finding what makes you happy in your life. Follow me on Instagram to see all my #100happydays posts!


FAVORITE WEB VIDEO: Bitman Begins

Do you remember that Youtube video "Charlie Bit My Finger"? Well this is the celebrity version from Jimmy Kimmel, and I absolutely love it! They really should get the Hemsworth brothers together for a movie. That would be entertaining to watch...


FAVORITE SNACK: Brookside Dark Chocolate Goji and Raspberry Flavors

This little treat is beyond delicious! Not only that but it's not incredibly unhealthy either! Well it is if you eat as many as I do, but I don't feel quite as guilty eating this as I do with other chocolaty treats. They have different flavors like blueberry and pomegranate but I like the raspberry best.

FAVORITE SONG: Say Something

This is quite honestly the most beautiful song ever. I'm so incredibly in love with it, especially this version of it. In case you didn't know, I want to someday be an author and as I'm working on my book this song and this version just keeps playing in my head. I'm so in love with it!

FAVORITE TELEVISION SHOW: How I Met Your Mother

Every now and then Chris and I re-watch our favorite shows on Netflix. This month we went through How I Met Your Mother again. It's a special show for us because when we were first dating it helped us connect together as we watched it together for the first time. I love this show... but I am so insanely disappointed in the current season. It's such a let-down and the worst final season ever. But I was so happy to finally see Barney and Robin get married and I'm super excited for Ted to meet the mother!!!

FAVORITE MOVIE: While You Were Sleeping

I didn't go out and see any movies this month and we actually didn't watch very many at all, but I did introduce my husband to While You Were Sleeping so I'm counting it as my favorite this month. It's an older one but Sandra Bullock is super cute in it (and basically all the time, she's a favorite of mine) and it's just a cute and funny movie. So if you haven't seen it already, you should check it out!

FAVORITE APP: QuizUp

My husband and I are so in love with this app and we just quiz each other all the time! It's so fun being in this never-ending competition with him to see who knows our favorite things best! If you don't already have it, you should definitely download this app because it's super fun and you can play against me!!!


FAVORITE/MOST POPULAR BLOG POST: What I've Learned From 10 Months of Marriage

Compared to my other "What I've Learned from ___ Months of Marriage" posts, this one wasn't that exciting to me. It was short and thrown together at the last minute. But I'm glad people like it. It makes me happy that my marriage is exciting to other people. My one year anniversary is in May and I have some big marriage posts planned for that month, so don't forget to follow my blog so you won't miss out on any of them!

Also this month, for some strange reason, you guys keep looking at my One Month Till My Wedding post, which is kind of funny to me. Next month is one month to my one year anniversary, so maybe that's why.

This Monthly Favorites post is a bit shorter than others, but it was a very interest month for me. Drop by my blog tomorrow to see my Monthly Review of March! 

My Favorite Fictional Couples

This post was originally put up on my blog last June, but I decided in honor of Valentines Day I would share it again. Enjoy! 

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When I was in my 8th grade Spanish 1 class, we (as a class) once kept our teacher from teaching us any Spanish by having him rant about how the people that you are around influence you and you become like them (which explains my lack of knowledge on the Spanish language).

That story is only partially relevant to this post.

See, as I'm sure we all do, I have some of my favorite fictional couples from books and movies. And if the above statement is true, I would love to hang out with these couples, because their relationships are so strong and beautiful and I love the way that they love each other. I aspire to be like these couples (although my relationship, in my opinion, is better than all of these ones combined) because these couples work hard at their relationships and love each other no matter what.

So here is my list of ten my favorite fictional couples (with pictures and videos!!!) in no particular order. I know I'll be leaving out some good ones but I can always make another list later. (WARNING: May contain spoilers! Read at your own risk!)

Fergus and Elinor (from Pixar's Brave) 

Chris and I keep trying to watch this show but our DVD player is broken and really hates this movie (apparently) so we've never been able to get through it. I absolutely ADORE the relationship that Fergus and Elinor have. I don't care that this is a cartoon, but when Fergus sees that his wife may be sick, him immediately begins to worry. When he finds his wife gone, he really freaks out. But it's all out of love. You can see it and hear it and it's the cutest thing ever. I'm not the biggest fan of this movie, but they're relationship is so adorable. And Merida is so cute in the picture above!

Chandler and Monica (from Friends)

I talk about Friends way too much on this blog but it's only because it's my favorite!! I love that going through all the seasons, Chandler was always partial to Monica, even from the very beginning. And it's just so cute to me that it pays of for them. Everyone always want to marry their best friend (which I did) and Monica and Chandler absolutely did and it was just so perfect.

Ron and Hermione (from Harry Potter by JK Rowling)

I'm currently going through all the Harry Potter movies and it's so funny the relationship that Ron and Hermione have in the first movie/book. Their relationship is just cute. It's another friends to couple story, but theirs was kind of always there. Ron always felt something there and I'm pretty sure Hermione did too. And it's just the cutest relationship to read and especially to watch them as cute little 11 year old kids then turn into adults and have such a strong and meaningful relationship. Bravo JK Rowling. Bravo.

Shawn and Juliet (from Psych)

This is one of my favorite Shawn and Juliet scenes. I don't care that there have been a ton of adorable ones since this moment, especially since they ended up together (he is seriously the cutest boyfriend to her). This scene shows the beginning. Shows that he loved her, not like, love, from the moment that he met her. There is no cuter relationship than this one, because he always always loved her and never ever stopped.

Jim and Pam (from The Office)

Jenna Fischer and John Krasinski played these roles absolutely perfectly because their relationship is probably the best there ever was on television. It always felt so real that I often forget that they are actors and that they're really in relationships with other people. Jim and Pam are perfect in every way. This show let you see their relationship grow from a crush to married with kids and it was just so beautifully written (their relationship, not always the show) that their relationship really captivated you and made you happy.

Dill and Rosemary (from Easy A (yeah, I didn't know their names either until IMDB))

A Day In The Life Of Me

Hey friends! So I found this post in my drafts and decided to share it anyways. This post was back in November, before my brother-in-law got home from his mission. I think I'm going to do another one of these posts, but let me know what you think in the comments below.

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I've never done one of these posts but I always see them done by other bloggers or Youtubers and find them fun and interesting. I picked a hectic day to write about though! With classes, upcoming tests, presentations, and big papers, I'm incredibly busy lately! But this is my schedule from Tuesday.

8:20 Wake up and try to convince my husband to wake up as well, he has class before I do.

8:30 Shower and shave

8:58 Drive Chris to class in sweats, oversized jacket, wet hair, and no bra.

9:05 Check Facebook, my favorite blogs, my blog, bank account status, etc all while drinking a weight loss shake for breakfast.

9:40 Hair and makeup and getting dressed, singing and dancing to Pandora as I go.

10:20 Drive up to campus, switch off drivers with Chris, Chris drops me off at my class. It's a system we have down quite nicely.

10:30 Introduction to elementary education class (which was awesome because we built paper towers).

11:45 Class ends, I pick up the school newspaper and walk to the TSC circle where Chris is waiting with the car. He goes to class and I head home.

12:00 Eat Ramen and watch How I Met Your Mother Youtube videos.

12:30 Pick up Chris from his class.

12:40 Arrive at the bank and take out every last penny we have.

12:55 Pay rent to the managers.

12:57 Get back home and on the couch to watch more Youtube videos.

1:15 Husband brings over a bowl of delicious food and watches Youtube with me. But I really should be doing homework or studying...

3:00 Work on list of movies for Sheldon to watch when he gets home.

3:50 Drive up to campus to sit in computer lab and work on a paper for class.

4:44 Submit paper online and immediately regret this decision. It isn't due till the next day so I still had time to revise! Dumb choice Kaylee!

4:57 Clock in at work. And work, and work, and work, and joke around, and work, and laugh, and work, and tell stories at break, then back to work, and play with fake snow, and climb into a basket, and play with toys in the bookstore, and read weird $1 books, and that's what we call work.

9:03 Clock out at work.

9:10 Go down to the computer lab again to work on homework, but don't actually do homework, just explore the lives of my Facebook friend.

9:30 Get picked up by husband.

9:35 Arrive and home and realize I have no motivation to do homework... but I have to do homework and study...

11:30 Eventually get ready for bed and go to sleep.

Song of the Week: I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)

Firstly, this song just reminds me of How I Met Your Mother (see video below) and secondly, this version is one of the most beautiful and romantic things I've ever heard in my life! Thank you to the random girl on Twitter I started following that shared this song on Twitter. You made my life complete just by this song. So so so so so beautiful!

And now, the How I Met Your Mother version:

Web Video Wednesday: How I Met Your Mother

I was hooked on watching Youtube videos about How I Met Your Mother yesterday and this was one of the best. However this led me to watching a bunch of the Watch Mojo top ten videos. Which are great.

My Birthday Weekend!

So apparently I'm completely spoiled because I got a whole weekend to celebrate my birthday, and IT WAS AMAZING!!! This was such a good weekend and the best birthday ever, and, dad, I know you think I say that every year but honestly, this year was the best.

On Friday I opened the mailbox to find a $5 off coupon from DSW for my birthday and a beautiful birthday card from Chris's grandma! I love being a part of my new family! That night after work we drove down to Kaysville to my in-laws. We were returning the car I had borrowed so we are now left with just one car... because all my cars get taken away for siblings. We didn't get there till very late so we just ate some Wendy's and went to bed.

We woke up Saturday morning and went to Ihop with my in-laws. It was super delicious! I got the strawberry stuffed French-toast, and honestly it's the best breakfast ever! While there they gave me a cute birthday card with fish on it, because I married a fisherman, and a gift card to Kohls! ...which I've already used to buy two new shirts that are very cute. :)

Around two we drove down to Sandy to my parent's house and I watched my brother play Sonic and then I talked with all my family. Then we all went to see Ender's Game which I absolutely loved! I thought it was such a good movie! And now I want to read the book (Book Club option?). After the movie we went to Olive Garden and it was so delicious! Chris and I played our little game where we determine who ordered best, he did. He had the seafood alfredo (I think) and I got the chicken scampi. Both were very good but Chris's was better.

After eating we went back home and I got to open presents! And since my family is known for our crazy picture taking while opening gifts, you can see everything:

My brother and I like to dramatically throw the tissue paper in the air. :)

My sister gave me gloves, a head wrap (that I'm wear in most of the pictures), sparkly hair bands and an eyelash curler! :) My parents gave me a Walmart gift card, gray cardigan, mint/navy scarf, and super cute gray boots. And my grandma who was there gave me $10! :)

Honestly, my family is the greatest!

After presents we played Family Feud which was so funny because my mom is incredibly competitive. We first played Boys vs. Girls then Youngins vs. Adults. Although the "Youngins" were Chris, my sister, and me and we're all adults.

So the scarf my mom gave me has skulls on it and my mom is very much against skulls, especially when my brother wore it like this:

But I love him anyways:

Sunday we went to Stake Conference in the morning and then had delicious chicken curry that I am so in love with and I got to choose for dinner for my birthday. Later that night we had some cheesecake which was super delicious! We added raspberry sauce and it made it so much better!

Then Chris and I played games with my little brother all night and watched the losing RSL game before driving back to Logan late at night, and taking my grandma with us to drop off at my aunt's house, who wasn't used to staying up that late.

After getting home at midnight I acted out this scene:

:) Because my actual birthday wasn't till Monday. My birthday started fairly normal. I woke up early and got ready for class. Had class at 8:30, volunteered at 10:00, went to class again at 1:00, went back home and did nothing, then Chris took me out for lunch at Paradise Bakery, because it's my favorite. Then we went to Kohls so I could use my gift card. Then I went to work but I got to leave early so Chris could take me out for dinner.

We went to Chili's because it's one of the best and our favorite restaurant in Logan. Our waitress was fantastic! She was incredibly nice and they sang to me and she gave us extra salsa to take home. She was great! We weren't able to eat much but took it home for lunch today. For desert we got their skillet cookie, and I'm sorry Loganites who think Firehouse Pizza's skillet cookies (FH'zzookie) are the best, but honestly Chili's is better.

After dinner we went back home and I got to open my presents from my husband while wearing my birthday crown.

I GOT ARIANA GRANDE'S ALBUM!!! I've been wanting it since forever and Chris got it for me! He also got me Warm Bodies which I absolutely love!!! He always writes the cutest things in my cards and I just love him so much! After presents we watched Warm Bodies and I fell asleep on the Love Sac.

I know this post is long and probably really boring for you to read, but it's sort of like a journal entry for me to come back to and look at someday. It was such a good birthday and even though Chris and I are incredibly poor, he spoils me rotten not with gifts but with love, I know that's totally cheesy but it's so true.

This was such a great birthday! Thank you again to everyone who wished me a happy birthday! You are all amazing and I love you all! Thanks for reading!