as of late -

a lot (or not a lot) has gone on over the past few months:

.went to a girl cousin's night where we were supposed to bring a craft to work on, but no one ever does.  it's mainly an excuse to get together to laugh, eat yummy goodies, reminiscence, eat healthy snacks, catch up on what everyone is up to, oh & eat!

.took a quick trip to vegas with a few girlies down here. one of my favorite friends & old roommate, stephanie lives there with her husband, dave & baby girl, ryann.  they were so gracious and let us crash at their home.  i was excited to get away for a weekend, but i was even more excited to see stephanie!  i don't know how many times i've had to just fly (literally & driving fast in a car) through las vegas, and could not stop to say hi.  overall it was a fun trip!

 sara ray & lyndee

.had a birthday.  that's right, i'm in my mid-twenties now. uh, i mean 26.  that feels weird to say!

it turned into a birthday 1/2 week at work.  they celebrated & decorated my office 

mid-week to ensure i thoroughly enjoyed it!

i had some nice surprises during the day...some of which i will highlight...

the top balloon i got from a sweet little lady named tawni.  and just like the balloon says, it SINGS!  the bottom balloon is from chelly & josh.  josh's birthday is the day after mine, so he wrote on the balloon so that everyone would know it was for me, not him. haha.

 

 oh, the dewitt family...FINALLY, they gave me my adoption certificate!

 

pretty flowers dropped off at work from mom & chelsea.

my favorite meal was with some of my family at joe's farm grill for my birthday breakfast.  i lub their pancakes!  and, it doesn't hurt that it was free - that's right, on your birthday they give you a free meal!

.last weekend my friend emily & i went to california.  emily wanted to get away for the weekend, and it didn't take long for me to sign up!  we drove over friday night and stayed with some of em's family friends.  we wanted to do a session at the san diego temple, and because of women's conference the latest time was 10:30am.  so, we woke up & left the house at 7:30 and got to the temple just in time. 

it was absolutely gorgeous inside.

then we drove right down the road to the sandy, perfect temperature, bright & sunny beach  :)  we lounged for a few hours and then headed back.

the next morning we went to church, rode around & saw where emily grew up, and then headed back home.  it was a super quick trip, but so great.

life is good.