A Royally Awesome Birthday

My 25th birthday was very special. It was very different than last year which was also very special in a different way.
Last year, my birthday was less than a month after Brand was laid off from SMERC. We were broke, disheartened, and fighting a losing battle to get his last paycheck. I knew my birthday celebration with Brand would be modest but I was pleasantly surprised to see that my gift from him was a single rose and a dollar bill with a promise of better days written on it. It was the best present I ever got: his pure love and affection. I don't mind big gestures but its the little ones in the toughest of times that mean more than anything in the whole world. To know that we had each other was the best present.

Fast forward a year later and it's an entirely different story. For two months Brand has been working his butt off as a contractor for Gravity Jack. The 60 days were coming up and we were just hoping they would take him on as an official employee. Meanwhile, Brand and my best friend Mollie had planned my party secretly. The only thing I knew was that we were going to Texas Roadhouse (my favorite restaurant ever that recently plopped itself in Coeur d'Alene) and that afterwords we would be doing something active. Now Mollie planned my really fun Harry Potter birthday last year so I knew it'd be a lot of fun. Brand had already surprised me at midnight with my gift: two tickets to see Wicked. The Lion King came to Spokane last year and we decided to go. But after Brand lost his job that was out of the picture. When I found out that Wicked was going to be here in 2011 I asked Brand that no matter what our financial situation was if we could go: he promised that no matter what we would go. And he made good on that promise :)

So after a day of lounging, watching movies, and reading Jane Eyre...the friends gathered at my house and we all went to eat some delicious grub at Texas Roadhouse. Thankfully, my friends respected my wishes and did not tell the waiter that it was my birthday because I would have had to saddle up with a giant cowboy hat as they yee-hawed at me...
Then we went to the next surprise where the rest of my friends were waiting for us...Sky High. Sky High is a trampolining facility and it was SO much fun. I got to bust out some old tricks from  my gymnastics days and got to watch Brand be a 14 year old boy with the rest of the guys which was hilarious. Even though my back hurts today, it was so worth it! It was quite the birthday with the best people.

Oh and the other GREAT news of the day...Brand was brought in to sign his W-2 and become an official employee at Gravity Jack. All his hard work and patience has paid off. Which means a full time job and benefits..and we won't have to pay as many taxes next year :) I am so stinkin' proud of him. And today I got to treat him to some surprise breakfast in bed as a thank you for a great birthday, a reward for a job well done, and as a celebration of where we have come in the last year. Our marriage has been wonderful and we've already dealt with the sickness and health and the richer or poorer and I love him more today than I did the day I said I Do. I love my best friend :)

In other news....this little wedding happened on my birthday. You may have heard of it. Prince William married commoner (and college educated) Catherine Middleton. Since I decided to take my birthday off of work, I stayed up for the wedding and it was really pretty. I loved it and I don't care what anyone says :)