my birthdee.

first order of business:

i got a job.

 i know that sounds like excellent news, but it's just 'pretty good' news.

i am working at ProFlowers. see that 800 number up in the left hand corner? that's the number to call me. or one of the other 600 employees. they hire a ton of people for the mother's day season because it gets so busy there. it is just a temporary position, i think i'll work there a total of 4 weeks. i'm not mad about that though. all i do is take calls and talk to people on the phone. i don't think i like anything more than i like talking. so this is a pretty good job for me. 

it's really hard keeping track of my five classes, working 30 hours a week, and finding time for my spouse. i forgot what it was like to work while going to school. i've been so lucky to have been able to focus 100% on my studies. i've had such a time trying to find a job here, but the lack of job opportunities gives my school work, and my husband a lot of attention. which i'm not too angry about. 

 i was going to have to work on my birthday, but i finished everything up quick enough the day before that i didn't have to! on friday, jon took rumbi to get a microchip put in her. now we will be together FOREVER! she is pleased, she just has a hard time showing positive emotion. we also had a really nice steak/shrimp/and COTC dinner. it was so yum. jon has been using this new marinade on our steaks, and we are obsessed. we would eat it every night if we could. 

 forever faithful ChaCha was the first to wish me a happy birthday, just like they do every year. 

 jon surprised me with a trip to the San Diego Natural History Museum to see the Titanic Exhibit! His dad purchased our tickets, and we had such a great time! we weren't allowed to take pictures, but just please take my word for it: it was amazazing. i love all things Titanic.

 here's jonny pointing to where we live in san diego. north of san diego city, southeast of Del Mar, southwest of Poway, straight east from la jolla. you get it. it's that big grey area in between the 805 and i-15 on google maps. 

 jon thought this little guy was so funny. hmm, maybe because he looks exactly like our cat. 

=

 that picture doesn't show how truly long and bushy bandit's tail is. it's disgusting.

 after walking around the museum and balboa park, we drove to wendy's. my favorite fast food place. and indulged in a lot of food. a LOT of food. 

hopefully you can at least take comfort in knowing that those cups have water in them, not soda. maybe that helps you feel better about the amount of food we ate? 

 i've been taking horseback riding lessons. for about a month now. 

i'll write more about that later. but, that's what i wanted to do on my birthday, and i wanted jon to come watch me. i'm sure it was kind of boring to watch, but he was so nice and supportive. even though the horse i was riding bit his finger SO HARD. jon was playing with the horses mouth (not sure why) while i was grooming it. then gerry bit down so hard thinking that jon's finger was a carrot. and apparently he didn't let go until jon pulled so hard that the teeth pinched a tiny piece of jon's skin and drew blood. i had no idea this was going on behind me until i heard jon whisper "ahhh.....are you serious??" and turned around to see him cradling his hand with blood running down his finger. it was pretty darn funny. he is such a good sport, he acted like it didn't hurt, but i would have been bawling. 

 that night, we had a little get together at the clubhouse in our neighborhood. all my nearest and dearest friends came. it was a lot of fun to be with everyone, and just how i wanted to spend my birthday. jon made a root beer cake, all by himself! he is such a sweety. 

not only did my friends come prepared with food, but they also brought cards with sweet messages and gifts. i was completely taken by surprise. i am so grateful for the friends i have made here. they all mean so much to me.

this is me. completely shocked. jon got me a new digital cam!! i lost the battery for my old digital, so i haven't had my own since we moved here. i told jon a few weeks ago that "we should start thinking about putting money aside for a new camera", but that was the end of it. i was so happy to open my gift and find that!! i haven't used it yet, since all i've been doing is going to school and going to work, but this summer i am going to blow my blog up with photos that i take on the go. 

by the way, i can't decide if i'm a terrible blogger, or if everyone else is just a REALLY GOOD blogger?

 the next day, we finished up our video and edited it. jon was such a good sport to do it with us. it was such a ball. 

 here are my dear ones watching it. love them and love lizzie for sending me this.

last on the list, my bike. JON GOT ME A BIKE RACK!! i am so happy!! he is the very best! it goes right on the back of my car. so i just drive to school, park forever away (in the free church parking lot. love those lds folk), get my bike off the rack and zip to my class. it usually takes me 15 minutes to walk to class, but now it takes me FOUR MINUTES. FOUR!!! yesterday, i rode all around campus! it didn't take any time at all, but my thighs were furious. another bike-girl talked to me, and told me to go register my bike with the police, so that if it gets stolen, they can track it down in the shops or wherever the people try to resell it. they also gave me a really nice bike lock for free. 

speaking of school, i am very late. and when i should have been studying, i was writing this post. hopefully my test score doesn't reflect that.

wish me luck!!