I'M 25.

we started the birthday celebrations by having brandon and hannah in town! the four of us went and stayed in a somewhat sketchy hotel near sea world. it wasn't so bad and it was fun reminiscing about the first time we met 3.5 years ago and stayed in a somewhat sketchy hotel on camp lejeune! 

we ate breakfast at the mission which is one of jon's favorites.

after breakfast we went to balboa park. we made the rash decision to rent one of these bicycles!!! it was the best decision ever!! we sped around balboa park for almost an hour laughing hysterically. jon was so unsure the first few minutes and we were all over the place. he quickly got comfortable and we saw all of balboa, even the restricted areas. our ride included:
going over a very narrow and pedestrian only bridge
swiping the side of the bike on a pole on a sidewalk (luckily brandon and i pulled our legs in so that we can laugh about the memory and not cry). jon was NOT slowing down. we were very clearly too large to fit in between the two poles, but he was stopping for nothing.
and barely making it up a steep hill. we actually pedaled ourselves halfway up the hill before we came to a dead stop in front of more than four onlookers. we had to back up and get a good head start and we did make it up all the way though we were going verrry slow toward the top of the hill.
it was so much fun and i'm really glad we did that! it was definitely the best part of the day. we visited a couple museums afterwards then headed back to the isaac's for some games.

we have been living with the isaac's who are a family from our ward. it is weird to refer to them as 'the family we are living with' because that makes it sound impersonal. we love living with them so much and they seem like family.
anyway, brandon and hannah came over and we played a good game of monopoly with bella and sully (the two youngest issac's). lucy and brandon enjoyed each others company. we also played settlers of catan nights and cities. it was my first time with that expansion and i really liked it!
brandon and hannah are our game friends. they know a ton of fun games and are always looking for new ones. they are good sports and we always get such a laugh hanging out with them. (kim and mike are our movie friends. lindsay and wes are our SNL friends:))

sunday was my birthday!! we woke up bright and early to attend church from 9-12. after church jon and the isaac's gave me presents and sang happy birthday to me. they were all so nice on my birthday and let me make every decision! we played settlers of catan, had a yummy steak dinner, went on a wilderness walk, watched pitch perfect, ate cake and played the great dalmuti until we were all too sleepy to play any more. seriously, i think they all wanted to finish pitch perfect, but when i mentioned that i wanted to play a game, they turned the movie off and we played a game. annie (the mom) kept saying "it's your birthday! its up to you!" this family is so awesome, they do everything together! we can't figure out if it is always like this or if they all want to hang out with us just because we will be here for a short time. their house is set up perfectly so that the private areas are small and the common areas are big. even if people are in two different rooms, the rooms are all connected so they can talk to each other. i can't explain it, it is just not how i grew up!

jon made me the most delicious cake!!!! chocolate cake with made from scratch chocolate frosting. i was amazed at how good it tasted on day one, but it's only gotten better since. 

it was a fun birthday and i'm so glad we were at the isaac's to celebrate. they did a good job making me feel special and they all kept telling me happy birthday throughout the day. jon was really cute about my birthday as well and got me a really nice card which was my favorite part (along with the cake). i got to talk to my sisters and my dad on my birthday too, technology is so awesome. lizzie, amanda and i chatted on google plus and got such a kick out of the sound affects. if someone said something funny the others would either applaud or put on crickets. it doesn't sound as funny as it was, so you've justttt got to trust me. 

25 is going to be a good year, i can feel it. annie says that every year just gets better and better (until you're 70 at which point everything hurts or at least something hurts at all times) and i think i believe her.