so much for cynicism...: "it's not the years in your life that count. it's the life in your years!" -abe lincoln

honest abe was quite a smart man and i could not agree with him more!

yesterday was one of my favorite days of the year: michael's birthday! i mentioned in my last post that i was excited for him to come home from work to open his gift i got him...not that i got him this amazing over-the-top present, but because i absolutely LOVE buying people presents. as a matter of fact, 9 times out of 10, i never wait to give them their gift. as soon as i buy it, i either give it to them right away, or tell them what it is, just because i'm so excited.

case in point, christmas 2011. this was a christmas of many 'firsts.' it was:

1. mine and michael's first christmas together since we'd started dating again;
2. my first christmas living in the dallas-area;
3. our first christmas in our new apartment, and
4. the first time christmas came on december 4.

december 4 is my birthday and michael and i went to dinner with my mom, step dad, tray, and my sister, becca. when we got home, we decided to each open one present early.

"why did you open a christmas present? didn't he have a birthday present to give you?" you ask. well absolutely. he gave it to me about two weeks prior to my birthday. (you see, michael shares my problem with getting excited and giving people gifts early.)

at any rate, we decide to give each other one gift early. we opened them and just got SO excited! twenty minutes later we're surrounded by wrapping paper and ALL of our christmas presents were opened! don't ask me how it happened. i had an excitement blackout.

so anyway, back to mike's birthday...

this is what was waiting for him when he got home from work!

don't worry, i will gladly give lessons on how to
make cards that look this fantastic. thank me later.

soooo, mike opened his sweet blue bag and found some new softball pants, a six-pack of boulevard ipa, and a small box of belgian chocolates with hazelnut pieces (okay okay, the chocolates might have been a gift for me, too). :)

while i was at work the next day, michael and some of our new, good friends (SHOUT OUT! to collin, josh, jeff, and chase) got to hang out at the pool all day. words can not describe my jealousy. once i got off work, they changed clothes and we (minus josh and chase-the other birthday boy) went to eat dinner at outback, followed by drinks at kelly's. chase had a softball game, so we decided to go watch that so we could all go celebrate mike and chase's birthdays together after the game. don't ask me what happened at the game...i was busy reading fifty shades of grey.

so i hopped on this trashy
read's bandwagon. sue me.

once the game was over, we headed to scruffy duffy's. so many of our friends came out to celebrate mike and chase's birthday! i can't tell you enough what great people michael and i have met since we moved to plano. they are the funnest, most down-to-earth people and are always down to have some fun. :) here's some shots from mike's (and chase's) birthday!