Birthday Celebrations

Ryan and I actually have birthdays about a week apart, and they both happened to fall on weekends this year, so we had a good time celebrating them together. Ryan's birthday was December 10 and he turned 26. I went out toward his house and met him and a couple of other friends in Reston. We went to Woody's mini golf, which is an impressively cool course. Not only do you get a mini golf game, but it's kind of like a whole transporting jungle adventure, complete with Tarzan swinging across the course, automated monkeys in the trees, and gators that come up out of the water and squirt at you. It was pretty cold outside, but a good time, nonetheless. Ryan and I then ran to the store to pick up something we could make for dinner. We ended up settling on grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. He whipped out the Flavor Bible (a pretty awesome twist on the traditional cookbook - you look up an ingredient, like tomatoes, and it gives you a list of complementary things that go well with it) and fixed up an ordinary tomato soup into something a-mazing! I was thoroughly impressed! After dinner we did a firepit outback and made s'mores. It was pretty cold though, so before long we came back inside and had a cozy concert put on by a couple of Ryan's friends, Melissa and Kyle. She's a great guitarist and played a variety of songs she's either written or that were requested by the group. We all pretty much laid down on the floor and at one point she finished a song and looked around and commented that it was the strangest audience she's ever played for!

The next Friday was my 25th birthday. After work Ryan came and picked me up and we went out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. He gave me the most beautiful necklace for my birthday. I didn't take a close up picture, but perhaps you can see it in some of the other pictures. I must say, he's got great taste! I'm lucky to have such a sweetheart in my life. We came back to my house and had several friends over for a small birthday celebration. I couldn't have asked for anything better than to spend the evening with some of the people who mean the most to me. I have a hunch that 25 is going to be a really great year for me!

The next day Ryan and I went to Mt. Vernon as part of our combined belated birthday celebration. We had so much fun! Though it was wickedly cold, we just loved the day together. We saw Aladdin the camel, tasted old fashioned hot cocoa, toured the mansion, walked the grounds, and even learned that George Washington himself was a turduckin connossieur. We are thinking maybe that is how we should celebrate Presidents' Day next year.