22 years

Tis true, my 22nd birthday has come and past with all celebrations come to an end (unless you still want to make me that cake, Alex, that would be pretty awesome haha). My birthday this year was on a Tuesday and what a blizzardy Tuesday it was. I'm so glad I was able to take the morning off (I worked a Friday morning which gave me a little bit of credit so I chose my bday morning) because I don't think I would have made it to work on time anyways with slippery roads and crazy traffic. I just snuggled in my bed for a while and then took my time getting ready. 

I went to work in the afternoon then I picked up Burns and we went to his house. We hung out for a couple hours and then he took me to Montana's for steaks. Yum!

Delicious!

Burns went to the bathroom and he came back really fast. I mentioned this and he said there was a little kid in there so he didn't want to go. This was typical behaviour for Burns, so I didn't think too much of it, but then I realized he could have told the servers that it was my birthday. I said, "You told them it was my birthday didn't you." He somehow avoided my prying questions and I was pretty sure he had. Then we were finished our food and our server was taking forever to get the bill. I almost thought they weren't going to sing to me. Then Burns pulled out his phone to which I said, "Phone stack much" and then our server comes over and says, "A little birdy told us it's your birthday today!" They brought out a fudge pan cookie and I wore the Montana's moose horns while they sang to me. So awesome.

After all the Montana's peeps were gone, Burns pulled out a present. I was truly surprised by this because I didn't see him bring it in. It was a pair of Lulu Lemon running pants! I'm so excited about them. Thanks so much for the great birthday, Burns!

Burns also said he had a surprise for me on Saturday so I was pretty excited about that. One of the days in between my birthday and Saturday I received this text:

I pretended I was Randi and after I said I went partying, he didn't respond to me for a half an hour. I thought he must have been mad or something so I revealed the joke saying, "I'm just kidding. This isn't Randi. You have the wrong number."
Ernesto then replied with "Lol. Cheers."

On Friday, Lita and I both had the day off, so we went to the mall. Whenever Lita goes to Starbucks they ask her for her name, and they can never get it right. This trip was no exception. She got a frozen pumpkin spice frappuccino which tasted like egg nog. I got the double chocolaty chip frappuccino, which if you haven't had it, you should try it.

I needed a new screen protector and a case for my phone. When I first got my iPhone, I dropped it onto some gravel within the first 2 weeks of having it. I was so mad. It dented the screen...or so I thought. I lifted my screen protector off this past Thursday and turns out my screen wasn't cracked or dented at all! This whole time (a little over a year) I thought it was damaged but just the screen protector was. It was like I had a brand new phone. This is the case I purchased. I love it:

That night Burns revealed what we would be doing the next day. We were going to West Edmonton Mall to the water park! Yay!!!

On the road:

We were so happy that the roads were clear and that people were home at my house to take care of Kobe. A special thank you to Lita for letting him be with you all day :D Burns and I really appreciate it!

In line waiting to go in!

New slides! They were so freakin' awesome!

It was a pretty busy day so we had to wait in line a lot. The new slides with the countdown and the trap door were so scary fun! Every time we got it and it started counting down my heart started to race. With the loop one, I almost didn't make it over the loop haha. It also burned my back a tiny bit because of the friction. I went on the yellow drop one and it killed! Too much friction again! Burns had to pull up my swimsuit really high in the back so that it wouldn't hurt on the slides. Our favourite part was the wave pool. We had such a good time!

After we got out, we were just the biggest pigs on the planet. Exhibit A:

There were two more tacos, tortilla chips with cheese dip, and cinnamon fries in that box. We ate almost all of it. So gross but so, so great.

We walked around the mall a little and Burns serenaded me (when you wish upon a star) on a bridge while he flicked nickels into the water below. Hilarious.

I had such an amazing birthday this year! Thanks so much to all those who were a part of it.

a bit of this a bit of that

 1. Denise and Grandpa Wood took Burns and me to Smash Burger a couple weeks ago. This is our encounter:

The license plate on the left: SMILDOC. On the right: LAWLADY.

Wow.

Anyways, Smash Burger was delicious! I'd recommend it to anyone.

2. A couple days after that Burns and I went to the temple open house with Denise. It was very random but I'm glad we were able to get there.

3. It was this lovely lady's 20th birthday on October 14th. To celebrate, Trajan rounded up a bunch of friends and we went to Boston Pizza for a surprise party on the 12th. Bryanne wasn't really surprised but it was a great attempt :)

Burns showing off his mad skills to the other guests.

4. On the 13th I had First Aid/CPR training all day in Okotoks. This was the day Breanne Shields (Strom now) was to be wed. She had asked me to do a musical number at her reception, so I needed to be down in Lethbridge by 6:00pm. The only problem was I wasn't done my training until 3. My it was quite chaotic rushing around, picking up Burns, then driving down. We weren't sure if we would even make it on time.

5. We made it on time! Breanne's dress was gorgeous and she looked phenomenal!

Burns and I wrote her a song for her special day.

Here is what Burns and I get to look forward to when we eventually tie the knot:

Fun...

6. After the reception, Burns and I drove right back up to Calgs because I had another day of training ahead of me. Crazy rushed weekend, but I now know first aid and CPR! It's actually really good to know and I am happy that I would be able to help someone if they needed me.

7. I moved! Yay!!!! I took Kobe for a walk one morning and beheld this wondrous delight:

I love Calgary.

8. On the 19th, Carol, Marshie, and I went to the Calgary Corn Maze. This was my second time there and it was at night. There were waaay too many people there. A few people were high, drunk, or both. I have to admit, it would be pretty awesome if there were less people, but I think I like the day time better. There is just a lot more going on, like the pig races.

I'm so glad I went with Marshie though. He was so creepy to people. He would walk up to or behind little groups and not say anything and just stand there or walk beside people. Carol and I were peeing our pants. So funny! One guy had a mask on and Marshall was creepy to him. Then we saw them again and the mask guy did the same thing as Marshall and Marshie did the same thing back. They were standing face to face. Just standing there. Then the mask guy broke down and laughed so we all started laughing. Also some kids called Carol a pedophile paha!

Poor Boonie had to study so he wasn't able to make it. We sat around a fire afterwards and it got pretty insanely big.

We were scared for our lives so we left.

We then went to Kutarnas and we played a game. Good times.

9. I'm one of Bryanne Litousky's bridesmaids and I'm so excited for her! She's actually putting us to use which I'm glad to be able to help out. She's getting hitched on December 1st.

10. Today is my birthday and I don't have to work this morning! Yay! I'm sure I will have another post eventually about what Boonie has planned for me.

giving thanks raymond style

Oh Thanksgiving, how I love you. The food is fantastic, but family time is even better. This year Burns and I went to Thomas and Elise Heninger's house on Friday night for a little thanksgiving before we went down to Raymond. We had a great time there! I got a little sick so I didn't end up eating as much as I usually do (probably a good thing). At around 8:30 we decided it was probably a good idea to start heading down. We got to Raymond at about 11:30 and went straight to bed.

Saturday we (as in Biebers, parents, Burns, Brad, and I) went to Indian Battle Park for some bike riding! It was too short for me but so, so sweet. The only reason we didn't stay there all day was because Arianne had a couple families to shoot. Don't worry, it was with her camera.

Contemplating how the heck the university it supposed to look like a boat.

Photobomber!

And of course Kobe joined us for the ride!

Brad up to his tricks again.

Biker Gang

Boonie trickin his bike.

We were sad that Kutarnas weren't able to make it to the bike riding bit of our trip. Plus also Marshie and Carol went to Utah so they were MIA as well. We missed you guys!

I love that Burns plays with my nieces. I also love how much Nitty adores Brad! It's pretty hilarious. She just would not leave the man alone!

We played a game once Kutarnas arrived and had a little fun with Instagram.

Something new happened this year. The family sat around talking for hours in the living room! Now, you might think this is a typical occurrence for a family, but for our family this is quite new. I really liked it! We all went to bed way past our bed times.

Sunday morning we watched a bit of conference and prepped for dinner. Burns and I helped with dessert and then we were free to play. Alex, Joe, Nitty, and Eva were going to take a quad ride to see some horses in the field and they invited Burns and me to come along.

I can't believe we all fit on this thing! Even Kobe came along.

Dinner was great. Amy, Eva, and Vicki made it out. Grandma B and even Grandma L were able to make it! After eating our faces off, we had some face juggler fun. A couple of my faves:

It was definitely windy that day so we broke out the parachute.

The boys weren't the only ones who played with it. Alex and I took a turn and I was dragged for a while haha.

Monday morning the girls had a dance party on the table top. Naves really liked the napkin weight. What a cutie.

Everyone headed home while Burns and I headed to Cardston. Rick and Denise were there so we got a third Thanksgiving dinner then we went home. I'm so thankful for such an amazing family and that Burns has a wonderful family as well. I'm so lucky!

i figured you ought to know

There are quite a few things that have happened since my last update. Here we go.

1. I have a real job that actually pertains to my degree in Linguistics! I'm a Child Development Facilitator at the Cause and Effect Foundation. It's an early intervention organization. I work with preschool aged kids to help them get at a level to start attending school and successfully integrate into society. I am loving it so far. Benefits might add to that love just a little haha.

2. Burns was accepted into Engineering at UofC!!! I am one proud gf.

3. I get to move into my new Charleswood house in a week! I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!

4. I went to Original Joe's with Lita on Thursday night. Good times, girl!

5. Kobe is still adorable in case you were wondering.

6. I tried on Denise's wedding dress a couple months ago. I couldn't bend my arm but at least I could button the waist. My back, however, was a different story.

7. Burns is fun. This isn't news to me, but in case you were wondering why I love him so much, this is only part of the reason:

8. September had BEAUTIFUL weather. I loved it so much.

Kobe and I hung out a lot outside.

9. Speaking of Kobe, on Wednesday as I was driving from work to pick up Burns from school, I got a phone call. I didn't answer it because I was driving, but they left a message. I turned the message on speakerphone so I could drive without putting my phone up to my ear. The lady's message said that she had found Kobe out on 53rd and she would keep him at such and such address until I came to pick him up.

I phoned Burns right away to tell him what had happened, picked him up, and we drove to the house. Kobe was so happy to see us and I am sooo thankful for people who look out for each other's pets. I would have been devastated if anything had happened to him. When we got back to Burns' house, Denise was crying and she came out to tell us that she couldn't find Kobe anywhere! We showed her Kobe and she started bawling with relief. I'm so glad I didn't know he was missing until someone had already found him because I would have been really stressed out.

10. Some time a couple weeks ago Burns and I decided to go on a bike ride to Nose Hill Park...at night. It was awesome.

We brought Kobe in a backpack.

It was so fun and the weather was perfect. I'm extremely happy Burns and I got to spend at least a little bit of time doing summery things together this year while the weather was still nice.

11. I went to Nitty's birthday party on September 22. I can't believe she's 3 now! Alex held an Art Party and it was so cute/awesome. Burns was sick so he didn't come.

Nitty and Naves light up my life like no others.

12.

Enough said.

13. Burns is really getting heck from his family about how long his hair is.

So please, if you like it, don't hesitate to tell him! I think he looks great. If you don't like it, then don't say anything.

14. Sarah Gilchrist invited a bunch of their friends to Chill Billiards for a surprise bday party for Pat on Monday. It was fun and very chill indeed. Arianne and Daryn were invited too.

15. It's Thanksgiving weekend!!! I can't wait to go home, stuff my face, and have fun with family!