quarter of a century

My "Birthday Week" (a month ago) was a success! I felt so loved. I am too lucky to have such wonderful people in my life that care so much.

Monday began the celebration with a dinner with my BF, Pixel. She treated me to burgers and slushes at Millie's Burgers. I love little "hole in the wall" joints that are one of a kind. Millie's was perfect! It is off of 2100 South, not too far away from the Dollar Movie Theater. I had a kiwi slush, malibu chicken sandwich and yummy fries. It was delicious but the best part was the company and my awesome birthday card. :)

The party moved over to the Dollar Movies. Pix and I were both excited to go and laugh at Kristen Stewart's acting in "Snow White and the Huntsman" and we weren't disappointed in her futile attempt. I don't recommend it unless you are in the mood for a crazy, insane movie with only a few highlights. Afterwards, we tried to think of three good things in the movie. We came up with 1. Young Snow White and William
2. Chris Hemsworth (best acting job in the whole movie) and I forget the third. The writers and the director took a few liberties to say the least. As the movie progressed, it became curiouser and curiouser... And then it was downright weird. But, I thought you might enjoy a few snipets of the best scene in the movie. (And yes, it keeps Stewart's acting little to none.)

Happy Watching!

Tuesday was a great day. I awoke to my family singing "Happy Birthday" and opened my lovely gifts. Because my dad loves me, he took the morning off to go hiking with me! It was a dream come true. We headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon to my beloved Brighton and followed the trail to Mary-Twin. It was a beautiful morning and perfect weather for hiking. 

We started off up the Mary trail and saw a moose! I told Dad that he was officially a part of Brighton now that he had seen a moose up close. Hopefully, Dad had as much fun as I did. It was the best gift he could have given me!

After hiking, Dad showed me his new office and I saw some of my old friends from my MassMutual days. Dad joked that I had attempted to "kill off my dad..." when we explained why I was still lugging around my trusty Camelbak. Then we headed back home and I watched a few of my favorite episodes of Chuck, showered, and got ready for our dinner plans.

Dinner was a trip to Gardner Village. My family and I wandered through some of the fun little shops, bought a few things, enjoyed our free fudge samples, and then went to Archibald's for dinner. It was delicious. Note: Rootbeer float fudge really does taste like a rootbeer float. Interesting party for my tastebuds.

The day ended with a lovely message from some of my Brighton pals  where they sang "Happy Birthday" to me- Brighton style. I loved it so much! Thanks friends!!!

Wednesday continued the celebrating with a trip over to The Tulip aka Tamra's house. She treated me to frozen yogurt at U-Swirl and I made every once count. I recommend trying cheesecake. It is delightful. Maggie came too and it was great fun!

Thursday was GAME DAY!!! I love Utah football. I live for Utah football. All members of the Hortin family, except Maggie, sat around the TV in our red and cheered on our boys. I had missed John White and I had no idea how much until he was out on the field. Wynn even held his ground! I have a good feeling about this season. Seriously, I am a "Utah man, sir, and will be til I die!" (Note that this was written before Wynn hurt his shoulder again and decided to retire.)

Friday brought lunch with my friend, Liz, who I met during my stint at Deseret Book. We became fast friends and it was so nice to talk to her again.We walked down to the Food Court in City Creek and I introduced her to Chick-fil-a. She had no idea about their lemonade or their fries. Yum yum.

Saturday brought the party into full swing as I met some friends up at Brighton for more hiking. The plan was to hike A&B, a seven-peak hike that takes all day, but the weather decided it wasn't up for that. Instead, we hiked Mary-Martha-Katherine and had a blast!

The Group: (L to R) Sunshine, Sox, Dolly's sister, Sushi, Dolly, Moon, me, Winnie, and Pippin

 The crazy weather couldn't decide what it wanted to do. When we started out, the rain clouds were threatening and we were freezing. After 20 minutes, the sun was shining and we were burning up. Later, the second half of the hike was spent in heavy cloud cover. Crazy, crazy weather happens whenever we start planning to hike A&B.

You know those times when you keep changing faces and wait to see what happens on the camera.... Good times all around.

We made it all the way to Katherine and it was gorgeous.

Singing "Little Sir Echo"

Sushi took a short cut and ended up falling in a bush. I don't know how it happened. I just know it happened,

Passing the "Frog Prince" I love that rock. So many good times happen by that rock.

I'll admit, I wasn't very excited about this particular birthday. My birthday week far surpassed my expectations and was now goes down in the history books as one of the best. Thank you, friends, for loving me so much!