Oh Happy Day!

Last weekend was my 26th birthday, and boy do I feel OLD!!! Ok, so I know that 26 is not really that old, but I wanted to be 22 forever! The years just keep passing me by and I feel like there is so much more that I want to do while I am still "young". So, I am training to run a 1/2 marathon again, so that I can run the Tokyo Marathon when we move to Japan. There is a 1/2 marathon in less than 2 months here in Jacksonville! Nick is going to run this one with me! Yeah! (Technically, we won't be running together, because he is faster than me, but this will be his first, so I am still one up on him!)

Last Saturday we had a BBQ at our house to celebrate both our birthdays. It was exactly 2 weeks since we had moved in to our new house, so it was a house welcoming party as well! We had over 20 people show up...it was a great turnout, considering we just moved here!

Audra and Grant moved here on Friday, so they were staying at our house a couple of days until they got their furniture. Therefore we had some help getting ready for the party, and their dog Bosley was there to entertain Beretta!

Luckily for Nick, there is a little "pedestal" for his grill in our backyard, so the men enjoyed hanging outside while Nick made the burgers and dogs! Of course he had some help! (Look at little Liam Clement, hanging out with the men, being a big boy!)
It was quite a dog party, four people brought their dogs! Beretta was in dog heaven! As my mom put it, it was BYOD (Bring your own dog)!
Mark, such a dog whisperer!
Nick surprised me with a purple cake! Seriously, this thing was PURPLE!
Nick smiling for the camera, and me being shy...I was still shocked that he picked out the cake all by himself, in my favorite color and I didn't know about it!
2 and 6....ughhhh! (Todd called it the Barney cake, but I loved it!)
Thanks Nick! I love you!
Yeah for being stationed in Jax with Stacey for a few months at least!
All the flowers, plants and balloons people brought us for our party! We feel so loved!
Yeah also for Audra being stationed in Jax with me as well! It is so nice to have your girlfriends there for your dreaded birthday! Audra and I went shopping that day and bought our very similar long dresses to sport at the party! We have a Forever 21 here in Jax...whoohooo!
The next night, (my actual birthday) we went out to eat at this delicious little wine bistro called The Grape! It has these mini appetizers and a huge selection of wine, it is very quaint and adorable (and the best part was it was all decorated in PURPLE!)
We ate there with another couple who is stationed in Jax, the Ellers. We met them over 2 years ago in Pensacola, and are stationed in the same place again! Gotta love the Navy for that! Jackelyn and I have the same birthday, September 27, 1983! We had decided to celebrate our twin b-days together! It was such a good time!
Note: I felt the need to post these pictures before I lost them forever! I had a major accident this weekend...I dropped an entire cup of water onto my open laptop! It would not turn on for me for the last 2 days, and I was so scared that I had lost all of my pictures and information indefinitely!!! However, my Engineer hubby took my MacBook apart (and into a million pieces) and we let it dry out all weekend. Luckily, this morning, just before my appointment with the Apple technician, Nick put it back together and it miraculously turned on! I however am so worried that it is not going to stay on, and therefore am trying to back up as much info as possible!