"Still every team's number one pick in the draft. I'm Kobe. KD. Kyrie. Pick a K"

Hello World,

My birthday is my favorite day of the year every year. I have always loved my birthday more than the usual person and seem to love it more and more every year. This year I thought of it as more than just a birthday. I thought of it as a celebration of my life and a day to Thank God for allowing me to see another year of life. Not everyone was blessed with more time, and I am so so grateful that I was. This year I turned 25. 25 years old. I started this blog when I was 15 years old. I have almost 10 years of feelings, thoughts, fears, and growth here. I do not utilize it as often as I used to, but it's on my to do list. Writing my feelings is a lot more affordable than going to therapy.

For the second year in a row, I did not have to take a final on my birthday. I finished all my exams on Friday, December 14th. I passed everything with flying colors. Only one C this semester. I was extremely proud of my progress and how far I've come academically. I will continue to push for better grades next semester and study as hard as I possibly can. I still don't want all my hard work to be for nothing. I want this degree. I'm hungry for it.

I started my birthday celebration immediately after my last final. I went home and showered, did my hair, and picked out an outfit. the most memorable thing about my birthday outfit will have to be the fanny pack I purchased. Kim Kardashian started this fad where you were your fanny pack over your shoulder. The same fad happened when I was in middle school with the north face fanny packs. Instead of wearing the bag part on our backs like we did in 2007, they flipped it. The bag part sits on our chest. I never participated in the trend in 2007, so I was excited to participate this time. I wore a black, white, and read off the shoulder top with bell sleeves with fleece lined leggings, and black faux leather boots. My fanny pack was from Boohoo. It was also faux leather. I got it for less than $10.

My love and I did a quick photoshoot then headed to the Plaza in Kansas City. We were lucky enough to get a parking spot right in front of the restaurant. I was really excited to try the Shake Shack. When I arrived, I realized that the Shake Shack was not what I expected it to be. It was packed. The line went from the cash register to the door. The restaurant itself was relatively small. There were not nearly enough seats for everyone eating there. People were jumping to save seats whenever someone got up. This resulted in a majority of the people having tables before their food arrived. The people who did have food had no where to sit. We waited about an hour for our food. It was a hectic mess with people ordering from postmates online.They didn't have nearly enough staff for all of this. Our buzzers went off before our food was ready. We did eventually get our food. We had to sit outside despite it being cold. This all sounds fairly negative, but I was still all smiles. I like a hectic, popular restaurant. I like to people watch and I like the hustle and bustle. One woman came outside to tell my love and I that there might be a seat becoming available. She felt bad, because they had a table despite not having food and we didn't have one. The right thing to do would have been to give us her table. But we all know people are nice. Just not that nice. The food was delicious. I had a bacon burger with cherry peppers. It really hit the spot. I also had bacon and cheese fries. I was in plus size girl heaven.

After finishing our meal, we headed to Crown Center. We found the parking garage and ventured around the mall for a few minutes. There was a children's choir singing carols. They had giant nutcrackers and pretty lights everywhere. It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas. It all warmed my heart. I love Christmas just as much as I love my birthday. We walked towards the ice skating rink and got in line. We were in line for about 45 minutes. My love helped me put my skates on, because I have always been bad at making sure my laces are tight enough. We skated for about an hour. It was his first time ice skating, but he did better than me. He had no fear. He left the wall and just went for it. He was making full rounds around the ice skating ring. We took some videos. They were playing Christmas carols. My heart was happy. We went back to Lawrence after ice skating and started a new day.

Saturday was spent resting, relaxing, and treating myself. I spent time with my family that morning and tried on the outfits that I planned to wear for my big day. I got copies made of some of my favorite childhood pictures for my birthday party decor. I then went to get my nails done. I got acrylics in purple, white, and gold. The this was the theme of my birthday. Turning 24 made this my Kobe Year. I wanted everything to be Laker's colors. Finding a purple dress proved to be harder than you would think though, so I got a black birthday outfit. After getting my nails done, I went to the ATM to get money out for my hair stylist. The ATM ended up eating my credit card. I was in tears by the time I got to my hair stylist. She tried to cheer me up about everything. She made my hair look cute. I wanted straight hair for the first time in a long time. She cut it to right about my shoulder. I ended up not minding. It was fairly cute. After getting my hair done, I went to run some last minute errands and get a REALLY late mcdonalds mcchicken lunch. I then prepared for my long time friends birthday dinner.

I was starting to get ready at the time I should have been leaving for the party. It was really bad. But I still needed to shave, shower, and do my makeup. I found an outfit and hit the road. I arrived to the party 45 minutes late. I felt really bad, because I really wanted to be on time for her. It was not a good friend moment. I let her down. I made it up to her by being the only friend that agreed to going out with her following the dinner. We went to an uppity bar calked the Monarch. I had a good time there. It was a cute vibe, but I wish there could have been dancing. I also wanted to be back with my love when the clock hit midnight. I ended up stopping by Denny's for a free birthday meal on my way home.

I woke up early on the day of my actual birthday and went to the early church service. We sang songs and had a great sermon that related to advent. I love the church calendar and traditional messages leading up to Christmas, so it was every thing and more. After Church we stopped by Dillons to pick up the balloons and finish last minute crafting. I got dressed then headed to the restaurant to decorate. I had flower petals on the table, my cupcakes in the shake of 24, balloons. It was a dream come true. My closest friends and family members came. We listened to my Mamba Mentality playlist. I had chicken friend rice and they sang Happy Birthday to Me. I also got a phenomenal photo shoot after. The whole day was perfect. I am ecstatic to celebrate another year of life and do it surrounded by people I love.

Song of the day : Ganja Burns by Nicki Minaj

Quote of the Day: "If you see me in a fight with a bear, pray for the bear. That's Mamba Mentality"