t w e n t y - o n e

On April 17, 1989, I was born.

On April 17, 2010, I turned twenty-one.

It was a wonderful birthday full of several different celebrations.

I'll tell you about them now. Enjoy!

Celebration #1: On Thursday night, a whole passel of my friends took me to Casa Brava for dinner. We had a great time! Someonewhoshallremainnameless told the waiter that it was my birthday, and many members of the Casa Brava Crew sang to me while trying to smear a spoonful of whip cream on my face. Luckily, I noticed a look of fear in the eyes of dear Kanis, and I avoided being whip creamed. Success. No pictures of this occasion exist. Failure.

Celebration #2: Mama, Daddy, Hub, and I went to Memphis. We had a lovely time. On Friday night, we enjoyed a delightful dinner at Paulette's (a French restaurant), and went back to the hotel and enjoyed some birthday cake!

Daddy and I with my Friday night cake.

We were having trouble getting settled. In the picture of us with my little cake, I look ridiculous, so I settled for this picture of discussion.

Mama and I with my Friday night cake. It had "21"s all over the sides and my monogram, jMj, on the top. Precious.

Celebration #3: On Saturday, THE day, Mama, Daddy, Hub, and I went shopping, enjoyed a brunch at Cracker Barrel, and finished up the day with a fantastic dinner at the Melting Pot, my favorite place to eat.

Our dessert to dip into the chocolate fondue!

Mama and Daddy

:)

Celebration #4: Mama conspired with a few of my friends to have them drive in on Sunday morning and go to church with us. After church, we ate lunch at John B's.

On our way to church!

From let to right: Too, Halo, Charles, Aubs, and the Birthday girl.

Hub, Kitty, Too, Halo, Aubs, Charles, the birthday girl, and her lovely cake at John B's.

She is the greatest Mama in the whole wide world.

Hub and I with my awesome cake

What I Learned. . . .

I learned quite a bit about love from my freshmen this week.

I learned that a few of them are wise beyond their years, a few more have some good ideas but they aren't totally sold that these good ideas are truth, and there are a few who still believe that life will be a fairy tale no matter what.

Below, I have taken pieces from a few of the paragraphs and retyped them here. I was careful to retain all spelling and grammatical usages, whether they be correct or not. That took nearly all of my energy. :)

Be amazed at them; Laugh at them; Enjoy them.

Here are a few snippets from the paragraphs of my young men:

• "Unlike what is conveyed in today's popular media as well as modern culture, a lasting relationship is based on more than just emotional and physical attraction, it is partnership that encourages mutual growth and spiritual encouragement.

• "The 14 or 15 years old children may but most likely would not notice the fact; that marrying is what they are being with the opponent for their entire lives."

• "Love is showing kindness and appreciation in every way."

• "The reason true love at first sight doesn't exist is because what really matters is what is on the inside, not the outside."

• "I don't think they can spend the rest of their life with, because they are not a adult and their mind can change easily. As Romeo and Juliet loved at first sight, they cared about their face."

• "If true love happened at first sight then there would be no point in dating a chick."

• "In the age of 14 or 15 people experience one of the biggest change in human life called adolescence. People in this period are also called the teenagers."

• "What if you see someone who you think you could spend your whole life with and go talk to them and they hate everything you love?"

• "If you enter yourself on e-harmony you can get to know someone before you even see them. . . .When you set up a date for the first time and you finally see them, you can be in love at first sight."

• "No, I do not believe in love at first sight. I believe that one must get to know a person first and adapt to their personality."

• "No. I'm very closed-minded and cynical, Soo I'm going to be stubborn, insist that true love exists only in disney movies, and argue that I'm right even though I'm sure you could argue for it and beat me badly."

• "Knowing at a young age who you are going to spend the rest is a very rare thing but can happen. If a person finds another person that they really like, think about all the time, and just can't stand to be away from that person then maybe the Lord has put those two together for a reason."

Here are a few snippets from the paragraphs of my young ladies:

• "True love at first sight is a dream that many desire to feel, but the true love that one may have for another does not happen in a split second."

• "From a girls prospective I definitely think I believe in love at first sight. Well actually, I do have proof of it."

• "Love at first sight is not a myth and can happen to anyone, anywhere."

• "People can have a bond with someone as soon as they meet them, and can completely be a victim of love at first sight."

• "Sometimes, when people meet, there's a mysterious attraction that occurs. This strong attraction cannot be measured or analyzed by any scientific devices yet known."

• "If it's love, so be it."

• "I don't believe in love at frist sight. Maybe at frist."

• "I think that if a couple has known eachother for a few years, and they are in love, and they do not fight often, then they will probably spend the rest of their lives together."

• I personally believe that if you are 14 or 15, you should not EVEN be thinking about boys."

• "In some cases like arranged marriages the young man or woman would not get to choose against their parents wills. Here in America, you can now choose who you would want to be your husband or wife, but being 14 or 15 years old seems very naive for teenagers to pick."

• "Love is a deep, complicated thing that deserves time and respect."