princess for a day.

Yesterday was, hands down, without a doubt, my best birthday ever. If it was any indication of how the remainder of my twenty-third year is going to go, I'm going to be the most spoiled person on the planet. I can promise you that out of all the people who celebrated something yesterday, I was the one smiling the biggest. All. Day. Long.

My day started before the sun came up when Teesh woke me up extra early to treat the birthday girl to birthday breakfast at Cracker Barrel. Lucky for us, we dined our entire meal with the whole restaurant to ourselves (that's how early it was). I went to school and was greeted with a "Happy birthday, Ms. Anna!" every five minutes for the rest of the day. They told me more and more frequently the closer we got to two o'clock, because they knew a party was brewing. Teesh surprised my class by coming to the party, and I'm pretty positive that they enjoyed his presence more than the cookie cake that came with him! After school, I came home to find that Teesh brought dinner to me. And it wasn't just any dinner, it was a salad, sirloin, and mashed potatoes from Arizona Steakhouse, complete with my favorite soda: Cheerwine in a bottle. I cleaned my plate and immediately opened my present to find my very own Osprey backpack: the first item needed for our trip to Europe planned for next year, not to mention how it will be perfect for overnight camping trips this summer! Did I mention how wonderful he is? Because he blows me away every day, but yesterday took it to a whole new level. Shorty after we finished dinner and presents, P. Sawyer, Krispy, and Brittany arrived for our traditional Wednesday evening date, but they didn't come empty-handed; they surprised me with a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. See? I was SPOILED! And THANKFUL!

Doesn't all of that sounds perfect? Well, it was. The best part, though, was hearing from all the people that mean the most to me all on the same day. That's really the reason why birthdays have always been my favorite. The element of togetherness it has always brought has never failed to make me feel like the most special person ever created, even if just for the day. Birthdays have never been just another day to me, and I was overwhelmed by the response of all the people I love most to remind me why.

I got so caught up in enjoying every waking moment of the day that I didn't take many pictures. The ones I did take though, give a pretty perfect description of why I loved it so much Take a look for yourself! :)

Thank you to everyone who shared words that were far too kind, gave hugs and kisses, said prayers, and simply took the time to assure me that you were thinking of me. I have the best family and friends, and I can promise you that the last thing I ever want to do is take any of them for granted. I want to love them as hard and relentlessly as they love me. May I spend every single day of my twenty-third year doing just that, plus some.

I've got big plans for these next three hundred and sixty-four days, and I'm ready to get busy checking things off the Bargeron Bucket List. Here we go!

"As we express our gratitude we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by him."

-John Fitzgerald Kennedy