Today is my birthday.

I'm 23 today.

In my 22nd year, I did a lot of growing. I moved into my own apartment with Charles, got a dog of my own, and was promoted to library clerk at work. I graduated college with my Bachelor's degree and started grad school. So, a lot has gone on, and I hope 23 brings a lot more GOOD changes.

Here I am on my fourth birthday. Apparently I liked trolls.

Today will be pretty low-key. I'm going to lunch with my mom in a bit, and tonight, Charles is taking me to dinner and a movie ("Joyful Noise"). We both took the day off from work.

Thursday will be cake with my family, since my brother is working tonight. We ordered a cake with a sock monkey face on it, because I love sock monkeys! I'll take pictures. Friday, my family will be going to dinner. As you can see, I really get a birth WEEK.

I used to wake up on my birthday and be so excited about gifts. Now, not so much. Of course, gifts are awesome! But as I get older, I'm just happy to have the day off and revel in the extra love and attention from my family and friends on my special day. Today, I get to do what I want to do all day. For me, that's mostly relaxing and going out with my loved ones. I'll also squeeze in some reading.

Because it's my birthday, and I'll read if I want to.