So, anyone who has to deal with me on a day-to-day basis has probably gotten sick of hearing me say, “Hey! Guess what? It’s almost my birthday.”?But, since many of you don’t have to put up with me that regularly, I’m going to tell you.

My birthday is July 28, and it’s my second favorite day of the year (after Christmas). Growing up my parents always made our birthdays fun, and as I get older I plan to be a little birthday princess every year on July 28.

But, this year I decided to do things a little differently by celebrating for a whole entire week before my actual birthday. Why hadn’t I?thought of that a long time ago??

This year to celebrate my last week of being 24 years old, I took a road trip to visit my very best friend.

I’ve received a lot of great birthday gifts over the years, but I think the people in my life who care about me so much really top the list of best gifts ever.

My trip last week was a good reminder of that. I am blessed to have had a best friend like her for 20 plus years.

Visiting a good friend like her is always bittersweet though, because no matter how long it’s been between visits, it always feels like we can pick right back up where we left off the last time. But, then of course there’s always the part that stinks saying goodbye.

But, thankfully turning 25 is providing me with some distractions from missing my best friend, like trying to take a better picture for my new driver’s license this year.