23

23 will always be a memorable birthday for me, I am sure. It started out great, forecasts for flurries in the afternoon, a lunch date with a sweet friend, coworkers who brought me flowers and cake. Amazing. I woke up, Skyped with my mom and opened their gifts like I always did when I was a kid, and headed off to work.

By the time it reached 12:45, my friend and I were finishing up lunch and our lattes (by the way, lavender latte? Insane.) and it had just started to snow. I guess all of Durham got the memo that it was going to be a bad one, because between dropping her off at her apartment and getting on the road ten minutes later, I found myself in a traffic jam that would last for four hours. Mind you, my new drive to work usually takes me 20 minutes tops. So crazy! Things got pretty desperate in my Civic when my gas light came on three and a half hours into my trek, but thank Jesus I made it home to poor Brandon, who had run to the store to get a few supplies just in case our power went out (and a ton of stuff for an AMAZING birthday dinner), and had been waiting outside of my apartment for me to get there for over an hour. Like I said, it was real crazy out there.

When we finally did make it inside and warm, the day got so much better. We enjoyed the snow from the comfort of my couch, ate tuna tataki (our absolute favorite) and smores (my favorite) and watched the world outside get more and more white as the night went on. We drank hot cocoa and watched movies. From that point on, it was perfect.

It's crazy thinking about all of the things that will happen this year while I'm 23! B and I will get married, move into our first apartment, get a dog (please??) and figure out what life as a Goodman looks like. I am so so grateful, remembering where I was this time last year and knowing where I will be next year this time. Even though I succumb to stress like every other human ever, I am so grateful for this life, for this time.

xoxo,

Abby