my twenty second.

okay, so i'm giving you all a fair warning here: this is going to be a bit of a photo overload. 

but i'm a photographer, and it {was} my birthday, so i'll do what i want to.

and what i want to do is show you how wonderful my twenty-second birthday really was!

it was my first birthday away from family in a while,

my first birthday in provo,

and my first birthday sandwiched between two anatomy midterms,

so i was a little worried that it wouldn't be "special" enough (silly, i know!).

but i am really, really lucky to have some pretty incredible friends who made sure to make july 10, 2012 one to remember! 

i started my birthday week off with an incredible family dinner on sunday with my parents, brother, and aunt and uncle. 

and then i rang in my 22nd with a few friends playing me a few classic renditions of birthday songs (nsync, anyone?) and a sampling of homemade ice cream. 

after a nine-to-four day on campus of anatomy, i took a guilt-free birthday nap and studied a bit. 

and then, the party really began! 

i met up with a few of my dearest friends at diego's for my favorite food (tacos, obivously),

and it was really so fun. 

we ate, chatted, modeled a bit (naturally), laughed, and brett even gave me some crazy slovak birthday blessing. 

and then darling meredith and courtney threw me a summer birthday celebration of sorts...

and i loved it! 

we ate gluten-free cake and homemade ice cream,

listened to an assortment of 90s music,

and chatted outside on the lawn. 

and then when the party thinned out a bit, 

i joined meredith and a few more friends for a late-night bike ride, slurpee run, etc., etc.

i couldn't have asked for a better day! 

though a lot of my close friends and family weren't in provo to celebrate the day with me (read: out doing really awesome things with their lives),

 i was reminded how lucky i am to be surrounded by such incredible people. 

this time of life is so cool, and these people make it just that much cooler. 

thank you so much to everyone who made my day so special,

and especially to meredith for working so hard to plan the party! 

i'm going to be mushy for one more second and just reiterate that i love you all these people in my life,

and i can't wait to see what my 22nd year brings!