So this is what 31 feels like

I must admit, 30 was more exciting. Last year I was out of the 20s (yeah!) and I was running a marathon. So last year was a big deal. But I’m definitely not depressed to be over 29 like some people. I love my age!

This year is a big deal in its own way though. This year marks several things in my life. This will be my last birthday single. Which is strange on some levels. It means there are only a few more months to tease me about being an old maid.

And, well, it’s been 31 years since I was born. Here’s me before I even had my first birthday, let alone my thirty-first.

This year though marks ten years from my 21st birthday (I can do math!). And that birthday was a big birthday. I’d received my mission call to Curitiba, Brasil the previous month. And so on my 21st birthday, rather than going out with friends and getting drunk like the people I knew in high school did, I went to Mexico with my parents and received my endowments in the Colonial Juaréz temple in preparation for my mission.

This is a picture of me waiting at the Mexican border for my dad to finish getting the paper work so we could take our car in to Mexico that far.

And this is the temple. I love it. It’s one of the more beautiful I think. But I might be biased.

It was an amazing experience. And the perfect way to spend my birthday I felt.

So since then, if it’s at all possible, I go to the temple on my birthday. I couldn’t for my 22nd birthday because I was on my mission at the time. Instead I was surprised in several ways by my companion and one of my favorite families on my mission. And we made Jell-O without the fridge just to see if we could because it was that cold.

Two years ago going to the temple meant waking up at 3am and driving from Orem to Vernal, Utah. But it was definitely worth it.

Last year was the Salt Lake temple the day before the marathon.

And this year Brett and I are going out to Mesa this afternoon. We might do something else too. But if I at least get to the temple, it’s a good birthday.42D

Maybe next year we’ll drive up to Snowflake. That’s one I’d like to see.