Almost 16.

Last night was one of the best nights of my life. Absolutely no joke. In celebration of my birthday, we went out ice skating and then to the Cheesecake Factory. Part of what made it so wonderful was that all the fun was with my brothers and sisters. Another part was that it was downtown -- I love being downtown. Our ice skating was down in Grant Park and then we walked down Michigan Avenue to the Cheesecake Factory on the ground floor of the John Hancock. Brilliant. I love walking downtown, so, last night pretty much took the cake.

At dinner, we played the "I Have Never..." game, and I got them all with things like driving and college. The advantages of being young...

Maybe this is strange, but at the end of last year, I felt like I was just waiting for something to happen where I felt truly celebrated. I hope that's not egotistical or prideful. Since then, there have been two nights that felt like they fulfilled that: my last Saturday night in Tacoma this summer, where girls took me out for dinner and arranged a Sense and Sensibility watching, and last night. It seriously was my dream birthday. I'm not even writing this very prolificly or trying to be all fancy with the words: it just plain was the birthday that I've been dreaming of. Going downtown, feeling fancy, and laughing a lot. =)

So the house is bustling. There are more pictures than you can shake a stick at, so expect quite a few of those coming up. January 1 is when we will actually do cake and presents at the house. Wahoo!!