7-0 and more

Mom turned 70 years old yesterday. Happy birthday, Mom!!! 
In honor of the big occasion, (and since you're only 70 once) I fixed her three birthday cakes. The verdict is still out, but I'm pretty sure all three were a big hit. Mom's picks (in order of most-liked to least) were the Carrot Cake (recipe from Linda's mom, Elaine), then the Italian Cream Cake (courtesy of Pioneer Woman), and last the Chocolate Sheet Cake (also Pioneer Woman). I also altered the carrot cake recipe and made one with whole wheat pastry flour and brown sugar. Pretty tasty!!! The whole wheat cake did fall apart a bit, but Mom assured me it would taste just as good. Well, nothing tastes quite as good as it's better-looking counterpart, but it was still quite yummy. 
Mom had lots of visitors and got some nice gifts. I love celebrating her birthday more than celebrating my own. Just wish we could have done something special to celebrate. Alas, I was 10 hours behind an oven. Guess I'll have to treat her to dinner and a movie at some point in the near future. How I love her!!! I'm positive that Heavenly Father knew we needed to be together in order for me to survive. That's why I was blessed to have her as my mother and my best friend. She just makes my world so much better. :) 
AND to celebrate her 70th birthday the U.S. Military decided to make sure Osama bin Laden was annihilated. Bet she won't forget this birthday any time soon! The whole world celebrated on her special day! (Just wish it could have been a celebration for Mom and not because a terrorist was dead. But whatever.)

Washington DC is less than three weeks away. HOLY. COW. How does that happen? Just yesterday it was nearing the end of February and I had purchased my plane ticket and thought the months worth of waiting was going to wear me out. Now I'm freaking out because there's so much to do. And I'm leaving Mom. And Dad. AND THE DOG. How will Bear live without me?! Even better question: Will he remember me when I get back?! I think I need to get Mom hooked up on Skype so we can see each other to chat each night and she can hold Bear up to the screen so I can give him loves. (Bet you were excited to read that, huh Mom?) Yes, I'm pathetic. No need to tell me. I already know. 
On the other hand, I'm WAY excited to spend time with Shauna Ba-Nonna and her little munchkin. She keeps reminding me she has a "sidekick" that will be 11 months old. As if teething, barf, poopy diapers, tears, and naps bother me. Ha! That madness doesn't even phase me. Been around too many kids for that to even be an issue. 
Bonus! I'll be there over Memorial Day. That means I won't get to decorate graves with Mom. :( But it means I will be in historic places to celebrate what our veterans (including my Grandpa Karl Koyle) have done to preserve our freedoms and rights. You can't beat that. Only negative about the whole trip is that I have to take my freaking homework with me. Ah, school. The bane of my existence right now. If Shauna thinks an 11-month-old sidekick is bad, she ain't seen nothin' yet! At least her sidekick is fun and eventually sleeps. MY sidekick (aka: online school) NEVER sleeps and is RARELY fun. Meh. 
My camera (Nikon D3000) 

is making the journey with me. You can betchyer booty I'll be taking massive amounts of photos. Prepare yourselves to be overexposed (haha, good pun, Katie) when I do a post (or ten) about my trip. For now, I gotta go so I can start making a packing list and be sure I have enough luggage to get me home with the extreme quantity of souvenirs I plan to buy. Less than three weeks ... that's plenty of time, right?