I am so thankful for my friends here. They are the best! So Tuesday was my 21st birthday and after the elaborate scavenger hunt they planned for me last year, I was intrigued to see what they'd come up with this year. I got back from my shower that morning to find balloons, streamers, and signs decorating my door. There was a mysterious note telling me to reserve my Friday evening since Tuesdays were so busy. I later discovered this was (an effective) decoy to rid me of suspicions for the day. So I went to my typical 7 hours of classes (Tuesdays are just a nightmare!). Lots of people wished me a happy birthday and for once my mailbox wasn't anorexic! An added bonus was discovering that Five Iron Frenzy would be coming HERE!!! in October on their farewell tour! Woohooo!!!! So my last class got out at 5 and I was kinda frustrated because I was going to be late for small group dinner. Well Emily & Malinda had different plans. Upon exiting the classroom, I was promptly stopped, blindfolded, and donned with one of those cone-shaped birthday hats. So here I am with a giant LL Bean bag full of 4 classes worth of books, notebooks, and my laptop; I'm blindfolded; and I have a party hat on. I'm sure it was a great sight to see! They led me down the stairs in HAL and out past the IM fields to Siberia (the parking lot) to Emily's car. I must say, if you ever want to be kidnapped, Emily & Malinda are just the people to hire. They're very good guides. I got a lot of happy birthdays from random people we passed and some guys playing baseball. After a 40 minute blindfolded car ride they took me out and finally removed the blindfold. We had ended up in Hermatige at the nearest Panera Bread (which they know is one of my favorite places to eat). After a wonderful meal, I opened some presents. CDs from my parents, including some Caedmon's Call and the new (and awesome) Relient K CD. Malinda gave me an adorable picture frame with a picture we took while she was visiting. Emily gave me some Blues Clues bubble bath soap and a family of rubber duckies. My friends are so creative! Well, I thought the day was over after that. I talked to my Nana on the phone and then headed off for IV large group. Of course, at the end all 30ish people there sang happy birthday to me (in true IV off-key tradition). Then I was informed that there was another surprise waiting for me in Ketler Rec! Malinda had baked a cake (and skipped Physics for it...I'm so proud of her!) and Emily made jello in some ice cube trays. So lots of random friends from IV and my freshman hall and stuff came out for one last celebration of my old age. =) All in all, it was another wonderful birthday. Thanks to all my friends...you guys are beyond awesome!