A very merry un-birthday to you!

Today we celebrated (at least partially) Matthew's 23rd birthday, which is actually tomorrow. He didn't have class, so it felt like a nice laid back Sunday. Once again, we slept in as late as we wanted. I think we finally got up around 10:30. Matthew claims that he is getting this excessive number of sleep hours in the hopes of not getting sick. Practically everyone else in his program has got some sort of illness right now. Whatever he needs to say to justify it. I, on the other hand, am just flat out lazy when allowed to be.

Upon waking, we discovered that our electricity was not working. No lights, no refrigeration, no hot water. A few brief minutes of panic passed as we wondered whether we had somehow missed a utilities payment or something. Luckily, once we finished our bowls of Curiously Cinnamon cereal (we had to utilize our milk immediately so it wouldn't go bad...) the power came back on. Hallelujah. Must have just had a glitch in the system or something.

The biggest events of the almost-birthday-day celebration were: 1. The Lion King in 3D; 2. Dinner at La Tasca. It goes without saying that The Lion King rocked. I was worried that the afternoon showing would be sold out because all the kiddos around here are on their 'half-term break,' or 'fall break' as it's known in our homeland. I was relieved to find that our assigned seats (yes, they were assigned) were in the middle of the screen about half-way up in the theater. Perfect! So we, and the other 8 people in the theater ('theatre'), immensely enjoyed the movie ('film') spread out in our own little spaces. It was nice of the seat assigners to not pack us all side by side. That would have been awkward. I just don't get why they assign the seats. The other strange thing is that periodically, someone employed by the theater comes into the auditorium with night vision goggles to ensure that no one is illegally recording the movie. Everything is ridiculously regulated over here.

Ready and waiting with our 3D glasses on. Cue epic animated sunrise. "NAAAHHHHH SIN BUENYA!!!" (That was the phonetic spelling of the opening of Circle of Life.)

After a quick ride to the grocery store and then home to unpack our basket o' groceries, we went to La Tasca for dinner. This beautiful little Spanish restaurant served us a bountiful feast of delicious tapas. End result = stuffed tummies and a profound desire to revisit our beloved Spain. Our waiter looked exactly like Cristiano Ronaldo and had a pure, smooth Spanish accent. I wish I would have photographed our food because it was the best meal I've eaten since our 1 year anniversary dinner at Pierponts in Kansas City back in August. We had patatas bravas, chorizo, albondigas (meatballs), a tortilla (not the flat flour things we think of), croquetas, paella, and churros con chocolate. Wow. So flipping good. We previously ate at La Tasca in London back in 2009 at the end of our study abroad in Spain. At the time, we judged it to be mediocre. I'm sure it has been just long enough since we were in Spain for us to forget what authentic cuisine tastes like, but this was the closest thing I think we could have found, and infinitely better than we remembered. I know where I want to eat for my birthday! To quote the birthday boy, our intake of this Spanish meal "solidified Spanish food as the number one ethnic food in all of civilization."

Exterior view. I just pulled this off the internet so you could see it.

Interior view (also from the internet.) We sat at the little two-person table closest to the bar on the far left of this picture.

Our waiter's doppleganger.

All in all, it was a low key and successful un-birthday un-extravaganza. I convinced Matthew to open part of his gift from me, which wasn't very exciting, but he now has some nice "Cosmetic Lad" after-shave lotion from a store called Lush Cosmetics. I think they exist in the States, just not in Oklahoma.

As appealing as this natural display of almonds and grass and what appears to be saw dust is, this is not the presentation format Matthew received when he got this present. It was more like, "Here. Close your eyes. Stick out your hands. Ta-dah! Unwrapped present. Hope you like it." He did.

Tomorrow, since it is his actual birthday, Matthew will open his other cards from our sweet families that sent them all the way across the Atlantic. Despite his blatant disregard for other rules, my man is very particular about gift-opening ones. You do NOT open them early. Period. If you do, you ruined the occasion. I prefer to spread my gifts out over the longest period of time possible, making a birthday into a birthweek or birthmonth if necessary.

Quick disclaimer: I'm going to get sentimental for a short minute and do a cliché blog tribute. You have been forewarned.

I am very proud of my 23 year-old husband. He has accomplished a lot in his two decades. He has traveled to 8 countries (if you count the Vatican as 1), including two trips to Honduras and Mexico for missions work. He has gotten an outstanding education, completing a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with minors in Economics and Spanish. Of course now he is working on the Master's in Bioscience Enterprise at the most prestigious institution in the world before going on to Baylor College of Medicine. He is incredibly smart, and yet socially adept. He is approachable and friendly and humble. (In fact, he will hate reading this part of my post and ask that I remove it immediately due to his embarrassment.) I could go on and on. But above all his other impressive characteristics, my favorite is his heart. He earnestly seeks to follow and please the Lord, giving the glory back to Him for all his achievements. He tells me how pretty I look when I know my face is pimply, my butt is flabby, and my clothes don't fit. He puts up with my emotional eruptions, ugly crying and all. I have no doubt that he will be the best father to our future children... that's a very, very distant future, by the way. He is going to become a great physician, modeling his career after that of The Great Physician. These first 23 years are but a glimpse of the adventure ahead. I'm just glad I get tag along. I will go ahead and steal this quote from Pinterest because I think it sums up how I feel: "We may not have it all together, but together we have it all." Thank you to everyone who played a part in making Matthew Tyler the man he is today. You did a splendid job, and I appreciate him more than I could ever explain. I love my hubby. Happy 23rd birthday!