September 28

With my birthday coming up in two weeks, I'm going to remember what I can about the day before my birthday.

2012. I was at work listening to Pandora, and Lady Gaga's "Marry the Night" came on. Then I went to go running, but I got caught in post-game traffic. I had to walk for a lot of the time because there were too many people. It was a bad idea to go by the stadium. Then I came home and there was a knock on the door. Hanna Dunn, one of my "horse" friends from the previous summer, was down in Provo visiting. I changed out of my running clothes and went across the hall to Alex Masterson's apartment, where they were visiting. It was Hanna, Kristen Jensen, and Olivia Mayer. Hanna said that she was glad she had made cinnamon rolls the previous May, because that was how she learned that I only ate seasonal desserts. Kristen pointed out that I could have Halloween treats, and I mentioned that I could have anything I wanted that week, since it was my birthday. I mentioned that I had gone to the French bakery, and Olivia was excited to learn there was a French bakery in Orem. The girls were excited it was my birthday, so they made birthday cards for me. Hanna's said she wished Jan Terri were here to wish me happy birthday. There was a running joke that Hanna and I should get married (simply for the fact that we both go by our middle names), so Kristen wrote about all the kids Hanna and I would have. Then we discussed getting some kind of dessert for me. We left, and as we were leaving, Kristen and Hanna called Alex "Alejandro" and began singing, "Ale, Alejandro." Alex said he loved Lady Gaga. We went to South End Market, but they were closed. Then Carissa (who had come over at some point) drove us to Smith's. I think it turned to midnight, so they talked about it being my birthday. Alex started singing the "Happy Happy Birthday" song from The Emperor's New Groove, and Carissa said, "Heh heh, it's your birthday?" like Kronk says. I went through the ice cream aisle and found some birthday cake "ice cream," which Hanna bought (I later learned it was a "frozen dairy dessert," not ice cream). Carissa found some clearance flower-shaped cookies, which weren't that great. Kristen bought me a sticker from a little vending machine; it was that Domo character. Then we parked across from the duck pond and went and ate by the stream on campus. At one point, for some reason Alex was singing the "Monster Mash," so I sang the relevant lyrics from "Get Down Goblin." Then we all went home and I went to bed.

2008. This is my journal entry for the day:
"Today was a mediocre day. We did have some good QGIs. We talked with a friendly Pentecostal woman named Alma. She married a minister, but we might be able to talk to them sometime. 

"I can't believe I'm ten today [in mission years; I was out ten months] and twenty tomorrow!"

2005. I know that we juniors had to go to school early for testing, but I don't remember what else happened.

1999. My mom gave me one early present after school; it was the Moy Mushroom from the Vegetable Friends collection. (I had the spinoff collection, the Veggie Friend Seedies, but not the Vegetable Friends.) I was excited to take my new toy to my Webelos meeting. Chantelle Christensen later called my mom and asked where she got it to see if she could get me something like that for my birthday, but my mom had already ordered the rest of them for me (I got them the next day).

1997. I asked if I could have my birthday presents that night, since it was right before my birthday. My dad said, "Should we break tradition?" My mom pointed out that we had always gotten our presents the night before our birthday. I think this was the time they brought out my Magnadoodle keychain, and I told them that I had sneaked and already seen it. I thought it was funny, but they were shocked that I did such a thing, and said that no one else in the family had ever done that. I got a turkey magnet that gobbled.

1996. I got my various presents: a purple Koosh ball witch keychain, the Warioland GameBoy game, and The Sound of Music on VHS. My mom told me she wanted me to start singing the songs from the movie again. David started playing my game. We went downstairs to watch the movie, and David told me that he had gotten to Lake Asparagus in my game (I was enthralled by the map in the instruction manual).

1994. I got my presents, but the only one I remember is the VHS of The Nightmare Before Christmas. I was surprised I got it. I remembered seeing the trailers on TV the previous year, but I figured it was too violent for my parents to let me see it, and here they got it for me. We went downstairs and watched it. That may have been the most influential birthday present I ever got.