Birthday surprises

24 doesn't really seem too different from 23, but it is a bit. 23 is still safely between 20 and 25, but at 24 there's really no way to pretend you're not close to 25, which by default is close to 30. I know 30's not really that close and I'm always thinking of time in terms of how long Keegan and I have been together. Today is our 4 year anniversary, 1/6 of my life, and I feel like we have always been together :-) 4 years is a long time, but in the grand scheme of our entire lives it is not really such a long time. By keeping healthy, we can reasonably hope for 50(+) years together, which is going to be quite a period! That is what I keep telling myself whenever I feel irrationally sad about being a year older! 24 is very young, and I know all the best things in life are yet to come (having kids, buying a home, taking more trips, having grandkids, retirement, etc) but I'm still a bit wistful thinking about getting older.

Monday through Wednesday were spent in Beaufort, NC at Duke's Marine Laboratory for the BME retreat. I had a lot of fun meeting more of the people in the department and hearing presentations about what all is going on in our department. BME is a really broad field and I'm a bit ignorant about all the ways BME is being put to use at Duke. Plus I was able to socialize with people that I only know by sight, learning their names and just more about them in general. The trip was pretty whirlwind, so I'm a bit tired (I slept more last night than I did on Monday and Tuesday nights combined) but it was so worth it :-) We -- Cindy, Emily, Alex, and me -- left around 11 on Monday morning, drove down, then went to the poster sessions and first talks. That night there was a social thing at the campus, then we went out to the bars in Beaufort to continue the socializing (aka watch our peers drink a lot). Tuesday had many more talks and other poster session, then one of the professors in the department graciously offered his beach house on Emerald Isle for a party. We took a pretty awesome party bus from the campus to his house (think disco balls and flashing lights) and just hung out. As a special surprise the BME department had gotten cakes for me and another guy, Ali, whose birthday was May 11. It was nice to be sang to by 80 some odd people and it was the first birthday party I've had since I was 18 (no joke). Even though it wasn't technically a birthday party :-)

Ali and Alice on the party bus, then at the party being serenaded!




When I got home yesterday I pretty much just crashed on the couch. Keegan brought me the most beautiful flowers, which I'll post pictures of once I take them off of my camera. He said he called the florist and told them that I like blue and calla lilies are my favorite flowers but the arrangement has a lot of different types of flowers in it. There are some callas, stargazer lilies, irises, and what I think are snapdragons, along with some other mum-looking flowers. :-) Those are my birthday/anniversary present, as well as an iPod shuffle. He knows I've been wanting to start running more outdoors and thought an iPod might help me start running farther distances. I think it works well for me to be distracted and not realize how far I've gone because I'm just thinking "Wow, I really like this song!" Let's see how that theory pans out... For our anniversary I surprised Keegan with a Hard Rock shirt from Seattle (a special edition shirt with The Who on it) and then just some tasty goodies that I know he likes. I guess now the main anniversary we'll be celebrating is June 20 but it's still nice to acknowledge May 13 :-D