Insta-Birthday: I'm 26!

For those of you who missed it on twitter... we celebrated a birthday this weekend!

Well, my birthday to be exact.  My 26th birthday.  

For some reason 26 just sounds and feels really old.  The whole quarter of a century thing has come and gone and the next big milestone I'm headed for is the big 3-0.  Still, I must say that my first 26 years have been pretty darn good to me and I'm genuinely looking forward to the years to come.  Marriage, careers, travel, houses, babies {god willing}... there are still so many exciting times ahead!

Happy Birthday poster from my classmates // Lots of presents waiting for me Sunday morning - some from Jurgen and some all the way from California // A quick lunch stop at Lucky Moo in Parkhurst - the Orange Blossom Chicken was delicious! // The best surprise birthday outing - the Joburg Zoo!

Quick snow cone stop at the zoo // Jurgen found a Pygmy Hippo! // This little guy wanted to shake everyone's hand // An unusually curious African civet

After the craziness that was the first two weeks of Master's, I told Jurgen that this year I didn't feel like having a party or doing anything with a big group of people.  I just wanted a chilled day together just the two of us.  He did a superb job of adhering to this criteria and we kicked off the birthday festivities on Saturday night by going to see Les Mis {which was amazing!}.  On Sunday morning I opened my presents and then Jurgen surprised me with a lunch at Lucky Moo in Parkhurst {which proved to be the best Chinese food I've found in South Africa to date} and a trip to the zoo, which is always a winner in my book!  That evening I popped popcorn and we lounged in front of the t.v.  Oddly enough, it was the perfect way to kick off my 26th and unwind from a hectic couple of weeks.  In fact, I wouldn't have had it any other way :)   

Thank you Jurg for another wonderful birthday - you sure do know how to make a girl smile!

{to see what the sneak did last year, see here}