Nathan's Birthday

We wanted to share some pics from my birthday earlier this month. I turned 28. Since school started back up in early January, I have been really busy working on a big research paper, one of my obligations for SMU's Law Review. Stephany threw me a really great party at our apartment. It was a great time to take a break and have some fun with friends for a change!

First of all, Steph baked a cookie cake (my favorite) for me! This was her third year to do so, and she is definitely perfecting the process. She even decorated it with a robot (I love robots - they're just so enjoyable) holding balloons!



Two good friends of mine: Paul and Don. I have known Paul since I was 14 (wow, that's half my life). We met in ninth grade of high school. We also went to UT Austin together, and Paul was in my wedding - a long-time friend, for sure. Don was the first SMU law student in my class that I met prior to school starting, and he has become a good friend of mine. He has shown up on some previous postings.



Steph cooked some fantastic chicken quesadillas and taquitos and made her becoming-famous black bean dip (with garlic and green chile!). She also baked some really amazing mint chocolate cupcakes - they were so tasty! She actually baked chopped up Andes mints into the chocolate batter and sprinkled mint pieces on top. Yeah, I'm gonna be requesting that one again. Sadly, there were no pictures of the cupcakes. But here are some pics of friends!





Here is me with my friends Josh and Cade from our home group - Josh recently became engaged to Kathryn, and Cade is married to Megan. They both do counseling/life support for people struggling with substance abuse. Good friends.



Paul and me.



Don and me.



And here is Stephany with Megan, Cade's wife.



And, of course, Steph and me. It was a really fun night, and my honey treated me right. She's a real sweetheart!



I worked on my paper for more than six weeks and turned it in a week ago (48 pages, double-spaced). Completing it has been a relief and has given us at least a little bit of time to recover from the events of the past few months. It was a study on the history of the legal entity of marriage in the U.S. since the founding of the nation, with an emphasis on the same-sex marriage debate and the role "direct democracy" plays in it (a la California's Proposition 8). I was glad to be able to pick the topic myself and really have a chance to involve myself with such an important issue affecting us all these days. Lots to consider.

Hope all is well (but I'm a realist, so I know it's not, but in the alternative, I hope for grace to abound all the more).

Nathan