happy birthday, dear izzy.

today is israel's 24th birthday. because this is the fourth holiday in two weeks that we have spent apart, and because i am procrastinating on cleaning my house, i am commemorating it with a pictorial remembrance of the year. iz, i know you think that things didn't "happen" for you this year, but i also know these are a lot of reasons that you are okay with that. this year, you made these and a lot more things happen:

you released an album on a real label, and started another one. (everywhere, all year long.)

you dated a girl for almost the whole year. (siloam springs, ar, february.)

you played lots of shows, some at bars... (duffy's, lincoln, ne, november)

and some in basements... (portland, or, august)

and some in back yards... (denver, co, june)

and some with babies... (lincoln, ne, march)

and some were even front-porch sing-alongs. (lincoln, ne, october)

you explored many crazy dreams. (lincoln, ne, march)

you got smashed in nebraska. (lincoln, ne, march)

you climbed on and jumped off a LOT of roofs. (lincoln, ne, april)

you learned how to make bread... (lincoln, ne, april)

and, even better, to make beer! (lincoln, ne, may)

you road-tripped everywhere... (starved rock state park, illinois, may)

making stops in nebraska, arkansas, tennessee, california, colorado, and sweaty, bike-and-beer-filled texas. (austin, tx, july)

you were an indian... (illinois, may.)

more than once. (lincoln, ne, march)

you went on a lot of beer tours. some were good... (lakefront brewery, milwaukee, wi, may)

and some were pretty lame... (new belgium brewery, ft. collins, co, july)

even if they did have cool hula-hoops outside. (new belgium brewery, ft. collins, co, july)

you had picnics inside cave-like trees with good friends and good booze. (pioneers park, lincoln, ne, may)

you went to a lot of weddings... (amy carlson's wedding, kansas city, july)

SO many weddings... (katrina a jesse emery's wedding, portland, or, august)

that you even broke yourself at one of them! (somewhere beautiful in california, june.)

you took lillian swimming in summer. (lincoln, ne, july)

and dressed up like Old Rasputin at Halloween, in celebration of your month of sobriety. (lincoln, ne, october)

you stared at sharks at the zoo. (omaha, ne, october)

and now you're in ecuador, where you can turn 24 while listening to the waves on the beach, with no idea what great things are in store for you this year. i know there will be many beautiful moments, and i hope i get to be around for a lot of them. happy birthday!