simply Tuesday and all about Toddley

Tuesday.  December twenty-seventh.  Todd's FORTIETH birthday.  (Finally, he caught up to me!)  The first day of normal again, after all the Christmas celebrating.

I am thankful for all of these things.  I love the slower pace after Christmas, does anyone else feel that way?  I also love that with the new year comes a fresh start.  I love a blank calendar, and a fresh planner with its pages still mostly white.

Yesterday I packed up all the Christmas decorations, with the exception of our tree, and Drew carted them all back upstairs for me.  I'm thinking the tree is coming down today, if Jonah will agree.  He was adamant yesterday that he wants it to stay up a few more days.

I made one of our favorite dinners last night (beer cheddar joes) and then my best friend and her hubby and daughter came over.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I miss her so very much in between the times of seeing her.  This year I saw her four times...one in the spring, in late summer, in November and then last night.  I love anytime I get to spend with her and last night was extra sweet.  They came over after dinner and stayed until a little after ten.

I ADORE HER.

And her, as well.  Sweet Annalise was buttering me up lots by calling me Aunt Jen.  She was eating snacks and joining in our conversation in this picture.

And yes, she came in her jammies.

It was a great night, and as a bonus, Jason fixed our pantry door for us.  (Christa's husband.)

Yesterday I started reading in John (again) in my quiet time.

I love this chapter (the whole book, actually) and got lots from it.

I also started back in Psalms (I always go through this book in the Bible and just picked up where I'd left off in December) and wrote out the scripture for the 26th day of the month.

Speaking of that, January's plan is already up on the Sweet Blessings blog.  If you want the printable version, click here.

This morning in my quiet time, this verse jumped out at me.

It was out of Psalm 65.  Do you ever have that happen?  You're reading along, in a passage you KNOW you've read many times, and you see a verse, as if for the first time?  I guess with the new year approaching, I noticed it, but I love that about God's word.  It is truly living and active.

I cannot stop praising God for this year....it's not been stress free and absent of problems, but compared to what some of my closest friends have been through, we have MUCH to praise Him for.  Good health, our home and His many provisions, another wonderful year shared with family and friends....I can go on all day long.  God is faithful.  I'm feeling particularly thankful after some scary health moments with family members in the past couple of weeks and months.

And last, but not least, here is the second part of this blog post.

Today is Todd's birthday.  His fortieth birthday, and thank goodness, he finally caught up to me.  These thirteen days of waiting for that to happen are EXHAUSTING.  He loves telling the world that he married an older woman.

We've had a wonderful, amazing and fun year together, and this trip to New York was the highlight.

This moment together in Central Park in NYC is probably my favorite moment of the entire year.  We were exhausted and slightly giddy because of said exhaustion, and were just soaking up our time together in this lovely and romantic spot in the park in the middle of that bustling city.  We sat down, he drew me close by putting his arm around me, and we just laughed and talked and people watched.  There was a musician nearby playing the saxophone, and that made it more special.

It was also hotter than Hades, but that's beside the point.

In everything we do, we have fun and he makes me laugh.

Laughter is SO IMPORTANT in marriage.  I tell teenagers that all the time...find someone that makes you laugh.

He loves to have fun and mess around with people.

He is my best friend, the greatest dad in the world to the boys, and my superhero who can do anything he puts his mind to.

He's a defender of justice and those wrongly treated and the boy loves him some Alabama football.

We've grown up together, and I look forward to the next twenty years we get to spend growing old together.

Tonight the celebration continues, and we get to go and have dinner together with the boys and his parentals.  We're eating downtown, at The Spaghetti Warehouse, and we're going to enjoy looking at the sights together.  I'm excited!

Thanks for reading my blog!  Love to all.