a few things that make me happy- a birthday post

 

Happy Wednesday, friends! Since it's my 46th birthday, I thought I'd share a few things that have brought a smile to my face recently, including this image above. 

You may or may not know that the one thing I want for my birthday every year is something with no price tag. It's the gift of time with my family. This has worked out for us so far, even if it took place on a night that's not my birthday. I don't care about the date, it's the time that matters. So, this year Drew threw me for a loop when he told me was working on the night I'd planned to do this, which was on a Monday night two days before my birthday. (He's off every Monday.) I was so surprised that I don't think I responded very well, but I called him back and just told him I'd still like to see him, even if it was just me and him, so he offered to take me to lunch on my birthday. I think it may be something I like better than what I'd wanted to do in the first place! I love quality time. This was us on the square last year for my birthday. 

Sometimes I look at them and have so much love for them in my heart that it feels like I'm going to burst. I feel so blessed to be a mom to all these handsome guys. They're pretty great, even if they do things that make me cringe a lot and roll my eyes at them. I adore them! They all have such great qualities about them that make them unique, but they're also very much alike in that they are gentlemen, they're responsible, they're friendly and they're kind. In the top picture, from left to right are Graham, Drew, Noah and Jonah. Noah is the youngest, but he's the tallest! The rest of us are together pretty often, so we're not doing anything special for my birthday since Drew can't be with us. I made a good dinner for them on Monday night, though and I think Todd may take me out on Thursday night to celebrate with just the two of us. I want to go look at Christmas lights! 

Something really sweet that Jonah did for me yesterday was that he went ahead and sent me some birthday money on Venmo to treat myself to something special for my birthday. I appreciate that so much, especially that he thought of it beforehand and that he knows me so well. He told me he figured I would want to get my nails done with the money, or maybe get a pedicure. I may do that, but I also may buy something special that I'll have to keep forever. (If you were gifted some money like that, what is something you would purchase with it? I want something I'll keep.) They always give me cards and something I love on my birthday and for Mother's day. I usually get a combined gift from all of them for Christmas, but I usually pick something out and haven't done that this year. So, I may or may not get something then. 🤣 I just love and appreciate the thought. 

I know that I've already shared this picture, but please bear with me for a minute. I don't know that I've ever had a picture made with my mom and dad. They got divorced when I was a little girl, but they did remain friends through the years and they never once spoke bad about the other. I feel like I need to print and frame this picture that my stepmom took of me with them Sunday night! I almost cried when she told for me to get with the two of them.

Don't they look amazing? Neither one of them looks their age! (Mom is 78 and Dad is 91.) Looking at this picture of Dad in his blue blazer makes me smile because it reminds me of when the boys all graduated from high school. Dad was adamant about buying them all a blue blazer with brass buttons for a graduation gift. When we couldn't find two with brass buttons for Jonah and Noah, he and Sandy bought the buttons and had a tailor add them. They will have those blue blazers forever if I have anything to say about it!

I've been going down a rabbit trail reading old blog posts lately. I would occasionally have a great idea for a blog topic and I plan on bringing some of those back in 2023! I'm excited to share them with you and you can always do the same thing on your own blog, especially since I got the idea from another blogger that I get emails from. (Anne Bogel at Modern Mrs. Darcy.) I talked about my blog yesterday and how I do things kind of behind the scenes here, and know that I've written down some of these ideas in the pages I've already filled for 2023. I love coming up with different topics for my blog. It feels wonderful having ideas written down on paper. I look at them often when I can't think of what to say. 

Friends, I am reading a physical book right now! It's the first I've read since the summer I got my Kindle, and it's a great book. Have you read this?

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago how I went to the library, which really is my happy place. I am going to start doing that every so often and read the occasional handheld book. I've missed them! I'm actually reading two books right now in the hopes of finishing them on time before they're due back. One is an e-version, so it'll be whisked away automatically if I don't hurry. 

Thinking back on our Christmas program Sunday night makes my heart happy. It was such a great night and there were so many people there. It's always encouraging to see that, after putting so many hours into getting ready for something big like that. I always appreciate a large crowd on those nights! The program itself was beautiful and worshipful, but my favorite moment of the night by far was when we sang What A Beautiful Name with Agnus Dei at the end. I could hardly sing for the tears in my eyes and the lump in my throat.

This was the scene that played out before us as we sang behind them. Have you ever heard that song? It's beautiful! 

We're having a worship ministry appreciation dinner tonight in celebration of having made it through all those rehearsals and a successful night. It's so sweet of him to hold it on my birthday! I kid...this was planned months before. 

I'll wrap it up with one last thing, which is that a fancy night out with friends for dinner is so much fun to look forward to! I'll share about it on Friday, but I love the prospect of a new restaurant and being with three of my favorite people in the world, otherwise known as the writing team that I'm a part of. We always have a blast together and I am excited about going out with them! 

We usually do this twice a year to celebrate our accomplishments! With me is my friend Lynn, and the top ones are Barbee (on the left) and Amy. We are the writing team for our church and I feel so honored to be a part of this group. We've changed some in the years we've been writing, and went from six down to the four of us, but we're sticking with our plan to continue writing studies for women in our church and anywhere else to encourage and teach them how to dig deeper into God's word. I'm writing this on Tuesday afternoon, so I'm off to get dressed. 

Thanks for reading my blog, friends! Love to all. ❤