my 48th birthday

 

Happy Tuesday, friends! I am talking all things birthday related on today's post. I hope you enjoy, and I'm going to go ahead and apologize for the amount of pictures. 

A really sweet thing that happened was that on Friday night around eleven or so, I got a notification telling me someone was at the front door. When I pulled up the camera, I saw that it was a friend dropping off birthday gifts for me, so I wasn't worried as to who it was. I couldn't tell who she was, but when I went out the next morning, I discovered it was my friend Abbey who had done this. She brought me her favorite cinnamon rolls, and a bag full of goodies that both her kids and she picked out for me. The sweetest part was that in her card she wrote me a letter on notebook paper and included something she prayed for me for my birthday: that from the time I woke up until the time I laid my head down that night, that I would feel loved and cherished. I can honestly say that God answered her prayer for me! How precious is she? 

You need these cinnamon rolls in your life, friends! They're from Aldi. 

Shortly after I woke up, Jonah came downstairs bearing gifts. He got me all of my favorite things! A Gilmore Girls pouch, my favorite pens, a new wallet, a new phone case, flowers, and two silk pillow cases. I told him that he went overboard, but he argued with me and that no amount of gifts would ever be enough for me, especially considering my last six months. See what I mean about feeling incredibly blessed? I felt that love all day long! Graham also came over before I left, which was a big surprise, and he brought me a card and my favorite scent of a Yankee Candle. I am thrilled that candles were my theme in gifts this year, because I love them so much! 

I got dressed and met up with my mom and sister, then we met my nephew Tyler (and my birthday twin) at a breakfast place called Eggs Up Grill. It was delicious! 

Isn't he handsome? We went to Marshall's after this, and I treated myself to some new pants, but more about those in a minute. I dropped Mom and Trish back off at their car, then I headed to something I had been looking forward to for weeks! I treated myself to a ticket to the Christmas Home Tour that our town puts on every year. I don't know why I've never done this before, because it's right up my alley! I called my friend Faye that I knew would also be going and asked her where I needed to start, so when she told me where to go, I met up with her and my friend Rose; they invited me to join them, so I took them up on their offer! This house below was our first stop: a historical home right off the town square. 

The pictures above are all from that first house, and it was my favorite by far. I loved all the dark wood trim work, the pass through window from the hall to the kitchen, and that wallpapered butler's pantry. The home had been added onto twice, and the last time they reconfigured the walls. When one of the guides opened a door with a frosted glass pane on it, she revealed part of their pantry and the original stairs that had been in the home. I love details like that in a historical home! 

This used to be our town's high school, then it became a middle school that my sons Graham and Drew attended. Now it holds our municipal's school offices, and I enjoyed going in the historic building when I worked for Collierville Schools in 2023. My sisters attended this school in high school as teenagers, but I didn't go to Collierville Schools. I graduated from a private school. 

After the first home, for the other three house, we jumped on a shuttle bus. The second and third homes were across the street from each other, so we walked. In the first one we went to in this particular subdivision, I loved the nutcrackers lining the stairs like this. 

 

And I thought this bar cabinet was amazing! Two of the homes on the tour (the first one and this one) had their own pickleball courts and pools in the backyard. I cannot imagine the price tag on these homes! Onto the third home...I loved this home, and the style of the homeowner. It had a very Nora Ephron vibe, and her taste was very eclectic. She also decorates in ways that are clever, and while using every square inch of space. Isn't this stately with the way it sits on this piece of property? 

I swooned over the front doors.

This was a sunroom that was right off the primary bedroom suite. 

And I loved that this home holds a library. That would be a dream of mine to have!

It's funny that the two sisters have similar taste; this one also had nutcrackers lining the stairs. Come to find out that for each of the grandkids, at Christmas the grandparents would always give them nutcrackers. That's why they both had so many!

The last home I toured was another historic home; while I loved looking at it from the inside and getting the story behind it, the style of the home isn't my favorite. It was very mid-century modern and had major Frank Lloyd Wright feels with wood and glass. All that was missing was ironwork. 

The screened in back porch was to die for!

This was the kitchen in the fifties that the home boasted. Like the first home, this one had been added onto several times. This no longer serves as their kitchen, but more as a butler's pantry.

The homeowners call this room their whiskey room; it was beautiful! I love the trend of painting both walls and ceiling in the same color. I don't know that I would ever do that, consider the length of trends, but I love the look it gives. 

This was the original primary bathroom; this little dressing area and the room holding the shower, tub, and toilet is to the left. I loved the built-ins! Now it's one of the kids' bathrooms; there was another right across the hall. I appreciated that the homeowners left the quirky details in the home like the phone nook that isn't pictured and the colored tile in the two bathrooms. 

The formal living room is lined with windows overlooking another beautiful church in our town. I love that view! 

And this is the informal den that they use. I love those windows up high! The light in this room was amazing. This is the home of one of our town aldermen. His real line of work is in the construction business, so both he and his wife have impeccable taste. 

These are my friends that I toured with! Faye is on my left and Rose. Oddly enough, Marilyn and I both know sweet Rose; she is the mother-in-law of Marilyn's sister. Small world, right? Her husband Tommy used to be the associate pastor of my church, but now they travel locally as interim pastors. They are some of the sweetest people you will ever meet! And Faye means the world to me; she used to have my boys come to help her a lot when they were younger, and she always paid them very generously. I'm also friends with Faye's daughter Shawn, and used to help with her Monday night Bible study for high school students. 

I was beat by the time I got home! I definitely got my steps in on Saturday, both figuratively and literally as I also climbed what felt like hundreds of stairs. Coming home to rest before my night out felt great. While I was at home, Drew came over. He bought me one of my favorite kinds of candles: a wood wick candle that smells divine. He stayed for a while, and I fed him food for his early dinner and then sent him home with a bag of goodies. After he left, I eventually went to get dressed for dinner out with four of my closest friends! 

These are the pants that I treated myself to for my birthday; they're from Marshall's and were only $30! I picked a place that I've never been to and always wanted to try on our town square, a Scottish pub called The Highlander. It was really good, and we all loved the feel of the place. I will definitely be going back! 

Sitting at the table with these lovelies all in the same place was the highlight of my birthday. It felt like a dream, because I love them all so much individually; I knew they would all hit it off, and they did! Left to right are Andrea, Missy, Abbey, Marilyn, and me. I've known Andrea for about twelve years; we met for the first time at a homeschool tutorial and Bible study for our kids and hit it off immediately. You all know my Missy; she and I have been best friends for the last ten years of my life. We trauma bonded over the death of my bonus son's mom and have grown closer over the years ever since. We worked in youth ministry together, so we've been on a bunch of trips together both as youth leaders and now as friends. Abbey used to be the girl's ministry leader at my church; we became best friends after being prayer partners for years. I've known her as a single friend and love seeing in the role she has now of wife and homeschool mom. 

And Marilyn you're all familiar with, but let me say this about her: even though I thank the Lord for all of my friends, I thank Him the most for Marilyn. I can't tell you what it feels like knowing that I have such a close friend who is going through identical circumstances in life; she knows one hundred percent of the time where I'm coming from and she is my perpetual weekend plan. I am so very grateful for her friendship! Needless to say, we have also trauma bonded this year, and there will never be any looking back. I feel like we've seen each other at our best and at our worst. I had two more friends that I could have invited, but one is trying not to spend money right now and the other has a daughter home from college and who spent her weekend helping bring home her daughter's new puppy. I was trying to keep our number under six, because over that they add gratuity. I am richly blessed in many areas of my life, but especially in the department of family and friends who feel like family. 

And because solo pictures of myself are my new thing, I wanted Missy to take this one of me. I love my pants! I way overdressed for the establishment in which we dined, but I was only dressing for myself. I wanted to look extra, because if birthdays aren't the time to be that, when is?? I've decided that 48 is going to be my year! It'll be better than all the years of my past, and I'm looking forward with excitement over what is to come. My future is very bright, and I am thrilled about the way my life is playing out. I'm also walking in forgiveness and in the many mercies and grace of God. I wouldn't be who I am today without Him in my life, and I want everyone to know Him the way I do. If you ever want to talk more about that or just to chat about life in general, reach out to me! My email address is allboys@gmail.com. Thank you for reading my blog today, friends. Love to all! 

Jenn 🖤

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