Amazing Friends

This post is about two months late, but life has been a bit crazy.   

While Anthony was deployed, God showed me just how blessed with amazing friends I am.  Just before Anthony's birthday, I sent out his address to a few friends of ours, asking them to send Anthony a birthday card.  Since he'd be spending his birthday away from family, I wanted to make it as special as possible from afar. 

I never expected for so much love from Kimmie and her family (although I really should have, they are very amazing women).  They sent ALL of this!

 

And Kimmie's mom even had friends from work send birthday cards too. 

So, to Kimmie and your family, "THANK YOU!"  This was such a loving and generous guesture.  It seriously brought tears to my eyes knowing you all are so kind.  I love you all and am so blessed to have you all in my life!

Meg in the City-Day 1

Kimmie named the trip Meg in the City and I loved it.  I'm going to start with Friday, because Thursday was mostly traveling, nothing very exciting.

Friday was Kimmie's birthday, so we set out to celebrate.  The day started off kind of rocky and I was really worried about Kimmie having a good birthday, but in the end, I'd like to think it turned out to be a pretty good day.

We started with lunch at Leland Tea Company.  Kimmie picked out the Tea for Two which was just perfect (minus the cucumbers).  If you're ever in SF, I strongly recommend checking out Leland Tea Company.  Lunch was amazing.  And the tea was wonderful as well.  Look at the presentation!    

After lunch, we dealt with the fun SF traffic and headed over to Tru Day Spa for a Moji-Toe pedicure and a Vanilla Sky manicure.  We got an amazing deal on the service through Groupon.  It was a very relaxing experience and we even got to enjoy a wonderful mojito while being pampered.

What else can a girl do for some fun after pampering?  Cupcakes and shopping, of course.  So, we headed to Union Square.  While the cupcakes looked delicious, the unfortunately were disappointing.  They have a Macy's and Nordstroms to die for.  We're talking like 5 floors.   

After shopping, we headed back to Kimmie's apartment to get prettied up and then off to Kimmie's birthday dinner at Absinthe.  We enjoyed steak, olives, french fries, and a cheese plate.  And of course, drinks. 

 

After dinner, we called it a night.  We had to get our rest for Napa on Saturday.

Note:  All pictures are courtesy of Kimmie. 

Happy Birthday

Happy 25th Birthday Anthony!

(Priscilla-I hope Greg doesn't mind I stole his photo)

Today, it's this guy's birthday.  I wish I was there to celbrate with him, or rather he was here.  But, he's not.  So, I sent him a cake in a jar.  It was super easy to prepare.  I use a half pint sized jars and I was able to fill 8.  I think they are the perfect size.  He recieved all of his birthday pacakges on Wednesday.  He was surprised to have 4 packages, all filled with snacks, and lots of beef jerky. 

Anthony, I hope you have a wonderful birthday.  I love you very much!

It's My Birthday Month!

(Last year's birthday)

This is going to be a good month!  My birthday is coming up on the 16th.  I will be...gasp...26.  I know, I look 16.  And I think I've finally learned that's okay.  I'm also excited because this year I will be able to celebrate my birthday with my family on my birthday.  It's the first holiday (yeah, my birthday is a holiday in my book) that I've gotten to be home for.  Not only that, but my aunt and uncle that live in Mississippi will be in to visit.  I can't wait.

It's kind of a bittersweet month though, because I realize it's the last full month before Anthony deploys.  It's okay though.  I've gone plans for the summer.  I'm ordering some good books.  I'm getting a library card.  I'm surround by wonderful people, both in real life and in the blogosphere.  I will get through this.  I am strong.  "For I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  Philippians 4:13.

I said I'd keep you updated monthly on how I was doing with my New Year Goals.  I can say the goal of going to church and being green are going well.  The working out goal, however, isn't going so well.  Everytime I start back to working out, my stomach ulcer flairs up for a couple weeks and I'm misserable. 

Happy Birthday Kimmie!

Today is my real life, best friend, Kimmie's birthday. You should go over and wish her a happy birthday. I'm so excited that it's her birthday, but so sad that I'm not there to celebrate. Kimmie and I have been friends for more than 4 years and continue to talk weekly even though we're separated by lots and lots of miles. I can't wait to go visit and see her new home. In honor of her birthday, I'm sharing some of our favorite times together with you. (Warning...lot's of pictures in this post.)

First, some of her past birthdays that we've celebrated together. We've had way too much fun!The above 2 pictures are from Kimmie's 23rd Birthday. We celebrated with a trip to The Cheesecake Factory, followed by a lost drive around Dallas and an unhappy friend, and ended with a trip to our favorite local hangout.

These 2 pictures were taken on Kimmie's 24th birthday. The 5 of us took a cruise to Mexico. We had way too much fun. Maybe next year we'll be able to go on another one.

This was Kimmie's 25th birthday. A bunch of friends from all over the metroplex met up at Gloria's for a fun dinner together.

Now, onto some of the fun we've had over the past years.

This is us at Grapefest. We not only enjoyed great wines, but we also LOVED the food there. Actually, we loved the food anywhere.
Kimmie was a life saver at our wedding. She helped me get everything in order before the wedding and kept me and my maid of honor calm before the wedding. I was so grateful to have her there.While Anthony was away at basic training and tech school this past fall and winter, Kimmie went out of her way to keep me company. We had so much fun and so many great adventures. She was lucky enough to get tickets for a Mavs game through her work, and she took me. We also went down to Austin to visit her family, visit wineries and eat some cupcakes. I honestly don't know what I would have done had she not been around.

Kimmie, I hope you have a wonderful day. I wish I was there to celebrate, but I'm celebrating from afar. Your present should be there already, according to USPS's website, it arrived yesterday. You deserve a wonderful day. You are such a wonderful friend. Love you!

Happy Birthday!!

Happy birthday, to my wonderful husband!

Anthony turns 24 today! He had already recieved part of his present a month ago, which was Sam. In addition to Sam, he ordered himself two golf clubs to complete his set. And, I surprised him with a shirt. Real exciting, I know. He was just like a little kid though, couldn't wait to open them this morning.
We've spent the day hanging out together. We watched Grand Torino in bed this morning. Then played some Mario Bros. on the Wii. After that, we went bowling (his favorite sport). He had to practice because tomorrow he's getting off work to go bowl in a tournament on base and he hasn't bowled in months. Tonight, we are going with some friends to eat at a Japanese Steakhouse in town.

I had planned to decorate the house for him (I LOVE celebrating birthdays) and cook him breakfast for when he got home from work this morning, but he got off work early! He showed up last night around 7! I was super excited about that, since we only get to sleep in together 2 days every 2 weeks. But, my plan was kind of ruined. I sent him to the golf store with his birthday money from my parents so now I can decorate!

(This is a picture from basic graduation...you can tell my the haircut.)

Happy Birthday, Anthony! I love you!

Upcoming Fun

There's not much going on in my life right now. Just lots of lounging either on my couch or by the pool. I went 2 whole days with no makeup because I didn't leave the house. I know, I'm lazy.

Here are some things I'm looking forward to over the next couple weeks.
~Tomorrow I am going to see my first Harry Potter movie. I've never gotten into the books or movies, but Anthony has talked me into it.
~Sunday my mom comes to visit. Then, Monday we will be going to Fredericksburg to spend the night, taste wine, and shop. I'm so excited about this. I miss my mom tons since moving.
~Thursday is Anthony's birthday. No real plans and he already knows what his presents are, but it will still be a fun day. There will be cake involved!
~The next Thursday is Kimmie's birthday! I'm very bummed that I won't be with her to celebrate, but am having a blast picking out her present. Maybe I'll even make a cake to celebrate!
~Job hunting will resume in August. I'm working on my electronic professional portfolio and plan to distribute it, along with my resume, to all the elementary principals in the district when they return from their summer break. Please pray that I find a job. Four months of not working is really hurting my shopping ability, and making me really lazy.

Anything exciting happening in your life over the next few weeks?