Twenty Four Years Old

Who?

Me?

Couldn't be!

Yesterday I celebrated 24 years of life and I praise God for it!!! Dad reminded me that I'm almost a quarter of century. :) I have been blessed beyond measure and I have so so much to be thankful for!

Tony gave me a dozen each of homemade roses & violets - many of them bearing a special little handwritten message. ;) Earlier in the week he also got me some Fit Flops!

Tony spent most of the afternoon studying for a test, while I divided my time amongst cleaning, crocheting, and a sugar foot scrub. :) Early evening we stopped by Tony's parents house. Unfortunately, Tony's mom had already left for church, but she left my gift on the table. She found the cutest frog card with some cash enclosed and a cranberry scented diffuser (which has already made itself at home in our bedroom)!

We then went to my parents house for a little family celebration. Per my request, mom fixed breaded steak with mashed potatoes, corn, and biscuits. All very yummy!

Before dinner, Brittany gave me a "pre-present" - the felt circles that I had spent hours preparing for our ZONK game. I had let Brittany use them for school a year ago and we thought they were gone forever. But as she was cleaning her room recently she found them. :) This led to another "pre-present" from Joey. A small bag of dog food. "Huh?" Tony & I are not big pet people - at least not in this season of our life. My family knows this too. So I really thought they were joking at first. They kept going on and on about the animal that Joey has hiding in his room. He had bought it the day before. "It don't eat much. It won't be to expensive to feed. Pedro, my parents dog, didn't really like him." I was beginning to get worried. What if he really did get us a pet??? Joey decided to go ahead and give me our new pet. I nervously faced the wall in the living room, while Joey brought out my gift. :) What a relief it was to find this AWESOME metal elephant - who eats nothing. Haha!!

After dinner and kitchen clean-up, I opened the rest of my gifts. :) I recieved a beautiful framed saying & a sweet, sweet card from Chrissie. :)

My parents got me some much desired Croc canvas shoes, a couple shirts, a pack of smarties candy [from dad], and UNO Attack!! I'm sure this new member of the family - UNO - will be making many appearances at our family get togethers. Haha.

Brittany had bought my present several weeks before and has been anxiously waiting to give it to me. Usually she can't wait and she'll give it to me early. ;) She got me a snazzy purple jacket with a contrasting thermal to go underneath! So pretty!

Matthew got me a lovely Tazo tea set in a nice bamboo box. :) It will make 30 cups of yummy tea - one of which I'm enjoying right now as I write this post.

After gifts, Matthew made his last pot of Jamaican Blue Coffee and graciously shared it with everyone. We played a couple rounds of UNO Attack and ate some yummy cake made by Mommy! :) Isn't it so pretty???

Coldest Raleigh Christmas Parade

During our little time of devotions this morning, Richard Baxter (1615-1691) encouraged us to "help each other by [living] an exemplary life."

"Be that yourselves which you desire your husband or wife should be;

excel in

meekness,

humility,

charity,

dutifulness,

diligence,

self-denial,

and

patience."

*Oh, and I'm

*pretty excited

*about the

*little

*snow flurry

*we're

*having!!

*Happy

*Friday

Pumpkin Pie

8oz cream cheese, softened
2 cups pumpkin puree
1 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg plus 2 egg yolks, slightly beaten
1 cup half and half
1/4 cup melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 frozen pie crust
Whipped cream, for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese with a hand mixer.
Add the pumpkin and beat until combined.
Add the sugar and salt. Beat until combined.
Add the eggs, half and half, and melted butter. Beat until combined.
Add vanilla and spices. Beat until combined.

Pour the filling into your pie crust and bake for 50 minutes, or until center is set.
Place the pie on a wire rack and cool to room temparture.
Cut into slices and top each piece with a generous amount of whipped cream. YUM!!

This past weekend my mom & I went to the East Coast Ladies Retreat at Faith FWB Church. I attended my first ladies retreat 12 years ago at the young age of 12. I can't believe that many years has gone by already!! *Gasp* :) One of the speakers was John Bishop (along with his wife Donna). In 1995, John was stricken with aseptic meningitis. He lost all of his memory and has had to learn how to walk, read, talk, etc all over again. He has severe migraines that come and go - he described it as having six migraines at the same time. He is usually given a shot of morphine to help with the pain. Most recently, he has lost his eyesight. But through all this he says "God is always good and God is always right!" His wife has been his "teacher" through all of this. When he first lost his memory, she was telling him they were married. John didn't know what marriage was. She explained it this way, "You belong to me and I belong to you." John replied, "Oh, so you are My Donna?" "Yes, I'm your Donna." And that is what he has been calling her ever since. John is overwhelmed at the goodness and love that his wife has shown to him through all these trials. He asked her "Why are you so good to me Donna?" She replied, "For two reasons. First - Because I promised - I made a vow on our wedding day - for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health to love and to cherish until death do us part. And the second reason is because I love you with a special love! John then related this conversation to God. "God, why have you been so good to me?" And God says because I made a promise - he made a vow to save His people. And because I love you with a special love! So true! With tears in my eyes I shared the story of John Bishop with My Tony. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to not remember ... anything. We have no idea what the future holds. But God does! And there is so much comfort found in that precious Truth! HE has ordered our steps and HE will recieve the honor and the glory!

Saturday evening Tony & I ate at a local mexican restaurant and browsed through Books A Million. Because of the retreat, we had been apart for several hours - so our little reunion was very sweet! :) We also gathered with some fellow siblings in Christ for a time of worship.

*******************************
Yesterday as my dad and I were taking a walk it started to SNOW!!! :) Can you believe it?Snow in North Carolina before Thanksgiving!! So out of the ordinary for us. It was sooo pretty too. According to the almanac and the pecan trees we are supposed to have a very wet and cold winter. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.