Blessings

It has been a little while, and I just want to reflect on God's goodness since then. I had a most wonderful 22nd birthday celebration, and I thank every single person that was somehow a part of it. It started the night before my birthday, when my mom bought me a "Birthday Princess" pin to wear to work the next day. I woke up the following morning for work, and my dad was in the kitchen preparing his special pancakes...Swedish pancakes. They're very similar to crepes, and they're my dad's best thing to cook. So I had a wonderful breakfast before I left for work. My day at work went pretty well. I had just started training as a cashier (I was a cashier assistant before), so it's been pretty exciting. It was pretty fun having all of the Costco members wish me a Happy Birthday. Sometimes I forgot I was wearing the pin, so I thought "How did you know it was my birthday?!" ...and then I looked down at my shirt. :) About halfway through my day, I had a surprise visit from my friend Jennifer and her grandmother Sittie. They brought me a HUGE bouquet of fresh flowers...with mostly Gerber Daisies, my favorite. :)



I was all smiles the rest of the day, and then came home to find a little surprise from my roommate Lina: pink streamers hanging in my bedroom doorway, plus a Happy Birthday balloon. :)



I changed out of my work clothes and freshened up a bit, then borrowed a birthday outfit from Lina. She and I share clothes a lot...it's usually one way (her borrowing from me), but this time I was successful in finding something I liked. :) My parents came over to my apartment to let me open my gifts from them before we all went out to dinner. My brothers came too, and it was really nice to see them dressed up.



We went out to dinner at Weber's in Ann Arbor, and the food was really delicious! There was a band that played afterwards, so that was fun as well. It was nice to spend some time with my whole family on my birthday. After we had finished eating, I headed back to my apartment to hang out with Lina...and to go find something free for my birthday. We ended up going to downtown Ann Arbor to get a free smoothie at Bubble Island. :) We hung out there for a while, then went for a long walk around town. It was freezing cold outside, but we really enjoyed just walking and talking.

The following day, Sunday, I went to church and then headed straight for work. We had quite the busy day at Costco, with everyone buying things for Thanksgiving. The day went by pretty quickly and I came home to find the apartment clean and decorated for my party that evening. :) Thanks Lina, Jennifer, and Kayla for your time and dedication! It was really nice to walk through that door after work and see the party all set up. I just had to be the birthday girl. :) The party had a really nice turnout. A bunch of my friends from UCO and Cru came, so it was good to see everyone meeting eachother and having a good time.



After the party, Jennifer stayed the night and helped Lina and me clean up the mess. It wasn't too bad to clean with three of us though, so that was nice. All in all, with my special day at work, dinner with my parents, and the party with my friends, I had a really great 22nd birthday. I am so thankful for such wonderful friends and family. I praise God for them everyday. :)

It's Thanksgiving Day now, and I'm looking forward to eating some great food and visiting with my cousins later. As I mentioned before, I am really grateful for what God has blessed me with...wonderful friends, great family, perfect health, and the constant reminders of His great love for me. I hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving (and Jennifer--Happy 24th Birthday!!), and that you enjoy spending time with your family.

God bless!