A Birthday, Thanksgiving, New Friends & a New Blessing

The birthday first~"Who's?", you ask. It was mine! Happy birthday to me, November 25th! 36 years young yesterday! Thomas had to work yesterday, so on Sunday after church he took me to PF Changs. Yum! Then we hit the mall & Ikea. We spent the day together just walking & talking. It was nice. We of course went to Starbucks for an afternoon coffee too. He even joined me in Bath & Body Works for a ridiculous amount of time patiently tolerating my need to stand there & smell every candle that they have. Scrumptious! I woke yesterday to find a card & a gift bag on our kitchen counter. It was a lovely card from Thomas with some special words & a really cool coffee mug with the city sky line & "Chicago" on it. He is taking me into the city via the Metra to see Chicago all decked out for the holidays. Lights & music will be in abundance! Fun! Can't wait. Last year we did the Plaza in Kansas City for my b-day. (Think I posted pics of that.) We did the carriage ride around the Plaza with our Starbucks coffee & a blanket. The lights & sounds of the holiday in K.C. were beautiful, I can only imagine what it will be like in Chicago! My Mom of course called me bright & early with a serenade of "Happy Birthday" (Yes, she really sings to me-every year!) & some beautiful sentiments too! I got several birthday cards which I appreciated very much. In the afternoon I went over to my friend's & neighbors house, Christina. They had a card for me & had baked me cookies. THANKS GUYS! Thomas also got me a GPS. He has wanted to get me one for a while now & I have been resistent. I am a little hesitant as I am not great with the electronics stuff, but he assures me that it is very simple to use & that I will have no problems. It is a Garmin...we will see. I am going to try it out later today when I am running errands.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I hope that you all have wonderful holiday. We all have so much to be thankful for, don't we? (Hopefully between today & tomorrow I will find the time to do a "What I Am Thankful For" post. I think that kind of reflection is good to do now & then...)We won't be able to get back home to our friends & family for the holiday, but have fortunately made some good friends here who have been kind enough to include us in their holiday plans. We will be spending Thursday afternoon with our neighbor's. We will be feasting on a fabulous meal & enjoying their company & getting to know each other better. We are looking forward to it & appreciate the invite so much!

We have a calendar full of holiday events. There is so much to do around here. Just every day or so, there is a list of things going on that you can go to. Every Village has a website & list their calendar. It is nice to have options. We have not been use to that.

& for the new blessing~My dear friend Kristin won't have to think very hard for what she is most thankful for this year. Yesterday afternoon (ON MY BIRTHDAY!) Kristin gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Ashlyn Mae! 7.10 oz, 21 inches long @ 2:35PM~This is their first baby. All is well. CONGRATULATIONS Matthew, Kristin & Ashlynn! We are SO happy for you all!

Better shower & get to my errands. I am making my most requested Broccoli & Cauliflower Salad for the dinner tomorrow. Plus, think I will make some Pumpkin Bread & maybe a loaf of homemade bread as well. Oh the carbs of the holiday season! Happy eating everyone! (Wish me luck with my new GPS & maybe offer prayers for me to please have patience...& that it won't be thrown out my window by the days end!)

Blessings!