BIRTHDAY week!!

Alrighty, I am not gonna lie....I LOVE BIRTHDAYS!! I love celebrating! Not just my own, mind you..I get excited for other people on their birthdays and I especially get excited if I get the honor of being able to celebrate with them!!

The reality is that life is hard. There is a lot of pain in life. So, if we get a chance to celebrate, we should celebrate,right? Well, that is what I think.

So, last week happened to be my birthday!! The celebrating began on Tuesday(on my actual bday) and went on through Saturday!! I know, I am VERY blessed.

Some highlights included:
1) Dinner with my dear friend, Kim Schultz, on my birthday!! It had been a "not so great" day of diaper changing, meltdowns,(by one of my children-not me this time!!), a trip to the doctor, and an hour waiting on a prescription to be filled..SO, it was such a nice treat to end my day with great time with Kim!!

2) Facebook Birthday wishes from people-I read every one of them and was so thankful that people would take the time to wish me a happy bday!

3) Dinner on Thursday night with about 25 friends at eeZ Fusion! It was a blast!! Phillip had planned the evening and it could not have been more special! I loved having my friends all in one place (except those who were unable to attend!) and hearing them laugh and have a good time. It was very cool to look around, to see the smiles, hear the laughter and the craziness, and know that women were hopefully getting their tanks filled by being out of the home and with other women for the evening.

4) One of the gifts I received that evening was a book that Mary put together of letters from some of my friends. It meant so much to me and I sat and read the letters when I got home that night. A treasure of a gift!!

5) Went out with my family, my parents and my brother on Friday night! We try to get together to celebrate birthdays so it was fun to be together.

6) My mother in law made me a mini scrapbook of me growing up! I know it took a lot of time and love, so that was a special gift.

7) And for my final bday celebration, Phillip took me out on a special date Saturday night. We went to dinner uptown and had good conversation and a yummy dinner!! Then , we went to Amelie's French bakery and hung out there for a while. He then gave me my bday present,which was a gift certificate to a spa in Blowing Rock! I know, I have THE best husband in the world. He did an amazing job making this birthday extra special.

So, it was a fantastic week. And here is a take-away...we need to celebrate more often. We need to celebrate people!! We need to let them know how much they mean to us. We need to highlight their wonderfulness (is that a word?) Maybe not just celebrate on people birthdays, but every once in a while, get groups together and go out and just enjoy being together!! Life has enough stress, so let's take some time to celebrate when we can. It sure made a difference in my life this week as people took the time to make me feel special. And I think God smiled on that!