It Was a Happy Birthday!

 My goodness. What a sweet day I had on Saturday! I wanted to share with you some of the birthday fun we enjoyed! We stayed close to home, because our small group got together in the evening, and we wanted to be part of that! But this was also one of our very last days of "retirement" because Ryan starts a new job TODAY! I will tell you more about that this week, but if you think of it today, will you pray for him? He is so excited, but he feels the weight of big responsibility, too. I know he will do GREAT! 

So my birthday began by sleeping in, which is always my favorite. I had my coffee on the porch with Ryan and Lexi, and that was sweet. It was a beautiful morning! 

I love the breakfast pizzas from Casey's (yes, the gas station) so we had stopped there Friday night to pick one up and had the leftovers Saturday morning. I'll show you the Friday night picture since I don't look quite as scary.

(I forgot I didn't get ready on Friday. Maybe I do look just as scary.)

Anyway! I was in the middle of getting ready when one of my Bluffton friends stopped by with a gift of balloons! We got a picture, but she had just left the gym and I was still mid-getting-ready, so I won't post that one. But it was so kind of her to surprise me! 

After that, I opened my gifts. My parents and one of my sisters had given me gifts on Mother's Day, but I had a few more cards and gifts that came in this week and even a few yesterday, so I opened those! Here are a few of them!

I received a gift card to a coffee shop in Ossian. I haven't been to that one yet and am so excited to check it out!

My other sister gifted me new oven mitts and pot holders. They were SO needed (and on my wish list) because...well...see below for my old one. 

My gift from Ryan was so sweet. I'll give you the back story. When we worked at WillowBridge, we had the privilege of getting to know the family members of some of coworkers, which was an extra wonderful bonus. One of those bonuses was meeting Aubrey and her husband, who make the most beautiful leather pieces. While I am typically not a person who splurges on pretty purses, I'd told Ryan I would love to own one she had made. And now I have one! (Their company is called Zelaki Leather Company...check them out!) This is a very special gift to me, and I'm so excited about it!

The attention to detail is fantastic. 

And when the mail arrived, I had a few more gifts!!

I was able to really enjoy my afternoon with some scrapbooking and reading messages, and it was a joy! Ryan and Lexi hung out on the porch. Must have been a deep conversation. :) 

And in the evening...it was time to head to our small group! Yes, we drove there in Abby! We had picked her up the night before to dewinterize and clean her (more on this later in the week), so we were taking her back to where she lives! 

I didn't take a ton of pictures at small group because we are still new, and I'm trying to dial down the crazy paparazzi lady status. But Ryan did get a couple of quick pictures of the birthday song! We took a Texas Sheet Cake (which Ryan made!) and we learned when we got there that one of the other guys in our group also has a birthday in a few days. So they sang to both of us!

We had a great time with our friends, and they were so encouraging to Ryan about his new job starting today. It was really great! And a bonus? Living here meant spending my birthday with Julie. Love her so much!

Thank you to ALL of you who made my birthday special. And Ryan? Thank you for making it a grand celebration. I love you so! Also thank you for letting me wake you up from an 11:45 p.m. nap to get in one last picture together on my birthday!