It's My Birthday!!

The day is here!  I awoke this morning feeling...a day older.  And another day thankful.  I have so much to be thankful for!  God has been good to me.  I'm thankful for each day, for each year, and for each moment.  Today, I praise Him for one more year of life and health.

I got up early today (as I usually do) and began to get ready for church.  My daughter was awake and packing up her car - she plays guitar with the youth ministry band and had to be at church early for practice.  She was the first to wish me a happy birthday and give me my present:  she knows how much I'd been wanting to see the Disney movie Saving Mr. Banks, and she got me the DVD.  I love Tom Hanks, he is such an amazing actor, and I saw previews of him playing Mr. Walt Disney in this movie.  He is a genius!  I can't wait to watch the movie later on.  Underneath the movie I could see a gift card, but she said it was from her little brother who was still asleep, so I decided to wait till he got up to take a look at it.  I made breakfast and got myself a cup of coffee, then woke up my youngest son.  I didn't want to wake up my oldest son R; he had pulled a double shift at work the day before and I wanted to let him sleep in.  He got up early anyway, and gave me a big birthday hug.  That made my day right there!  His younger brother finally got up and they gave me my gifts.  My son E gave me a $25 gift card from my favorite cosmetic store, Ulta.  Woohoo!! My oldest son got me a great recipe book:  Taste Of Home Christmas Recipes.  I love recipe books, and this one has lots of desserts which means lots of goodies for our tummies!  It made me so happy to see how well my babies know me :-).

I got to Sunday school before anyone else, so I started up the coffee and set everything up.  People started streaming in, and one of the ladies whom I've known for years (her daughter was my daughter's college roommate) wished me a happy birthday.  I thought that was so sweet.  Then as our teacher was taking prayer requests, she mentioned to the whole class that it was my birthday - it caught me off guard, but everyone was wishing me a happy birthday, and at the end of the class they prayed for a special blessing for me on my day.  That really made my heart sing!

The sermon on the prodigal son was on point - I left feeling so loved by my God, who loves me and calls me His own even when I try to go off on my own, thinking I know better than anyone.  Pastor Ray once again preached the word with truth and accuracy.  I'm so thankful for our pastor!

After church we came home and waited for my daughter so we could decide where to go out to eat.  We always go out either for lunch, dinner, or "linner" on my birthday, and I was trying to decide where to go.  I felt like having Mexican food, so I chose a Mexican restaurant that's in an outdoor mall just north of us.  My daughter came home and we all hopped in the car and headed over, only to find the place packed inside and out, and no parking anywhere.  That was going to be a long wait, and it was already 3:00.  We drove over to the main street and looked at different places to eat.  My son R spotted Buffalo Wild Wings, and we all perked up.  We are chicken wing lovers, no doubt about it.  I still felt like Mexican but I would happily have wings, so we turned in there.  Again, the place looked like it was packed, but they got us seated right away.  Once we were sitting, I was quickly reminded how much I hate football.  There were television screens everywhere, with multiple games going on, and everyone focused on the Dolphin game.  The noise was over-the-top, but with it being a Sunday, and a football Sunday at that, I knew if we left we'd run into the same thing no matter where we went, so we stayed.  I anticipated slow service but it was the absolute contrary.  We were seated right away, our order was taken, and the food came quickly.  I ordered - get this - fish tacos!  Yes, I wanted Mexican and I got it!  My younger kids got a big platter of wings which they shared, and R had chicken tenders with enormous onion rings.  Once it was clear that the Dolphins were gonna lose, the place quieted down and we had a really nice time.  My oldest son graciously paid for the entire meal.  I was so thankful to be able to have my babies with me to celebrate my birthday.

Coincidentally (or not), Ulta was on the same street as Buffalo Wild Wings - isn't that perfect? ;-)  And my boys didn't complain - there's a Barnes and Noble in the same shopping center, so while my daughter and I went cosmetics shopping, they went to look at and purchase books.  I already knew what I wanted from Ulta:  cosmetic brushes.  Some of my brushes I've had for years, and especially my blush brush is rough against my skin from washing it so much.  I was hoping to get the Real Techniques core collection since I've heard such great things about it and my daughter has their powder brush which she loves.  When we walked into the store, the first thing that caught my eye was a Bare Minerals blush and brush set that I'd seen advertised on a youtube video, and I ran to get it.  It's a full size loose powder blush in Strawberry Cream with a mini blush brush for $10!  The regular price for just the blush is $19, so I knew I wanted that beautiful pink blush!  My daughter was looking at the BareSkin serum foundation, trying to decide what color she wanted.  I have this foundation in Bare Natural, which is a neutral color.  She has used it before, but she mistakenly thought I had Bare Nude.  As she was picking different colors to look at, I pulled the Bare Nude and asked if she wanted to try that one.  Her answer:  "You've already seen me in the Nude."  What was even funnier was that she didn't realize what she'd said till I told her, "I haven't seen you in the nude in a long time."  We laughed so much!  After trying out different tones one of the sales ladies came over and helped her pick the right color for her:  Bare Ivory.  It matched her neck nicely, and helped cover the redness in her cheeks.  After that she went to look at hair products and I went in search of my brushes.  I was so disappointed to find they didn't have any more core collection brushes :-(.  I should mention, the store was pretty busy and there was a long line at the registers the whole time we were there, so I wasn't surprised they were running out of merchandise.  'Tis the season to be shopping :P.  I did find the eye brush set - I wanted new eye brushes as well, and it was the last one.  Since they didn't have the core collection I decided to just get the blush brush.  Yes, the blush I was purchasing had a blush brush, but it's a mini.  It's nice for travel or to have in my purse, but I like a big fluffy brush for blush, and this one was $8.99 which is a great deal.  I had gotten a 20% off coupon from Ulta in the mail, and with that and the gift card, I was able to get everything I wanted for $6.35.  Now that's what I call a great deal!

The trip home was nice, chatting and listening to the Duck Dynasty Christmas CD my kids gave me last year.  We pulled into the driveway, and I remembered we still haven't fixed our Christmas lights.  It was already dark so that wasn't going to happen today.  Hopefully I can get that done tomorrow.  Our house looks so sad and dark compared to the other houses on our block.

I'm gonna relax the rest of this evening, watch a movie, and enjoy what's left of my birthday.  I am so blessed, and have so much to be thankful for.  My life isn't perfect by any means; but I am loved by my God, by my family, and by my friends.  And if you have Jesus, you already have everything you need.  All the rest is bonus.  Have a good night.