Happy birthday to Me!

Back on August 8th, I turned 25.

It was a three-day celebration, and it was oh-so-fun.

Sunday (the 7th), I went to my cousin's birthday lunch [family tradition on mom's side].

I love spending time with my family,

and my mom made it special by making me a beautiful and amazingly yummy fruit pizza for my birthday!

J and I met up with his parents and grandmas for dinner at Claim Jumper.

I love it there... the atmosphere, the memories, and of course, the yummy food. hugest menu ever!

We had a really special time together.

Reason #400 why I love J: he orders dessert with me :-)

gift highlights: a cricut cartridge, cute 3-day jacket, worship album, and giftcards to target, nordstrom, and road runner sports

To close out the evening, we had an amazing last-minute late night heart-to-heart with our 

neighbors/pastor/friends over Papa Johns and Starbucks.

I took my birthday off [!!] and spent the cool Monday morning with
my mom and sister at the cutest breakfast place in La Jolla.

breakfast + amazing company + clouds + beach front view + birthdays = perfect

gift highlights: fun scrapbook stuff, makeup, hair flower clip, and a cute dress

we happened to stumble across some sea lions basking on the rocks with thousands of birds :)

a little shopping

love taking pictures with you both! we look like triplets :)

Thanks, mom and C, for a special start to my day. 

J was able to take the afternoon off, so we headed to Coronado for ice cream and a little time at the beach.
[our first trip together to the beach all summer, aren't we lame? not anymore though! :)]

ps: I woulda taken a picture of our ice cream,
but half of it melted on my hands by the time we got to a place where I could get the camera out ;)

crossing the bridge... I love San Diego.

We headed to Road Runner to spend my gift card afterwards :) Thanks J&K!

We finished out the day with dinner at old faithful with the fam.

gift highlight: some fun 3-day gear and thoughtful cards

My sister gave me the sweetest made-me-cry card

and the cutest jacket ever. I'm ready for cloudy days!

and, the most thoughtful blog post ever.

I love my family.

Thanks for making my birthday so special, sweet family.

We arrived home after dinner to a special birthday surprise from my neighbor and great friend.

some amazing music and starbucks.

thank you, Jen. you are so incredibly thoughtful.

Last but not least, a few special treats from my favorite. 

a few highlights: scrapbook scissors, black and white paper, envelope stencils, the cutest cricut cartridge, a pedometer, 
CD, and fun new iphone case. oh, and peanut m&ms, of course ;)

babe, it was perfect. thank you for seeing into my soul and showing me love in these special items.
as well as in other ways. i love you. wholly, deeply, truly.

{btw, I'm not the present hoarder I look like... we just like to give lots of small items :)}

Tuesday evening, we took dinner with the Js to M, K, and E. 

It was so special to spend time with special friends and little Elle.

Afterward, the J Mcs continued on for some fro yo. my FAVE.

{i adore jessi}

thanks for being such genuine friends who can share in our joys, trials, and of course, birthdays.
and thank you for my beautiful candle holder. the yummy fresh linen smell warms our home.
we love you.

It was such a special start to my 25th year. Thank you friends and family for making it so meaningful.
And for loving me the way that I am.
I'm excited for what this year holds. I think it's gonna be my best yet. :)

Connected by Christ

Last night, I had the privilege of spending the evening with the ladies from my Bible study last year. 

To say the least, it was much needed and oh-so-special. 

Jessi said it best.

top: jess, me, katie

bottom: angie, joyce, jenn

[thanks for the photo, j]

I seriously adore these girls. 

adore them.

Weekend Recap

This weekend was filled with friends, family, love, life chats, and laughter.

It was perfect.

ladies night on Friday

late [late late late] night conversation with special girls in YMC

morning 3-day training walk kick-off on the water with mom

meeting a sweet girl and Matt from channel 8 who are also walking in the 3-day

my first 3-day outfit purchase {!!!}

starbucks

laughing and story telling with mom and carly

~~ afternoon with J! ~~

ihop pancakes at 3:30pm

target shopping

{thank you for being so patient and supportive as i tried on 3-day clothes, honey!}

chatting about life and lots of laughter

walk with the puppies

some laundry and straightening {unfortunately cleaning didn't happen... but it was worth it}

flag cookies and dancing with j and sis

heart sharing with j at 3am

great table conversation at YMC with good friends... and being on time!

spontaneous lunch date with jaclyn

$1.25 strawberries and some chocolate covered almonds

evening of photos and laughter on the water with the sansom family

worship music playing throughout our home

Great weekend. So thankful.

Marriage conference this Friday and Saturday!!! San Diego friends - come!

Cupcakes for Jennifer

To celebrate Jen's birthday last Thursday, 

a few girls from church had a little surprise party for her this past Friday. 

I chauffeured her over to Sondra's house for a little 'girls' night' ...

She knew that part... but not about the other little surprises :)
[thank you Sondra for all the pictures!]

... like the cupcake tasting ...

... and her special friend, Kelly ...

... and the presents ...

We had so much fun celebrating our Bible study leader, prayer warrior, 

pastor's wife, encourager, mentor, and friend.

Michelle and Becky... both about to be new mommies in just a few days!

Michelle and Sondra - our amazing party planner and hostess

Candace and me - this girl is so genuinely sweet!

Leslie and Paige - love these girls

 Jaclyn and Jaclynn ;) - love these girls too!

It was so fun to celebrate with you, Jen.

Thank you for your example and great spirit. 

We love you!

Happy birthday!

To celebrate Grandmama

Today is J's grandma's birthday! I love Grandmama. 

She has such spunk, a great sense of humor, and she truly cares about her family and her friends. 

She's having a get-together this evening with all her friends, so we couldn't see her on her actual birthday.
She's quite the social butterfly :)

So, we celebrated her life this past Friday. 

And what better way to celebrate her than by a tea party!

Kris treated us all to Aubrey Rose, the most beautiful and fun tea house in the world... 

well, at least in San Diego :) Thank you for tea, K!

Kris, Birthday Girl, Grandma, and me... and our tea cups :)

Amazing first course: cantaloupe soup and little sandwiches (it's seriously good!)

the serving tray... tons of little sandwiches, fruit slices, and delicious desserts, more tea...

and my favorite, scones!

the birthday girl, herself!

love my mother-in-law

it was Grandma's first time at the tea shop!

the ladies

mother-daughter :)

I so enjoyed having tea with the ladies. It was simply delightful! 

What a fun way to celebrate such a special lady.

Happy birthday Grandmama!