It's my [work] party!

Check out my festive office, courtesy our student worker, Brittany, and my boss' son, Tyler--also two super-hip college kids who I like talking to! They couldn't find balloons, so they printed out pictures of balloons and taped them all over my office. And check out my adorable birthday doughnut!

The roses are from my darling hubby--I feel so loved! Last year I got a car detail as a birthday surprise, this year a dozen red roses...I never know what I'll get from him. He likes to do one surprise and then a few regular gifts.
Right after this picture was taken, another bouquet arrived! It said Gear Up office on it, and so for some reason I assumed it was from the office. I even thanked Paula and Leah Anne, my coworkers and they were like your welcome! Then I set it down in my office, pulled out the card (duh!) and it said from Dad and Sharonda...I went back in Leah Anne's office and was like, Don't worry guys, you don' t owe anybody anything, those were from my dad...Many laughs were had...ah, good times on my b-day.

Nobody likes you when you're 23...

Well my birthday is approaching--March 29 (go out and get those last-minute gifts, everyone! Just kidding...), and I find myself giving a sigh of relief to be moving on from my 23rd year. In the immortal words of Blink 182, "Nobody likes you when you're 23" (What's My Age Again?). I have to say, I have seen some of the meaning behind those profound lyrics this year. I turned 23 during my first year of marriage, and although I always felt loved, I didn't always feel liked. I also struggled through two part-time jobs during my 23rd year. However, I got my first full-time, professional job, and my first cover story this year, too!!

Praise God for both times: the lows and the highs!

Also, happy birthday to my brother-in-law, Kyle, who turns 33 today! Check out the blog my sister-in-law Audrey writes about their family happenings at right.

Back to the daily grind...

Oh, it stinks to be back... No I was definitely missing J, who stayed home to clean house (yeah right!) and fish. But vacation time was so sweet. I read a goofy chick lit novel that was most definitely not required reading, and I started Pride and Prejudice. Now I'm halfway through it and have had to stop to read a South African novel for my World Lit class... *sigh* C'est la vie.

Here's the official report of our trip: Taos, NM for three days of snow skiing. Jay didn't go because he doesn't want to risk hurting his knee. Next year we're going to learn to snowboard together, because I've heard that's easier on your knees.... any input on that? I'm just going on hearsay... The skiing was awful at first, and excellent the third day. The first day, we were skiing in a blizzard!! It was survival of the fittest, and I'm sorry to say, our group wimped out and went back down the mountain early. The next day, it was better, although the icy wind was still pretty brutal. The third day, the sun came out and smiled on us and our skiing (whoa, too much Native American lit for me!). These pics were both taken the third day. The first one is my sister, our cousin Dave's lovely, lots of fun wife, Liz, and me. The second one is my sister and brother pretending to have a crash. I don't think my sister has fallen skiing since her first trip, which was like 14 years ago. Me, I spend a little time on my rear still. Usually only at the end of a long day when my legs are tired and I hit some bumpy or icy spot, and I'm just like whatever, do I eat snow anymore. I hate that Jay will probably never see me doing this one athletic thing that I'm kind of good at...he had the audacity to tell me he thought I would be a conservative skiier! I handle the blues with the best of them, thank you very much!!

SOSU ends season with heartbreaker

Hey, do I sound like a sportswriter or what? Well, our beloved SOSU men's basketball team ended their season in a disappointing loss to West Texas A&M Commerce last Friday. All the fans had such a great feeling about the game, because we'd played incredibly Tuesday, thereby securing our position as host for the rest of the tournament. All we gotta do is protect home court, right? Couldn't do it. We lost by two points as Robert "Auss" Aitken, the only senior on our team, bricked a three-pointer, which ended his scoreless evening. If that's not heartbreaking enough, let me push you over the edge to pathetic with this bit of locker-room gossip from Jay: After the game, Auss laid down on the FLOOR OF THE MEN'S LOCKER ROOM BATHROOM and bawled his eyes out! Okay, a) Who knows what kinds of diseases he'll be taking back down under with him after that decision, and b) Poor guy.

In good news though, God is blessing Northwest Church of Christ tremendously with Andy and Terri Burns, our new preacher and his wife! They have such love for Jesus and the church and the lost, it's really helping us grow. My favorite thought from Andy so far is this: Meeting with the church isn't the purpose of the church. Worship is our privilege, spreading the Gospel is our purpose.