February 29th

I don't know about you, but my "extra day" of the year was a pretty good one.  It was a busy day {as usual}, and I didn't technically get paid to work today because of the fact that I'm a salary employee {learned that little tidbit while listening to the radio on my drive into work}, but it seemed as though fun little surprises were around almost every corner all day today.

This morning, my in-laws had Tiff's Treats delivered to my office with a really sweet note.  It turns out cookies {both chocolate chip AND peanut butter} and milk are a great way to start the day.  I'd tell you how many of them I ate today, but I don't know if I can count that high without taking off my shoes. ;)

At lunch, I ran to the post office and then treated myself to a sandwich at ThunderCloud Subs. A girl that went to the same church as I did growing up works there.  I always see her there when I go, but today was the first time that she made my sandwich, and when she was done, she handed it over and said "it's on me".  I tried to argue, but she insisted.  How nice is that?  I called her manager a little bit later in the afternoon to compliment her and the rest of the staff at that location.  They are always SO nice there!

And then, to top it off, on my way home from work today, I got to enjoy this sunset.  Beautiful, huh?  Such a perfect ending to a great day.

 Happy leap day!  I hope your "extra day" was a good one, too.

Prayers for Brandi

In case you've been wondering why I've been MIA lately, it's because the past couple of weeks have been insanely busy -- with work, Special Olympics, and just life in general.  I promise to update the blog as soon as things slow down a bit, but in the meantime, please keep Brandi and her family in your prayers as her sister Nikki passed away very suddenly at the end of last week.  I can't even imagine the pain that Brandi and her family are going through right now and hope that they are able to find comfort in the wonderful memories that they have of Nikki and in knowing that she is finally at peace with the Lord.

Brandi's Bachelorette Party in Fall 2009

Brandi & Nikki

Cheryl, Brandi, & me

Happy Birthday to My Valentine!

An Early Celebration

We went over to my mom's house tonight to celebrate Ben's birthday and Valentine's Day a little early.

 

My mom and G made cream chipped beef on toast {a family favorite} with mashed potatoes and broccoli, and of course, we all ate way too much.

Believe it or not though, we were somehow able to find room in our stomachs for both cake and chocolate covered strawberries.

We also spent a good part of the evening laughing at all of the "T-Rex Trying..." pictures {http://trextrying.tumblr.com/} on Ben's phone.

 

Nobody thought they were as funny as Ben though.  He was laughing so hard that he was crying.

Ben got some birthday money, and we all got Valentine's gifts.  G gave us candy and some spending money, and my mom gave us each a box of our favorite girl scout cookies.  The birthday boy got 2 boxes, but poor Nelson got the short end of the stick.  A couple of weeks ago, my mom asked Holly which ones were his favorites, and she told her that the Thanks-A-Lots were, but we found out last night that that isn't entirely true.  The truth is Nelson doesn't actually like girl scout cookies {crazy, huh?} and the Thanks-A-Lots are actually one of HER favorites.  What a little toot. ;)

We left my mom's house feeling stuffed and with a bag full of cake, girl scout cookies, chocolate covered strawberries, AND candy.  All I can say is it's a good thing I run. ;)

She said YES....to the dress!

Yesterday was a very big day.  Holly found her wedding dress -- and it only took us 3 Saturdays, 6 bridal salons, 27 dresses, and 90 pictures to narrow it all down to the 1 dress.  Haha -- yes, really. ;) The problem is that Holly looks good in just about everything she puts on {if you can really call that a problem}, so basically she just needed to find the dress that is the most "her".  I really wish I could post of a picture of the one she chose because it is absolutely beautiful, and of course, she looks amazing in it, but that would totally ruin the surprise -- especially for a certain special someone that reads my blog {ahem...Nelson}.  So intead, here are the pictures of Holly's posse.  Thanks again to everyone who came with us to join in on the fun and offer their opinion.

Laura, Dabney, Mom, Debbie, and Abby

 Mom, Leanne, Mrs. Chang, and G

If you're wondering why I'm not lounging in either one of those pictures, that would be because I was hard at work -- helping her into and out of every single one of those 27 dresses.  Being the matron of honor is tough work sometimes {haha -- not really}, but I am so glad she chose me.  I love you, Holly, and I'm so happy that you said "yes" to the dress! ;)

Happy Birthday Grandma!

 

Today is Grandma's 84th birthday, and we celebrated both hers and Ben's birthdays with dinner at her house this evening.

My dad, Valerie, and Patty made a delicious dinner from scratch, and we had both chocolate cake and key lime pie for dessert.

We had a great time celebrating and catching up on what's been going on the past few weeks -- especially all of the wedding plans.

Happy Birthday Grandma!  We love you and hope you know how special you are to all of us.

Super Bowl Party 2012

Ben and I didn't originally have any big plans for today's Super Bowl, but we ended up inviting Holly and Nelson over somewhat last minute, and we had a great time watching the Giants beat the Patriots.

None of us really cared that much about the game {or was that just me?}, but we did have a great time hanging out together and eating.  We had so much good food -- guacamole, spinach & artichoke dip, hot wings, and baked french fries.  My personal favorite was the chocolate chip cookies though.  I'm not gonna even admit how many of those I ate.

And just because I like to keep it real on my blog {see professional picture below for proof}, here's my favorite picture from tonight -- I hadn't quite made it back into my seat before the self-timer went off, Nelson was just a little excited that the Giants had intercepted the ball, and Holly looked picture-perfect as always.

Thanks for coming over, Holly and Nelson.  It was fun! :)