Turning 23 means a gift from Tiffany!

I've mentioned a few times to Brenton that I would like a light pink necklace to match my light pink butterfly earrings my dad got me a few years ago. I have a deep, magenta-pink necklace that looks wonderful with bright pinks, but I've wanted a light pink one for awhile now. I figured Brenton would go to Macy's or Target and find a simple, cheap necklace that would work just fine. In fact, I was pretty positive that was what I'd be receiving on my birthday, and was perfectly pleased.

I woke up this morning to the smell of bacon, fruit, and pancakes. Brenton brought me breakfast in bed comprising of berry pancakes with a layer of whipped cream on the top and a smile made with berries, to create a pancake snowman face, scrambled eggs, and bacon. Of course the meal would not be complete without a glass of "birthday orange juice." In my early years of college, my roommates and I decided that the best orange juice from the store was "Simply Orange." However, that orange juice is immensely expensive, so we dubbed it Birthday Orange Juice, because we could only afford it on special occasions. The name and tradition has stuck ever since.

After breakfast Brenton asked me to close my eyes. I knew the pink necklace was on it's way. He placed a tissue-wrapped parcel on my lap. I began to untie the ribbon at the top when I noticed a very light printing on the tissue paper reading, "TIFFANY AND CO." I was shocked. There was no way he got me something from Tiffany's. Sure enough, as the tissue paper fell off there lay the infamous turquoise box with the white ribbon tied around it. I've never seen that color turquoise on anything else but a Tiffany's box. I pulled off the ribbon and lifted the lid. There was a small card inside in which Brenton had printed a quote from "Breakfast at Tiffany's." It read, "You know those days when you get the reds? The only thing that does any good is to jump in a cab and go to Tiffany's. Calms me down right away. The quietness and the proud look of it. Nothing very bad could happen to you there." And then there was the soft turquoise leather bag. I carefully loosed the ties, and pulled out a beautiful, silver necklace with a light pink, sparkly heart pendant. It was so beautiful. Every tiny little detail on it was perfect, and so delicate.

I have an amazing husband. He is so kind and good to me. I know that he is the best decision I have ever made. I love that he knows just how to treat and make me feel like quite a lady. So here's to turning 23! May it be all that I dream for it to be.

Santa Bells and Sniffles

Well it's finally looking a lot like Christmas. All of Brenton's presents have safely arrived, are wrapped, and under the tree. Speaking of trees, ours is put up, beautifully lit, with all my childhood ornaments adorning its branches. We didn't have a star or angel to put on top, and they're surprisingly expensive. So, we took one of my Belle barbie dolls, put her in her red and gold Christmas dress, and placed her on top of the tree. I love it. It makes me smile every time I see it. Decorations are thoughtfully placed around the apartment, and the atmosphere is generally lovely. It's a pleasant scene to come home to after a sorely trying day. We even had our first heavy snowfall on Monday, so even the ground and trees outside are putting on their frosty coverings for the season.

Our Christmas cards are in the mail, and our Santa e-mail is in full swing. For those that haven't heard, we have set up a Santa e-mail for children to write to and get a letter back from Santa Claus. It is Santa.CommDept@gmail.com . Please feel free to forward it along to anyone who might be interested. It's a joy to read the sweet letters from children. I'm amazed at how many of them say, "I love you, Santa." We've enjoyed reading them so much.

I'm grateful for all of the Christmas frivolity, because it's been a very long week. I didn't realize that when you're married, if one spouse catches a cold/virus, it's only a matter of time before the other one does. Usually this occurs just as the other one is feeling better. So after two weeks of frustration and irritation while one spouse recovers, those two weeks are stretched into a month of agitation. I think both of us have had it with the cold season. It was my turn to catch the friendly cold, and it's been pretty nasty. Not enough to take a sick day, well, I'm out of sick days thanks to the swine flu in October, so I couldn't take a day off if I wanted to. Just enough to make me uncomfortable, grouchy, and all together exasperated and huffy. In the midst of this, it's so nice to see the tree, and listen to Christmas music in the car. Or to make pie and smell the cinnimon scented room spray in the office. It's kind of what's keeping me moving forward.

I've got a lot to look forward to though. It's my birthday on Monday, and a week later Brenton and I are on a plane headed for a wonderful Virginia Christmas with family, and all things merry. I can't wait. *sniffle*