January 16

My birthday dinner with friends was tonight, and Adam did an awesome job of putting it together. I told him I didn't want to know much, so my sole contribution was giving him a list of email addresses when he asked. When all was said and done, we wound up having dinner and ice cream cake at On the Border, and I wound up with a tiara and a huge bunch of enormous balloons. (Which, I must say, was very, very well-played, given the whole 'balloons flying out of the back of the truck' debacle in Maryland last month.) And, of course, I also left with a lot of really good memories from time with these awesome ladies who I'm very happy to call friends.

It's really easy for me to overthink circumstances and feel overwhelmed by the daily grind, so it's such a blessing to share life with others who make me smile. I am thankful that God created us to be people who thrive in community, and I'm doubly thankful to be surrounded by these strong, wise, and kind women who challenge me and make my life better every day.

And I'm also thankful to have a husband who pulled the strings to make it happen --because I'm very conscious that not everyone enjoys that kind of blessing-- and for kids who wandered around playing paparazzi so their photo-loving mom could have some visual reminders of the evening.

I have much for which to be thankful, methinks. So very much.