It has been a while, a long while, since my last blog update. I knew the abundance of school work would begin to overwhelm me at some point and I would fall behind on blogging, one of the simple things in life I really enjoy. I saw a tweet the other day where someone said they wished there were thirty hours in a day. Sometimes I wish the very same thing. There is just not enough time in each day to get everything accomplished. The things I want to do seem to take a back seat to the busy life that surrounds me on a daily basis. I hope that somehow, someway I will be able to make more time in my life to keep this blog going.

Anyway, this past Sunday was a special day. Not because it was Valentine's day, but because it was my 21st birthday. Birthdays have always been a special celebration around my family. People up here in Tennessee sure don't celebrate the same as I do. But I am blessed to have wonderful friends, who even though they don't celebrate in the same way, still made sure they made my birthday a very special day for me. I'm so thankful to have such sweet friends, friends like these are a gift. My parents also came in town to celebrate my birthday with me. I have spent every single birthday with them and I was glad they made the long trip up here to continue the tradition. My dad informed one of his client's that he would be gone over the weekend and not in the office because he was traveling to visit his daughter for her 21st birthday. The man's response was "your daughter wants to spend her 21st birthday with you?" It made all of us laugh because of how close our family really is. Most people don't quite understand the relationship I share with my parents.

This past weekend reinforced how much I have to be thankful for. Sometimes I take things for granted or have a pessimistic outlook on life. But I am blessed to have wonderful parents that I can call friends, dear friends I grew up with who make sure they get the first phone call on my birthday, and the best friends anyone could ask for. I'm so thankful for everyone in my life.

I'm really looking forward to enjoying some of my birthday gifts, especially a massage at Spa Visage that Meredith and Erin got for me and reading a book by John Piper given to me by Andrew's sweet parents. Again, I have so much to be thankful for and a wonderful life I have been blessed with.