On April 14th, 1988, I was born. Last weekend I celebrated my twenty-fourth birthday. I never thought I would be where I am at 24 {geographically or season of life} and yet here I am. This was sort of a hard birthday for me... 23 was a good age for me and now 25 is right around the corner. But regardless of the age {I mean it is just a number, right??} the day was nearly perfect!
{My beautiful small group girls came over for a delicious brunch. We had so much food- and juice- and we got to chat and laugh without a care in the world for a few glorious hours. I was so blessed to start my birthday with these girls.}
"...They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.
And the Lord added to their number daily..."
Acts 2:46b-47
{Around the table from left to right: Jennifer, Hallie, Alycia, Kari, Dani, Alina, Becca, & Meredith-
We missed you Jessie!}
Plain and simple: I love flowers. My sweet Young Life team bought me a beautiful bouquet and gave them to me {along with the perfect Young Life rendition of "Happy Birthday"} at leadership on Friday and then Aaron brought me the prettiest bunch you've ever seen {with tulips... he may have had a few hints here and there} on Saturday morning.
{lovely}
All I had planned for Saturday was a trip through Staunton and to visit a particular vintage clothing shop. The shop is on top of 17 E. Beverly Antiques.. it is called Retro and Me and it is precious. Aaron and I made R&M our first stop and he let me browse to my hearts content- he even held the things I found while I kept searching and waited on me while I played dress up {I bought a few cute things too, which made it all even better!}
{The last photo is a snapshot of Aaron's shirt- he may not think I noticed, but I know he wore one of my favorite outfits to make me smile... sweet boy.}
Sometimes I think all we do is eat. But since I had just eaten so much at brunch, we skipped lunch in favor of ice cream at the Split Banana {Carmel Nut Crunch & Hazelnut- Mmm!}. It was so fun to sit on a sunshine-y bench on one of the busiest streets in Staunton to people watch, talk about life, and laugh without anyone or anything rushing us.
I had visited Sunspots before, but had never gotten to see the artists actually blow glass. When we walked in this time, the studio was open to spectators- so fun! Talk about the gift of craftsmanship! Wow!
Next, we ventured onto the roof of a parking deck in Staunton to take in the view. It was beautiful, of course, but it was also neat to see the history in the buildings, the age in the brick, all from the roof-top perspective that you never get to see from the ground. Staunton is a delightful town.
{Like I said before... we like to eat. So at Aaron's insistence {okay, okay so I didn't put up much of a fight}, we stepped into the Cocoa Mill to smell the chocolates and walked out with two of our own to satisfy our sweet tooth. Mine was caramel covered in dark chocolate with sea salt on top. Delicious. And all made by hand in their Lexington shop.}
The day only got better from there... we drove the scenic route up 42 into Harrisonburg, got pedicures {yes that was plural for a reason...}, and then ended up at Texas Roadhouse for dinner. The line was out the door and yet somehow we were seated right away {Happy Birthday to me}! We ate more food than I thought was humanly possible and it was delicious.
This may sound silly, but social media {Facebook and Twitter} and technology {phone calls and text messages} made my day even brighter!
Final Count: 83 Facebook posts; 12 mentions on Twitter; 5 phone calls; 18 texts
We finished the night with brownies at the Mallory house where they were kind enough to sing to me and give me gifts. We put in a movie and I promptly fell asleep in my chair after such a full day... Oops! I woke up long enough for the ride home and then fell into my bed in absolute thankfulness for a God who rejoices over me and friends and family {and boyfriend} who think it is worth celebrating the fact that I was born and live another day.
"For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.
The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people,
his treasured possession."
Deuteronomy 7:6
"The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."
Zephaniah 3:17
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
Jeremiah 1:5
Here's to 24, may it be blessed, and may it be a blessing,
B
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