happy birthday to nate!

So, the love of my life turned 26 on Thursday. The day started with his favorite breakfast—breakfast casserole and the first presents of the day. For years, Nate has been wanting Converse Chuck Taylors…and he finally got them, along with some brand new socks (this guy did not own a sock without a hole). 

For my birthday, my parents got me one of those insulated cups with a straw and Nate has been so jealous ever since, so one of the gifts from my parents to him was his very own insulated cup with straw!! He was super excited.

Later that afternoon, our good friends and neighbors were so sweet and watched Zoe while we went to a movie. We saw Prometheus and had our favorite caramel popcorn and soda at the theater. When we got home, he opened the rest of his gifts. He got a new shirt, a new book, lots of candy and snacks, and a movie from my parents. For dinner, Nate requested Creole Chicken Pasta and we had a marathon of Parks & Rec. Lots of fun!

The next day, we went out to dinner with some friends here to celebrate and Zoe & I cooked a funfetti birthday cake to share at dinner. His birthday isn’t quite over…he is still awaiting a big gift from his parents in the mail which should arrive shortly. It won’t be a surprise, but he is super pumped about it!

The past few days have been a much needed break and relaxation from the events of earlier this week…more to come on that soon! But for now, happy birthday to my most amazing husband who I love with all my heart!!

the countdown has begun...

That is the countdown to our Stateside Assignment!! We are at less than 6 months now. Since we got our four volunteers in January, we have been going-going-going absolutely non-stop. And since they left almost 2 weeks ago, we have had a chance to reflect back, look ahead, and catch our breath. It's weird and exciting that we will be spending our first Thanksgiving and Christmas in 3 years at HOME! We are looking forward to family, friends, our church home, shopping, cold weather, Chick-Fil-A, Olive Garden, Taco Bell (well, I could go on and on with places to eat so I better stop there). We have soooo much to look forward to. We have both made resolutions to get in shape so that we can eat-eat-eat when we get home. Nate is lifting his weights and I am back on my Jillian Michaels workout! (I'll be honest and say my motivation partly came when I asked the guy at the market for a head of lettuce--a big one--and he responded "big, like you.") Rude.

I know my blog posts have been few and far between, but one of my resolutions is to get back to posting more regularly! (Yes, I know I have said that before) But I'm going to try really hard this time! The students take their finals next week and go home for break until October, so I will have more time to stick to my goals. For now, I will leave you with a few recent pictures of Zoe...these have also been few and far between. Let's just say she has not been in the best of moods for the past several weeks. She had 6 teeth all coming in at the same time (staggered at different stages of growth for the past few weeks) and a cold to boot! Thankfully, we are all healthy and happy again!

(this was one of the bad days...)

(this was a better day...showing off her new teeth)