Kissable Cupcakes!

When you are a LipBoss, you are CONSTANTLY on the hunt for LIPS and LIPSTICK items.  So, when I spotted these DARLING lip embellishments on SALE/clearance, at Michaels Store, I went a little nutso.  I knew exactly what I would do with them.  I WOULD... raffle off my gourmet cupcakes to all of my followers on Instagram.  It's a great way to grab your followers' attention.  Besides, I am ALWAYS looking for an excuse to bake.

The cake part is strawberry flavored.

They are all filled with my famous french vanilla fill.  The frosting is a homemade, PINK, cream cheese, butter cream frosting. I can feel my thighs getting larger and larger just from the smell .  

 

Ashely absolutely LOVES my cupcakes, so I was so happy that she won, BUT I was SHOCKED because she had one two raffles prior to this one.  I think Riffle Raffle LOVES Ashely as much as I do.  Haha.    

A Surprise 40th Birthday Party ~ For Me!

On February 6th, my small group girls were scheduled to go out to dinner for both mine and Erin's birthdays! We both have February birthdays and just like normal, we always go out and celebrate.  I got ready like NORMAL and planned to eat at the Outback, like NORMAL. Can you tell the word NORMAL has been stated a ton? I am NOT sure why because this night was ANYTHING BUT NORMAL.

As the evening got later and later, and the dinner time got closer and closer, things started to slowly CHANGE.  Hmmm, I was CLUELESS. Erin texted and said, "I am so sorry.  I won't be able to ride to dinner with you all.  Nathan is running really late.  I'll have to take my own car." Lisa said, "Ugh, I forgot to tell Aaron about dinner tonight, until about one hour ago, so I think I will be delayed too!  We can drive together Erin." I didn't think anything of it, but I was bummed that we couldn't all drive together like NORMAL. Jody was moving to Tennessee in a few days and I had hoped that we could have one last NORMAL girls night out, even the drive there, just for old times sake.  "Oh well" I thought! We will just see them at dinner.

On the way to dinner, Shannon just very innocently said, "Oh hey! We moved dinner to 419 West. We figured we would go somewhere a little different and special in honor of your big milestone birthday!" I replied,"Oh okay! How sweet!" AND.THAT.WAS.THAT.  Nothing more was discussed. I definitely went with the flow with ANY doubt about something else taking place.

When we arrived into the restaurant, we were walking to "our" table and I heard loud singing coming from another section of the restaurant.  The tune was the ,"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" song. I vividly recall myself thinking, "Awe. It's someone else birthday tonight too." I turned around to see who was being celebrated AND it was ME! It was all of the beautiful ladies (below) singing to ME! My mouth LITERALLY dropped to the floor.  Just asked ANY of my friends if you don't believe me. They were all laughing and smiling big at my reaction.  I was DUMBFOUNDED. I have NEVER had a surprise party before and I cannot tell you HOW SPECIAL it makes you feel.  I couldn't have hand picked a better crowd to attend a party in honor of me.  The only person missing was my dear friend Dawn Smith, who was invited, but she had to work that night.

Somehow, it was coordinated for my meal to be covered, so I didn't have to pay for ANYTHING. I ordered the most delicious chicken and shrimp dish!

And then, I was greeted with the most beautiful cake!  It was a two-tiered cake and contained all of my favorite colors: black and white (for my old age) and pink.  The flowers on the cake were EDIBLE! The cake was to die for. It was BOTH beautiful and delicious.  A perfect combination of presentation and taste.

Lisa presented the cake to me. 

Everyone sang to me!!! Can you tell by the deep dimple on my face how happy this evening made me?

Erin, thank you for giving up your special birthday dinner to make this night ALL about me.  I feel so honored and selfish. LOL!

I was also given many generous gifts including sweet cards, hand written notes, cash, gift cards, a handmade/monogrammed shirt, and a few personalized trinkets.  

This night was definitely edifying to my soul.  It was a blessing to see so many wonderful friends take time out of their busy lives to celebrate this milestone birthday with me.  All of these women are busy moms/wives and they sacrificed their precious family time to spend it with me, which I know is no easy task. 

I am thankful for all of the details that went into this evening as well.  AND I am still not entirely sure who to thank for what. Shannon was probably the coordinator of the party. Ashely may have volunteered to pick up those huge balloons AND I gather that Erin did the framed 40s and the floral arrangements and Lisa did the invitations and cake.  If I am wrong, I apologize and PLEASE correct me. I am sure EVERY ONE of my small group girls had an integral part in the planning process. I am a big party planner, so I personally know much time it took to create all of the special, finite details such as the invitation, floral arrangements, cake, framed 40's in gold/black, and the big 40 balloons.  

Friendship is definitely a gift. Friendship isn't about who you've known the longest.  It's about who walked into your life, said "I'm here for you!" and proved it.  ALL of these ladies entered my life as long as 10 years ago and as little as 4 months ago. They each hold a special place in my heart for so many different reasons. The BEST part is that every single one of these women LOVE JESUS.  There's no greater friendship than a friendship built on the solid rock of CHRIST.  I LOVE YOU ALL!  I will NEVER EVER forget this evening as long as my memory will serve me.  AND NOW that I am 40, who knows how long that will last.  LOL!!!1

All of the photos were taken with iPhones, hence the poor quality.  BOO! OF ALL TIMES to leave my camera at home.  Sigh...

Final Goodbyes!

About two weeks ago, our small group gathered together for a "goodbye" party for our dear friends Brett and Jody (and their two daughters), who were due to move to Tennessee. Brett has served as the Youth Pastor of our church, but he was also our small group leader and dear friend.  We had planned to go out to eat at a fancy, local restaurant, called the Metro, but we knew this evening would be slightly sappy, so we moved the "party" to the Fernandez's new home.  We ordered Firehouse Subs and I made three homemade desserts in honor of this bitter-sweet celebration.  

Jody's favorite dessert is cheesecake, so I made a strawberry cheesecake and an oreo cheesecake, along with my favorite dessert, Tiramisu.  They could NOT have turned out more beautiful. They were also so delicious.  I am drooling over them as I stare at these photographs.   

 

YUM!

We all brought gifts and letters to give to Brett and Jody!  We prayed over them. The night was really emotional. We poured out our hearts to this sweet couple, but we laughed just as much as we cried.  And then... we captured a few photos of our group's last time as a party of 6 guys and 6 gals.  We have been in this small group for well over 5 years now.  Having Brett and Jody absent, every other Friday at small group, AND at Church AND around town, will be hard to accept as a reality.

I love all of these people.  Above from left to right: Nathan, Zach, Brett, Aaron, Darren, and Dennis.  Below from left to right: Erin, Ashely, ME, Jody, Shannon, and Lisa.  This group is a BEAUTIFUL picture of the Lord's grace.  We all fight faithfully and hard to love each other, hold each other accountable, and encourage each other.  Don't look too closely... we all cried every bit of our make-up off.

I purchased this beautiful necklace for Ansley, their daughter.  From Virginia to Tennessee she goes.  Ansley will definitely be missed. Be sure to check out Ivy By Design's ETSY shop!

It's called a state bar necklace.

I also purchased a photo album for Ansley of the mountains.  I felt like this represented Roanoke well.  I filled it will all kinds of photos taken over the years as well as the photos from the "Childhood Friends" photo shoot.

Believe it or not, I found it at Michaels Craft Store.

I fell in love with this saying, "How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard!" So, I contacted Cultural Bindings on ETSY and had a notebook made for BOTH Ansley and Jody. I LOVED the image below and asked her to use it in place of the one she features on her ETSY shop.

I had a wood panel made for Ansley. I also had a wooden panel made for the first group photo pictured in this post. These were purchased at Walgreens and I LOVE THEM!

We have LOVED having Brett and Jody do life with us.  They have truly left their mark in ROANOKE, VA.  I purchased this gorgeous Roanoke ornament from Steger Creek. The ornament was designed by the owner himself.  

I purchased a glass dome for the ornament to be displayed in.  

I am hoping they will display it in their home, along with the group photo, reminding them of their wonderful memories in Roanoke and the FIRST place they called home as a married couple.

Life is certainly going to look different for a while both HERE, in Roanoke, and in Tennessee.  It's not easy saying goodbye to someone.  Empty seats will exist, new friendships will need to be discovered, intentional LOVE and staying in touch will be necessary, and some of the most amazing memories will be reminisced on often. 

I read a quote from a pastor that went something similar to this, "The kingdom doesn't grow by holding on, but rather by letting go!" SO... I am staying focused on letting go simply because I know Brett and Jody will do MIGHTY things at their new church, Lyon's Creek Baptist Church.  BUT, it doesn't mean I can't hold on to my love for them and memories made with them.  

We will be praying for all of their adjustments, for their faith to increase, and for the Lord's will to be evident to them as they walk in obedience. This is not goodbye, but so long.  Shoot, we plan to go visit them and hang out in DOLLYWOOD soon!!! LOL!  We love you WILLIAMS' family.  

Christmas Parade ~ 2016

It's one my favorite Christmas tradition with my family in Christ... the Christmas parade.  If I am NOT mistaken, this is our fifth year (according to my blog) that we have done this together.  I will be sad when our kids no longer think it is cool and don't want to go.  I guess us parents could still go.  Haha.  

Our small group is very close knit and we are six godly woman striving to live righteously. 2/6 families could NOT make it this year due to illness and one daddy is on a missions trip in Uganda.  Ty-Ty is getting a tad too old to sit with the little ones now. Sniff, sniff.  So he hung out with the dads.

Our clan of kids started a hugging the snowman and then the poor snowman was having a tough time breaking away.  SO MANY kids started doing the same thing.

Watching the parade intently.  

The gingerbread house was one of my favorite floats.  

Jax was so excited to get a life size $100 bill and a $1,000,000.00 bill.  Haha!

Shannon was getting her hair done, so she arrived late, WHICH caused for another necessary photo!

We were wondering how the kids would respond to the clowns due to the fact that there is so much hype right now about clowns scaring people.  Surprisingly, none of the kids budged!

This was my favorite float... the manager scene.  ALL WHITE, pure, delicate, and  beautiful.  

Chick-Fil-A was there, too, and Cohen was screaming, "EAT MORE CHICKEN", over and over and over! It was priceless.  

We left before the last few floats made an appearance because we wanted to beat the traffic. Until next year...