It's My Birthday!

This past weekend was my birthday weekend and a good one!

My birthday fell on Thursday. My co-workers brought in an assortment of Hello There Cupcake! cupcakes. I had the gingerbread cupcake, one of their holiday flavors. It was yum-o.

Another very nice surprise was that Josh was able to take couple days off from work at the station to drive down Friday. He took me to dinner at my favorite, Carrabba's. I love their white sangria, and as an added bonus they had e-mailed a birthday certificate for a complimentary dessert of my choice. They were out of almost every dessert on the menu, but on the waiter's recommendation we tried their winter special: a homemade brioche chocolate bread pudding. It was different and tasty - though not something I would likely order again.

Afterwards we drove through the "Light More Homes" Chick-fil-A Christmas lights- 45,000 lights. We attempted to snap a quick pic with my cell phone which turned out rather goofy!

He had asked what I wanted to do Saturday, and I told him I wanted a relaxing day for my first weekend without HW and other assignments. I had said it would be fun to watch some of the classic holiday specials I enjoyed as a kid. He came prepared with the best ones: Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Mickey's Christmas Carol, etc. In addition to Christmas classics Saturday, we made gourmet monterey jack cheese hotdogs, cheese fries and s'mores. I really wanted that crunchy, toasted marshmallow texture in the s'mores, which meant I had to use a pillar candle to roast the marshmallows on my patio which he found terribly amusing!

GOOD Things are Happening in December

Fall 2011: LONG and STRESSFUL.

But I have terrific news to share... I am a December 2011 candidate for Georgia Southern University's College of Education Masters of Education in Instructional Technology, Library Media degree.

I completed my lengthy practicum in 2 HoCo schools and 1 Bibb school -- all the while building and finishing my portfolio which can be viewed here: http://lauralanelee.weebly.com/ (if you're really bored). I presented the portfolio last Thursday evening which went very well.

December looks to be a great month. These are my next four weekends: celebrate my birthday, graduate "in absentia," Christmas, New Year's Eve. Good stuff. :)

For Thanksgiving my parents, Kansas the Beagle and I drove to SE Georgia to see my Dad's side of the family (about 30 miles outside Savannah). My cousin Wendy and her husband were thrilled to move into their new house just weeks before Turkey Day. Our family had our first Thanksgiving feast together in their beautiful dream house.

That weekend I met Josh in Atlanta, and we went to Stone Mountain Christmas, my ideal way to get into the Christmas spirit. This is the first time the temps were perfect -- not too cold with the perfect amount of chill in the air.

The next weekend we celebrated my mom's 60th birthday with the family. I used my Cricut machine to make some cute "Sweet 60" decorations. I decorated plastic tumblers for party favors with the date. I baked a rum cake and cookies cut out in the shape of shoes (She loves shoes.). I think she really appreciated all of it.

Happy December!

Josh and I had so much fun at the 2011 Stone Mountain Christmas outside Atlanta. Here we paused for a pic in front of the massive Coca-Cola Christmas Tree.

At the end of our night, the Snow Fairy made it "snow" real, crunchy icey bits and I appreciated catching the snow drops (though you can only faintly see it in the photo... those dandruff-y flakes on my navy coat!)

If you know me, you know I am becoming a frozen yogurt connoisseur -- so much so that I asked Santa for the Cuisinart frozen yogurt and sorbet maker. My "hurry up and take the pic so I can dig into my dessert" face. (Yogurberry in Atlanta.)

My first trip to Macy's Pink Pig in Atlanta. Josh had never been either. I was impressed that he was so willing to ride a a hot pink pig ride around the roof of Lenox Square.