Hello holidays!

We are just up to our eyeballs in holiday cheer! Add to that just a dash of over scheduling and you have the chaos that is the next two weeks! I love this time of year, but it always feels completly crazy! Things got into full swing this week where we went with a big group of friends to see A Christmas Carol at Ford's Theatre. Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like 30 of your closest friends causing a ruckus in the balcony!

After a big night out on the town with friends, we followed it up with a Saturday fit for an old married couple. We went furniture shopping and after weeks of research finally bought a couch! And, man oh man....it is going to be sooooo nice. Big, soft and cushy! Everything you could dream of and more, if you've been like me and have been dreaming of couches.

On Sunday we went to the Army Band Christmas Extravaganza 2010 with some friends. It was at the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Constitution Hall, which was just beautiful! It was hard to drag myself out of the house on a cold, rainy afternoon, but I am so glad we did. It was just awesome event! It will definitely be working its way into our annual holiday tradition rotation!

All of this holiday goodness is followed up with a JMU Alumni Holiday party tomorrow at Blackfinn. I am so excited to celebrate with many of my favorite JMUers, some of which I haven't seen in years! GO DUKES!

++=LOVE

But wait...there's more! Did I mention we are hosting TWO holiday parties next weekend?

And babysitting my 3 cousins all under the age of 7 (eeks! Any ideas for an afternoon of fun)?

And hosting my Women's Leadership Retreat at our house?

And going to a wedding shower in Richmond?

Add to that more Christmas shopping, goodwill purging, house cleaning, Christmas cookie baking, wrapping, traveling to Illinios, and fixing a small leak in the roof!! Yeah - its going to be a busy couple of weeks! I simply have to be thankful. My problem is too many good things, and not enough time. We are am overwhelmed with blessings this holiday season, and that is a very, very lucky place to be.

Best Birthday EVER!

It is official. Thirty was by far the best birthday I have ever had! The celebrations continued this past weekend and it was amazing! It was one of those times where you feel so incredibly blessed and surrounded by love! I just flat out have the most amazing friends.

Like this guy! He flew in from Atlanta to surprise me. This is the second time in two years that he has flown into DC and surprised me. To sum it up...I felt AWESOME! Lucky for all of you they video taped it happening, so you can look forward to a video post of me screaming and bouncing up and down soon.

And how amazing are these folks. I never imagined it would turn into a big South Carolina reunion. DC, Chicago and New York in the house. Plus a few SC folks who had recently moved to VA - driving hours to come hang out for the weekend!

And clearly it just wouldn't be a celebration without some of my favorite JMU folks! And there were so many others that came out to meet us while we were out on the town - freshman roommates, friends from Auburn, people I met once I moved to DC. It really felt like most of the really important friends I have made in the past 30 years were represented (even if they couldn't all be there). Thank you so much Varsity Girls for making this weekend so incredibly special! For helping to coordinate surprise guests and inviting folks to crash at our house. It was perfect.

And a very special thanks to this guy. For letting all of my friends take over our home - for diving head first into the celebration after a very long week of work - and for just generally being you. You make my life so wonderful. Looking very forward to the next 30+ years with you!