Photo Friday

Happy Friday, friends!!  I'm thankful we have a long weekend ahead of us... I'll be joining the Fultons (minus Kate) for a road trip to Arkansas to see Hamilton, so yay for that!

And tonight's group dinner at Charleston's will be part 3 of my birthday celebration! lol  Yay for birthday extravaganzas that last a while! =)

On Wednesday this week, I covered the afternoon docket in Bristow, then drove to meet the fam at Bravo in OKC!  It had been closed for around a year and a half with the pandemic, so I was very surprised and happy to see the "NOW OPEN" sign, and I figured it would be a good choice for my birthday this year!

We did a 5:00 dinner, and the Miss K wrote my name on this envelope in cursive (something she's learning now and very proud of)!! ❤

And now we play the add-one-more game! lol  Jace photobomed us and Kyndal kept smiling while firmly pushing him back with her arm. lolol

Then I suggested they all come over and get in the picture, and this one makes me happy!

Dinner was great, then we ran by Quail for some Great American Cookie Co. dessert!!  Mom took this pic of us outside the car with Rach joining us this time too!  (I didn't get any photos with Mom and Dad that night, but Mom's hand is in the mirror in this one, so I'll count that! lol

Bravo for Bravo being open again! =)  This restaurant was also the site of a fun surprise bday party for me 12 years ago (HERE)!

When I left for lunch yesterday, I was on the phone with Mom as I walked to my car in our CCC parking lot.  I said obliviously (out loud on the phone), "Oh wow, there's a van here from Nothing Bundt Cakes -  I didn't know they did deliveries!"  Mom:  "Ummm, that's there for you!  I told them 1:30, but they could only promise it'd be between noon and 3, so you might wanna go get it since your office is locked for lunch!" lolol  So I did, and yay for that!!

Confetti, lemon, red velvet, and snickerdoodle bundtinis + a bit bigger chocolate bundt cake... all very solid choices! =)

The weather app went back and forth hard at least four times yesterday.  I despise being the sole person in charge of making a decision for an entire group, and I hate to feel like I'm annoying others via group text, so that part of my birthday was less than ideal.  The only feedback I received was that moving the group dinner to today would be preferable, so I finally decided to do that and called Charleston's and changed our reservation after my snowy walk to the car at lunch time... then by 2pm, it was all past us and the roads were perfectly dry and clear.  UGH, whatever.  24 hours have passed with zero responses in the group, so I guess a lot of people that could go yesterday can't make it today, and I feel personally responsible and feel bad about that.  The Moss fam was free both days, and the Wilsons and Fultons can join us today, so that's happy news!  Anyway, I won't ever initiate a large group text again - it caused a disproportional amount of stress that probably stems from rejection-related issues for me, so I need to remember that and choose one-on-one texting!

I was feeling on edge from all that and a little sad and thinking it would be a birthday night by myself, then Laura suggested that we could do a low-key dinner and movie night, and I was very much on board with that idea!  So she and Tiffany came over, and we got Dominos pizza and cheesy bread + the bundtinis from Mom!!  It's been a hard week at the courthouse, and especially for the Clerk's Office after the sudden death of one of Tiffany's co-workers this past weekend, but it was good for us to debrief and catch up on life and work events at the CCC!

Tiffany had never seen Liar, Liar so that was our movie choice for the night... which made me think of JEM!  So many great quotes that are fitting for our work in the legal system, and it was really nice to watch a lighthearted, fun movie that made us laugh!  I love how much Jim Carrey commits and just goes for it with some of these lines and facial expressions! lol

Anyway, I'm very much looking forward to dinner tonight and hopefully a fun weekend ahead!  I feel very aware that this might be my last birthday without a child.  The other day, I was feeling stressed about all the life changes that will come with adoption or fostering-to-adopt... then I read this quote on a blog from March 2020.  Thanks again, Donald Miller!  (And God for timing that when I needed it.)  We have to jump in sometimes, and to paraphrase A League of Their Own, nothing worth doing comes easily - the hard is part of what makes it great!!

Happy Friday!  Enjoy your weekend!!