It's a cold, blustery day here and it feels like winter. In fact, it has felt like nothing BUT winter here for a couple of weeks. So....with winter comes things like Christmas, New Year's Eve and my birthday. It's the trifecta of great holidays, although A would disagree with me about New Year's Eve being a great holiday. He does not dispute that my birthday is a great holiday because he knows I'd beat him up for that comment.

So, it's birthday week, which means lots and lots of eating out, courtesy of tons of free birthday meals. Check out the bargain blog for that list. For lunch today I ate a dish from Noodle & Co. that was a birthday freebie - Japanese Pan Noodles with sauteed beef. All of the internet experts told me not to eat it, because it sat in our car yesterday for a long time (like 4 hours.....) but I did. I wolfed that food. And I haven't vomited yet, thankyouverymuch. I have an iron stomach. Literally, it's really hard right now. Maybe the noodles and beef aren't sitting as well as I hoped?

But all food talk aside, this birthday week is shaping up marvelously! On Friday, A gave me "a little something" for my birthday, which turned out to be a collective gift from both our parents and him - money for a new DSLR camera. Not so little at all!

To say I was shocked would be an understatement. I am WAY excited about getting a good camera! He wanted me to get it now so I could learn from some excellent photographers I work with at Southeastern. So, I've been researching all weekend, checking out some deals, and I think I'm going to go with a package from Canon on a Rebel T2i with two lenses: an 18-55mm and a 55-250mm zoom lens. They'll be refurbished, but I'm OK with that, after having read up on what that means. With discounts and rebates, I'll spend under $700 - a stinking good deal, I think. So, any thoughts, suggestions, etc.?

I am so blessed by the generosity of family, but recognize that human generosity is a shadow of
the generosity that the Lord has extended to me. In this season of gift-giving and presents, I want to remember the greatest gift ever given was a Son who sacrificed his life so I could spend eternity in His perfect presence. That is generosity.

So, in the spirit of the Lord's generosity, I am going to be generous and share some of my food coupons with my husband :) Moe's and Ruby Tuesday's - see you soon for dinner.