first of all, thanks to all of you for your birthday wishes. that was really sweet!

my birthday weekend was great. on saturday, we headed up to tennessee, met my brothers and sister-in-law for church, and then went to my parents’ for lunch. i got great gifts. my grandpa and grandma gave me a puzzle of cats he had made and had framed for me, ryan and oriona gave me a beautiful flower arrangement for the new house, and randy gave me money which is to be used “for scrapbooking and for scrapbooking only”. awww. joe and my parents gave me what i thought they were going to: the cricut diecut machine!!

joe and i spent the afternoon playing with it, trying out the various letter styles and shapes. my brother, randy, even got into it. i heard him playing with it while i was napping in the living room. we stayed all afternoon, because joe had plans for dinner at 8, and we just had to go to the olive garden in chattanooga. when we got there, the table was set for six. joe had invited my penny and christi, my two best friends from high school, and penny’s husband because i’ve been saying how i hardly get to see my friends now that i’ve moved. it was so much fun! we had a blast, even though we had the *worst* waitress ever. when she came to our table she said, “what do you want to drink?”, and when we ordered cokes, she brought back a sweet tea for joe. then, we had to ask for salad and she stood there deep in thought (seriously, you could see her thinking). we honestly thought she was going to say no.

on sunday, we headed down to joe’s parents’. the southern living party was *so* much fun. the consultant showed us several of the products southen living sells (everything for sale was featured in the magazine) and then, it was time for us to order. i think i spent too much, but i figured i could justify it with the new move. the bulk were items for our bathroom (towel rack, hand towel rack, robe hook and magazine holder), which we really needed. 🙂 i’m lucky that my husband doesn’t mind how much i shop. he actually encourages me!

after the party, we cooked out and had another birthday party. rachel and dave got me some great scrapbooking items, and joe’s parents gave me a beautiful bracelet and the grey’s anatomy season 2 dvd. yay! i’m a *huge* grey’s fan.

last night, we had an unexpected surprise. we were getting ready for bed when i heard a cat crying outside. it sounded like it was hurt or caught in something, so joe went out to check on it. he found the malnourished cat sitting in the parking lot, so we took it in and fed it. she was the sweetest thing ever. i told joe it was obvious she was a girl, because after she ate, she jumped on our bed and plopped herself down on our pillows like she was a princess. i took her to the vet today, and she may have a few infections, so she’s staying overnight. i feel so bad for her. there’s no telling how long she’s been homeless.

since we had the cat in our room, we hardly got any sleep. she just would not settle down! joe was up at 4:30 a.m., and at 6:00 a.m., he got me up for a surprise. he said we had to drive to it, but said i could just throw on some clothes. i figured it would be ok if i didn’t brush my hair, so i just pulled it up in a ponytail. we ended up at wes-man’s restaurant in white, a little city in bartow county. wes-man’s is famous for its truck, which the restaurant’s owner paints every day. today, it said happy birthday to several people and joe had wes paint “cady love joe” on it. it was really sweet. after we looked at it, we headed in for a fabulous breakfast. i love hole-in-the-wall places. they have the best food.

tonight, joe says he has one more present and surprise planned. i can’t wait to see what they are!