Just put on a little lipstick...

We went to two different birthday gatherings on Saturday. It's always great to get together with friends and celebrate another year in the journey. Happy Birthday - Elisabeth, Tara, Megan and Nikki!

One of my co-workers came to me this week and said that a good friend of hers was just diagnosed with breast cancer. Her friend had a baby a month ago and was having her bilateral mastectomy on Friday. It's so hard to hear these things, my heart breaks for this woman. I stopped and said several prayers for her throughout the day. It was a hard decision to choose to have both my breasts removed, but it is one I do not regret and I hope she will feel the same way once she is healed. It takes away most of the worry of breast recurrence . Once they do a bilateral mastectomy you only have about 3% tissue left, mostly it's just skin on muscle and your implants are under the muscle. My doctor does an exam every 3 months and I try to keep a close eye on myself as well. I gave my co-worker friend several ideas on things she can do to be supportive to her friend. Of course, she will have even bigger needs since she is a new mommy who will be going through chemo. It sounds like they alrea

If anyone could do justice to the strange and wonderful story of Alice in Wonderland it is Tim Burton. After our family dinner on Saturday we all packed up and went to see the new version of Alice. Johnny Depp was the perfect Madd Hatter and the rest of the cast was just as well picked. You can always count on Tim bring strange stories to life on the big screen. I was a little afraid Anna, Morgan and Michael would find the story a little dark, but they have seen the Disney version, so they were prepared for the odd characters in Wonderland. Morgan made several trips to the bathroom, but the others sat through the whole movie. Of course, popcorn and snacks always help hold the attention. I recommend the movie highly!

On Saturday my cousins from Kentucky came down, and we had a double engagement party for my cousin Glenda and her fiancee Gary along with Lisa and Chadd. We don't see each other enough, but when we do it's as if no time has passed. It was so great to see them and catch up on what has been going on with everyone. I think we had 21 adults in all, plus all the little kiddos running around. It was a wonderful, loud, fun gathering. Bryan, Jenni and Chassi did all the cooking, even though I was feeling better. We didn't want to take any chances since I had been a little under the weather. Anna and Morgan made delicious little crumbly wedding cakes. Emri learned to play the harmonica and entertained the crowd with her new musical skills.

There have been several illnesses going around at work and I think I caught a piece of each of them. I had a rough patch this past week, with stomach bug and flu like symptoms. It's hard for me to slow down and let myself be sick. I try to ignore it and deny it, until my body just insists I stop and rest. I don't like the feeling of not being in control and I guess that is why it's hard for me to slow down. Once I stayed in bed for a day - I started getting better pretty quickly. I am going to try to listen to my body a little better from now on.

Lisa, Jenni and I have been wedding dress shopping lately. We found two that she really loved, but I think she has decided on a custom tailored dress from Romantic Creations. The lady that designs the gowns is fabulous. She has books of photos from all her brides and you can tell she loves each and every one of them as she shows you their photos and tells you their stories. Lisa has chosen a beautiful gown that will be lightweight silk for a hot summer day. Lisa is going to be a beautiful bride! www.romanticcreationsbridal.com Now on to the rest of the details...

Bryan and I have been putting in some long hours at work recently , so we decided a weekend escape was needed. I found us a nice hotel room in Buckhead and we headed to Atlanta for a nice relaxing weekend. Saturday morning, I introduced Bryan to IKEA and then we headed to Atlantic station to do some shopping. Sometimes I forget that Bryan doesn't love shopping as much as I do, but he was able to find a nice spot at Rose Mexicana to have a drink and some guacamole while I finished up my shopping. That night we went to Phipps Plaza to see Up in the Air and then had a late night dinner at the Tavern . It was just what we needed, a quick get away to recharge.

My cousin Andrew is a senior anthropology and religion major at Emory in Atlanta. He recently applied to, and was chosen to study with the Dalai Lama from May 20-June 20 th . Hopefully he will keep a journal of his experiences in Delhi an I can put a link on here so we can all keep up with what is happening with him. What a exciting adventure- I am proud of you Andrew!