Uncle Jay

Oh, so that's how that works.

Birth---

I had a very good birthday. Thanks to everyone who made it so. The best part of my day? Finding out that I get to forever share it with Nella Ruth Billingsley! Congratulations to our friends Caleb and Keli on the birth of their first child, baby Nella!

Kyle brought me birthday in bed yesterday. I got to open all my presents before I even set foot on the floor! What did I get, you ask?
Birthmusic. I delightful little mix of French-themed songs played on accordion, violin, clarinet, and other things. It took me back to the streets of Paris, or at least to the movie Rattatouille... I also got Season 7 of Frasier, a new pilates mat, and some brownies.

Birthshopping. After class, I did a little shopping. I got a new shirt to wear for the night from O.N. and some new "lip plumper" gloss from V.S. It's kinda bad, but not much makes me happy like these girly things!

Birthdinner was enjoyed at my favorite, the Cracker Barrel. And birthdessert was this delicious Hershey's chocolate creme pie, bought and paid for by my always thoughtful husband.

Birthpicture. On the day I celebrated my twenty-third year of life, I had a very good day. I had hoped to spend it in Louisville, KY at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. This is the weekend of the annual Give Me an Answer conference, which I have always enjoyed. Alas, we couldn't get away for a number of reasons. Anyway, it turned out alright. See, I'm smiling!

Birthweek

I've always been a firm believer that one doesn't just celebrate a birthday, rather, a birthweek or even birthmonth. I have a few things that have been making me happy so far on my birthweek.
Birthloaf. My own blend of bread dough, sausage, and mozzarella all baked into one. It makes a delicious little lunch or appetizer. I made it for Kyle and I on Saturday and it was gone pretty quickly. For the superbowl party, I made some stuffed mushrooms, bruschetta, and a fruit dip with peanut butter, yogurt and chocolate chips. It was delicious!

Birthflowers. My mother and grandmother came down for a visit on Saturday. I received some lovely flowers, amongst other things. I love the way they brighten our living room.

Birthbowl. I wish that I'd taken pictures at the Superbowl party yesterday. We had a wonderful time with friends, though I didn't see Kyle much. There was a pretty solid line between most of the girls upstairs having "girl talk" and the men downstairs watching the game.

Stay tuned for more birthweek updates.

Dang.

The last couple weeks I've been listening to a sermon series by Mark Driscoll titled "Religion Saves and Nine Other Misconceptions." All of the messages are available as free podcasts from iTunes. The sermon on humor was particularly eye opening to me for a couple reasons.
The first is that I love to laugh. Occasionally I think I laugh at things I shouldn't. However, after listening to his, quite convincing, view of God and humor, I feel like it's okay to laugh.
The second is that I picked up on an important piece that I needed to hear. Driscoll says, "We take ourselves too seriously and God too lightly." That has been ringing in my ears all week. I'm too easily offended, and I'm too afraid of laughing at things that might offend others. He makes the correct assertion that the only sin in our post-modern culture is to be offensive. We know that the Gospel offends. We know that there are some heinous, ridiculous things people believe. From now on, I won't feel so bad when I chuckle at Tom Cruise.

Johnny Cash

This is one of my favorite music videos (and songs) ever.