Birthday Bonanza

Here's a recap of my birthday weekend.

My wonderful fiance made me stewed bananas and pancakes for breakfast!  This special treat was a re-creation of the amazing stewed bananas I tried during our cruise.

Then he took me to eat sushi for my birthday lunch!

After work, I walked in the door to see flowers & presents galore!

Wow, Austin showered me with goodies.  He got me a new hair dryer, Reba DVDs, awesome books, work-out gloves, lythium batteries for my camera, and a Spa Day gift card for my mom, aunt & I to all  get pedicures & massages!

And did you see those beautiful flowers?  I am so incredibly blessed!

My friend Meredith came to visit me on Friday night!  For dinner, Austin made us grilled kabobs and corn on the cob.

Meredith and I baked a cake for dessert!

Unfortunately, the carrot cake crumbled when we tried to transfer it from the baking dish.  It looked pathetic, but it still tasted great!

Meredith and I have been friends since high school - and throughout the years, we have always taken silly pictures.  Dozer even participated in the fun!

On Saturday, we drove to my parents' house and arrived just in time for lunch.  My mom made turkey klebasa, macaroni and cheese, cabbage, and homemade baked beans!

For dessert, we had hot fudge sundae cake with vanilla ice cream!

Then we went to see a movie!  We saw Winter Bones.  This was a very unique movie that certainly does not have a typical fairytale ending.  It is about a teenage girl whose father is a druggie and mother is mentally absent from the family.  This seventeen year old girl is doing her best to raise her little brother and sister, meanwhile she finds out that her dad put their house and property up as his bail collateral.  His court date comes and goes, and he doesn't show up.  The movie has several dark moments and is a sad story, but it really makes you think and appreciate how simple and glamorous our lives are in comparison.

After the movie, we went to the lake and grilled burgers!

The time flew by as we kicked back with a drink in our hands, chatted about wedding plans and enjoyed the amazing weather.

After dinner, we walked down to the water and swam in the lake.  My family used to always come to this lake during the summers of my childhood!  It was fun to reminisce.

On Sunday, my mom made stuffed french toast with turkey sausage for breakfast.

We ate lunch at Mama Fu's.

In the afternoon, Austin and I met with a potential wedding photographer.  We walked around town and took a few sample engagement photos.  Hopefully they'll turn out nicely so we can check that item off the list!

For those of you who were concerned about my parents' dachshund, I appreciate the kind words!  For a quick update - he's doing much, much better after his back surgery. He can walk around on his own now.

Has your pet ever had to undergo surgery?

Dozer hasn't had any encounters with the animal hospital (thankfully).  On the other hand, Walker has had two major surgeries.  The first time was an incident where he ate a pair of panty-hose and it got stuck in his stomach.