Early Birthday Celebration, Charleston-style

Since my friend Amy is coming in next weekend for an all-girls birthday weekend, Matt was able to squeeze in an early birthday visit this weekend. Here's a quick recap and a couple of pics to sum up our weekend together...

Friday night, we stopped in downtown for a late snack on the rooftop of the Pavilion Hotel, and enjoyed a beautiful view overlooking the city. Saturday morning we took a three-hour sea kayak tour of Charleston Harbor! What a blast! We saw three manatees, which the guide said he hasn't seen all season! The water was calm and the sea was quiet so we watched them surface and could hear them breathing! We enjoyed learning about some of the wildlife from our tour guide, quite the naturalist! It was a great way to spend some time enjoying God's creation both individually and together as we paddled about the harbor. So fun!

We enjoyed a quaint dinner in one of our favorite spots, Park Circle. We had brick oven pizza at EVO, a local hang-out where everyone know's your name. I tried the special: goat cheese, basil pesto, parmigiano-romano, and butternut squash! Matt had the pizza for which they are known: the pork trifecta. Yup, three kinds of pork folks! We finished with cholocate truffles and sat to enjoy the ambience and cute families with young kiddos.

Sunday, we met up with my friends Donna and Tim, who just celebrated their one-year anniversary. We had birthday brunch the historic Mills House Hotel, (where Gen. Robert E. Lee used to stay) to celebrate both mine and Tim's birthday. We are blessed to have such sweet friends with whom to share some of our time in Charleston.

Today marks one year that I have been "on my own" and it's amazing to see what all has taken place in my life over the past year. God has truly grown me through the circumstances sent my way. After one year, I have finally decided I'm ready to commit to DivorceCare at one of the churches I'm visiting. I need to be sure I am processing and have processed the emotions in such a way that allow me to forgive and let go. I also start a women's Bible study at the other church I'm visiting tomorrow night. I trust in time I will be led to a new church home, but in the meantime am growing daily, reading 'When Women Walk Alone', and listening to Matt Chandler's podcasts (from the Village Church there in Dallas) on my jogs. I'm looking forward to moving further into my twenties, although it's hard to believe I'll be 28 years old!

I will miss spending my birthday with you, my family, but know that you are thought of and missed daily! Love you all!