Happy Birthday Peter!

 Tuesday was the day that Peter turned 23! It's finals week so not many people could come over to celebrate but I must say that it was a fun celebration despite it being just the two of us.  Peter said that all he wanted for his birthday was a home cooked meal (meatloaf) and home cooked dessert (apple pie).  Well this was going to be a bit of a challenge for me, seeing as I'm not much of a cook.  But when the meatloaf and the pie came out of the oven golden brown instead of charcoal black and not over cooked or under cooked but perfectly cooked meat, I must say that I was quite proud of myself!  Peter loved it and don't worry, the home cooked meal wasn't ALL I gave him for his birthday.  He's really into finance so I got him some personal finance books along with the Ronald Reagan Diaries.

It tastes a lot better than it looks I promise!  I got the recipe for it here.

I was proud of this!  My first homemade pie made from scratch! I got the recipe here.

Throw on some veggies and mashed potatoes and it was actually a great meal!

The Birthday Boy!

I'm so glad that this guy was born 23 years ago! He has been nothing but a great blessing in my life and I don't know what I would do without him.  He's been my best friend since we were both some young, immature, dorky freshmen up here and I love that he will be my best friend for the rest of eternity! I sure do love him:)

I hope Peter had a great birthday.  He deserves it!

Day of Independence and One Cute Lil' Visitor...

We love the Fourth of July!  The fireworks, the parades, the sunshine, the barbecues, and the whole community standing united along with the rest of the country to celebrate the day of the Independence that happened many many years ago.  

It all started when my older brother, Michael stopped by our place on the way to a family vacation (We couldn't go cause of work and school...like always...) and asked if we could watch his little bulldog for a few days while he was enjoying the Fourth with the rest of the family.  

Meet Lil' Mike.

He looks so excited to be at the parade...

Lil' Mike pooped after a big day celebrating.

My new nap buddy:)

Despite the chewing, the drooling, and the gassy mornings (from the dog...), he was a wonderful little dog to watch and SO ADORABLE!

We took Lil' Mike to the local Fourth of July Parade.  Peter was in it with his Insurance Company that he works for so it was just me and Lil' Mike, that is until we found out that my friends, Starla and Nicole, were watching it.  So we went to watch it with them.  I must say, as small as Peter's company's float was, I was very proud to see my husband out there, throwing candy to little kids (he tried to throw some to me, but those greedy little ones got to it before I could). 

My parade buddies!  Nicole and Starla!

The awesome Farmer's Insurance car!

There he is!

Peter and James doing their thing.

 That night, we had a nice barbecue and we admired the great sunset.  With the red, white, and blue, it looks like God's a little patriotic too:)

The Fourth is a great holiday.  I must say that it is one of my favorite holidays (aside from Christmas and Thanksgiving). I love celebrating the freedoms of this great country.  Seeing the memorials, the old veterans in their uniforms, the police carrying the American flag, and the sound of our National Anthem floating around that day, it makes me feel so proud to be apart of this great Nation.

 I hope everyone had as great of a Fourth as Me, Peter, and Lil' Mike did:)