All in a days work.

This weekend was one for the books.  In all honesty, each event deserves it's own post but to give you a clue of the intensity of our 24 hours, they are all combined.

I took Friday as my day off from work, so I could cook a prepare myself for the weekend.  I offered to make most of the food for a baby shower on Saturday.  The shower was moved from noon to 10 am, so everything needed to be ready to either be reheated or already plated for the guests.  I made:

• 30 mini oreo cheesecakes
• 8 taco bell copy cat quesadillas
• buffalo chicken dip
• sausage dip
• 16 sliders w/sauteed onions
• 2 dozen chocolate dipped sugar cookies with sprinkles
• and a homemade pizza for my lunch :)

Friday night was my office Christmas party at a lovely home in Country Club of the South.  We agreed that their garages are bigger than our apartment.  Impeccably decorated with incredible religious art and a fantastic vintage China collection.  Anyway, the party was nice, as it usually is.  It's always a pleasure to spend time with my co-workers and theirs spouses outside of cubicle land.

After the party we went to Wild Wing Cafe for a cover band, drinks and dancing.  It was so much fun to let loose with my hubs and friends - even more entertaining to be surrounded by two dozen middle aged, plastic surgery constructed, SAHMs taking "selfies" with their $1200 soccer-mom cameras. Oh, did I mention one or two of the couples *might* have been swingers.  Let's just say there were a lot of good laughs between Sean, Katie, Sam, Eric and I.

The next morning was the baby shower.  Some girls from church and I had a Georgia theme party with tailgate food (see above) for our friend, Natalie.  (Fun fact: Natalie and my brother dated back in high school!)  It was a great turn out and lots of fun!  Always a blessing sharing in the new life :)

Unfortunately the next part of the weekend came with great sadness.  One of our teen alums passed away in a car accident last Sunday and the funeral was Saturday afternoon. Steven was 20 years old.  He was one of those kids whose faith, joy, and piety was contagious.  Steven's whole family was very involved at the parish - Life Teen, choir, ushers, altar servers, Men's Club, you name it.  Steven and his brother were still altar servers at 20 years old! Such a witness to their faith.  We will miss you so much, buddy.  Mandi, her husband, and I put together this collage and memory collage for the family.  It included pictures of Steven with the teens and little stories about Steven from the teens. 

After the funeral I drove up to Cumming to celebrate my cousin Ashley's 7th birthday.  She had a rockstar/princess make-over party.  My sister did the girls hair, and other ladies did make up and nails.  It was quite the riot.  I was glad to share in the vision of the girls final look, cupcakes and presents.  After the party I visited with family over pizza and wine.  

aaannnnddd, because I hadn't done enough in the past 24 hours:  a group of us went down to The Fred to celebrate Sam's 27th birthday.  We had a few drinks, crab dip, and a chocolate brownie that tasted an awful lot like a burrito.  Hey, they share a kitchen with Taco Mac - what do you expect?

As I looked back on the weekend, I can't help but be blessed by the friends and family I have been given to celebrate with.  Regardless of the circumstances of some of the events over the weekend I know that God is will us every step of the way.  It was a true celebration of LIFE in every stage this weekend.

And because I never say it enough - I love you all!