A very happy birthday (4/29)

This birthday could have easily been a bad one. Times have been tough financially with us. Brand's job that laid him off at the end of March has not been able to pay him a cent that he is owed. He's worked very hard to find another job but the fact is..we barely have enough money for bills let alone a birthday present for me or a nice evening out. I didn't expect anything for my birthday. Actually, for awhile I tend to try not to have high expectations for my birthday. It makes things easier when things don't go the way you'd like.
So all I expected were things to be picked up around the house. When I came home I could hear the laundry going, the house was definitely cleaner, and my expectations were met. Then I go in my room to charge my cell phone and see one single rose with a note by it. The note showed more about how Brand cared about me than a present could ever do. Definitely a tearjerker. Not only did he give me a beautiful note stating that the flower represents the love he has for me, but there was a dollar bill with "I love you" written on it to remind me that even thought times were tough we stayed true to each other and true to God. That definitely beats anything else he could have bought me :)
We decided to take a little picture especially because Brand looked so nice (he just got done meeting with my friend Dani's boss to get a job delivering sandwiches...yay! good birthday present!)

So it was a great birthday :) Brand made me chicken and mashed potatoes and we scrounged our dollar bills together (not the gift one though..I'll keep that forever) and each got a small chocolate frosty from Wendy's.
It was a pretty dang good birthday :)
Today the party will continue with a Harry Potter themed birthday party with my friends put on by one of my best friends, Mollie :) She also happens to be making me an ice cream cake..MAKING it..she's pretty great :)
So most likely the next picture you see will be all of us dressed up as HP characters...and my Snape costume will be awesome!