I love that birthdays seem to last a week…today at work we’re having birthday cake for the February birthdays and I got to choose the cake! We always get one from Costco so I chose white cake, cheesecake filling, whipped cream frosting, and the hockey theme for the decorations.

Last night Joe was able to bring home my birthday gift. He had ordered it last week but it took longer than he had anticipated it would. I had no idea what he was getting me this year and started to cry when I opened it. Joe had gotten one of my photographs professionally matted and framed at Aaron Brother’s. It looks beautiful. Some of you may remember the picture since it used to hang in the apartments we’ve had, in a cheesy frame I’d purchased a long time ago. That is until the frame fell apart at our townhome and the picture was banished to the closet in the office.

The picture is of some roses that I shot for a high school photography assignment. We processed the photo in black and white and painted a small portion of the picture to make that part pop out. In my case, I chose to paint one rose. I love this effect and have always been particularly proud of this photograph. It was such a surprise to see it beautifully framed and ready to be hung in the new house. What a thoughtful gift! …but I’d expect nothing less from Joe. I love that he puts so much thought into everything he does for me.