Let the good times roll...

I know I've been slacking on the blog posts lately... There have been so many wonderful things happening around here, and I think I was waiting for a pause to sit down and write. But I don't see any end in sight to all of this awesomeness... so here we go.

Over the past few weeks, HUGE strides have been made in our immigration quest. Leo not only got his Social Security number, but is now the proud owner of a US Work Permit AND a driver's license!!

And as for me- I just got ACLS certified last week, turned 27 yesterday, and had a grad school interview at Baylor today!

And the icing on the cake: we started a vegetable garden out on the patio-- and already have our first teeny tiny tomato!

From L to R: tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, basil & strawberries!

...and now that we've covered 3 weeks worth of great events in a few short sentences, I'm going to focus in a bit and discuss my super amazing 27th birthday!

Leo and I started the day extremely early-- 4:30am to be exact. He had passed his written driving test on Friday, but had to come back early yesterday to conquer the road test. And because the Dallas DMV is INSANE and only takes the first 30 people in line every morning, we had to set the alarm crazy early and be there to steal the #1 spot (whoo!). As the line formed, we knew it would be a fun wait. It seemed like every corner of the world was represented... a mini-UN of sorts. And some had obviously been in that line before. While our backsides suffered as we sat on the damp concrete (from a ginormous storm only hours before), some people had shown up with camp chairs, incredible spreads of food, newspapers, etc.

But we made it-- and when they opened those doors at 8am, after our 2.5+ hours of waiting, I just about jumped for joy. Leo was in and out in less than 30 minutes, official-looking sheet of paper in hand!! His real license will show up in 6-8 weeks... and my birthday was off to a great start. :)

After arriving home, we napped for a couple hours, got a little recharged, and then headed out again. We ran past the grocery store and then hit up Old Navy. And then came home to BAKE! My favorite cake in the whole wide world is angel food. It's delicious and makes me smile, and it had been FAR too long since I'd had it. (With Botswana's lack of electric mixers, it was an impossibility.)

And Leo was in on the action from the first egg cracked! I was so impressed with him...

We did everything perfectly, and the cake baked beautifully, but there was a small malfunction in the cooling process. A few minutes after turning it upside down, it dropped straight out of the pan! I have no idea why... because it definitely wasn't under or over-cooked. I blame the pan. Clearly Leo & I are superb bakers and could NOT have made a mistake. But even though it was a little more "compact" than expected, it still turned out deeeeelicious. A few fresh strawberries on top, and I couldn't have asked for a better birthday cake.

But I'm getting ahead of myself-- Before we actually ate the cake, we enjoyed a lovely sushi dinner. We found a new little place, that could very well be our new favorite. (I'm one lucky girl for having a husband who loves sushi as much as I do.)

Nothing big & crazy (except for that DMV line)-- but it was a great day! And now I'm officially in my 27th year! :)

ps- I'll keep you posted on the garden. I go out and talk to the plants every single day to make sure they grow big & strong.