I'm back!

I wrote up a nice, long blog entry last Thursday evening telling you all about my great plans for the weekend, but by the time I went to publish it, Blogger had stopped working. So I will just have to tell you about it now, after the fact!

On Friday morning, I flew to Kansas City, Missouri, where I spent two nights at a hotel with seven other ladies from Hannah's Prayer, the online community I am a part of (see link to left). We spent two days talking, laughing, shopping, eating, and just being women! On Saturday night, we all dressed up in retro-style formal gowns, donned tiaras, and went out to eat at an Italian restaurant! We had such a fun time! Here's a picture of all of us at the restaurant, and one of me in the dress I wore for the occasion:

On Sunday afternoon, when our event ended, I went to stay the night with my college roommate, Becky Johnson, who has been living in the Kansas City area for a month now, working as a nanny. I was privileged to be the first guest in her cute little apartment! We had a great time shopping, visiting, watching chick flicks, and finding good places to eat. On Monday evening, she took me to the airport and I flew home to Sacramento, arriving around 11:00PM.

Andrew picked me up at the airport and we came home. I was very tired (it was going on 2:00AM Kansas City time) and ready to go to sleep. I went to put something in the garage, and when I opened the door I saw a completely gift-wrapped vehicle with a heart-shaped balloon on top that had "I Love You" written on it! My old car had been giving me problems, so Andrew had bought me a new one! (It's not NEW new -- it has 3,000-something miles on it.)

So now I am driving a four-door hatchback 2005 Toyota Prius, a gas-electric hybrid! A guy at church who sells used cars gave Andrew a great deal on it. Some of the highlights:

*Gets great gas mileage (about 50 miles to the gallon) and is better for the environment
*Has a 6-CD changer!
*Voice-activated GPS system

It's also a "smart" car, so when I have the special key in my purse, I don't even need to take it out to get into the car. As soon as I walk up to the door, it unlocks. Then I don't even need the key to start the car. As long as the key is just in my purse on the seat beside me, I press the "Power" button and the car starts -- like turning on a computer! I can't get over the fact that you don't have to turn a key to start the engine! This is a fun car to drive!

So YAY for my sweet, thoughtful husband, and for the many blessings God pours out on us that we don't deserve, but that He so graciously continues to give. :-)

(I apologize for the lack of pictures of the car, but for some reason, Blogger is being a pain and not letting me insert them here. I will try again tomorrow...)