Celebrate Life!

 

February is a really busy month for us. Besides Valentine's Day, this is also my birthday month. Another busy month for us is August since it's when we celebrate Greg's birthday and our wedding anniversary.

For my birthday this year, we invited the part of our family that lives nearby to our house for a meal. The party wasn't just for me, but it was also for my cousin whose birthday is also in February. To make the get-together more fun, we called the celebration a "Winterfest Birthday Celebration." We got the idea of  "Winterfest" from the celebration in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee that lasts from mid-November to mid-February every year. Having something like this helps to counteract the starkness of this time of the year.

"Life should not only be lived, it should be celebrated." ~Osho (In short, celebrate life!)

We decorated our house with a wintery...

Christmassy theme.

We had a pizza meal ready for everyone to enjoy.

The three guys patiently waited to get their food...

while the ladies filled up their plates. (Ladies first!)

Dessert was a festive birthday cake, along with ice cream.

Then, it was time to open birthday gifts-

My gift was wrapped in paper with a cute snowman design.

My cousin seemed to like his birthday gifts.

Our outdoor cat, Kit-Cat, kept everybody entertained.

It was time for everyone to leave, but we made plans for future times to be together.

Greg and I celebrated Valentine's Day with little gifts to each other.

A couple of days later, we went to Rogersville, Tennessee to celebrate my birthday some more.

(We don't celebrate our birthdays just one day. We stretch it out few several days! The more, the better!)

The reason I wanted to go to Rogersville was to go to the Hale Springs Inn...

to have lunch at...

the Sweet Tooth Cafe which is located inside the inn.

The food there is delicious! Each dish is named after either a local person or place. I had "The American Hotel Bacon Melt,' along with a "Simpson House Strawberry Salad."

Our terrific waitress, Jalyn, pleasantly surprised me when she said that since I was celebrating my birthday that I got my choice of a free dessert even though it wasn't the exact day of my birthday. I ordered the salted caramel cheesecake which was absolutely delicious! I told the owner, Jo, that it was one of the best desserts I'd ever had, which was the truth! I shared part of my dessert with Greg and he liked it although he usually doesn't like caramel.

After our wonderful lunch, we looked around downtown Rogersville which has some nice little shops-

We enjoyed this pretty shop which has a message on a sign outside that we think is really important for all of us to follow-"It's a beautiful day to shop local."

The next day, we met part of Greg's family for lunch at Freiberg's German Restaurant in Johnson City, Tennessee since they were in our area on personal business.

Greg, Outside of Freiberg's with One of  His Brothers

The food is great! I had schnitzel which was something new to me.

Enjoying Being Together

Afterwards, since we were in a celebratory mood, we went to Bass Pro Shops in Bristol, Tennessee since we've never been to that one before. Greg and I are not into sports at all, but Greg wanted to go check out their coffee, and I was interested in seeing the beautiful wildlife displays and scenes that they have.

Bass Pro Shops

For our final stop in our several-days birthday/Valentine's Day celebration, we decided to go by the...

Blackbird Bakery in Bristol, Virginia to get a couple of goodies which we enjoyed at home with warm drinks where we rested and made plans for our next adventures. (No more sweets for a while, though!)

"Every day of your life is a special occasion." ~Thomas S. Monson

Positive thought: "A good life is a collection of happy moments." ~Denis Waitley

Thanks for visiting! Until Sunday, March 6, 2022, Becky