I know I haven't updated in almost a month. November was not a good month. Don't get me wrong, good things did happen, great things. There were plenty of blessings (so many more than I deserve) to be thankful for. But I've been in kind of a crap mood a lot. I know that sounds so rude, but there's really no better way to describe it. I wasn't home sick, but I felt sort of depressed. I don't think I was getting enough time to myself around my family for one thing-- my Aunt was the only person I saw EVERY SINGLE DAY all day. And it was difficult to work out how to live with my grandmother. Sharing an apartment with Lydia in college was easy, we had equal responsibilities, we both kept the apartment clean and tidy except when we were writing that paper last minute or cramming for finals in which case our stuff would be thrown everywhere, but we were okay with each others mess because we both did it, and we would get the whim to decorate for Christmas at midnight and head to Walmart to buy stuff or go get coffee at Common Grounds right before it closed. I'm at my grandmother's house and she wants me to feel at home, but absolutely nothing in this house is mine so how can I feel like I live here. It's all confined to my tiny little room.

And as I've said before, the young people that I've met here are so great and fun to be around. But being around my aunt and my grandmother too much made me feel like I wasn't seeing anyone else enough which made me feel isolated and lonely. It made the times that we did stuff so much more fun. I'm so thankful for long phonecalls from friends in between!

So--- to highlight one of the fun things that have happened here!

Barb's 30th (dundunDUUUUUUUUUN!) birthday was today and the girls went to Olive Garden to celebrate on Friday at lunch. I got the most beautiful cake from the bakery that did my grandparent's 65th wedding anniversary and it was.... amazing! It was carrot cake (Barb's choice) and the baker decorated it like a Tiffany & Co. gift box. I fell in love

I think December will be a better month. November got better toward the end. God is good all of the time and He amazes me with his faithfulness to me even when I'm such a mess!

On a lighter note, tonight, Paula Dean guest starred on Iron Chef: America and guess what the secret ingredient was... Sugar. It was amazing.

Jen