The sheer amount of affection and well-wishing I got from everyone on my birthday made it a precious and, honestly, moving day, but thanks largely to Evan it was probably my best birthday ever. Although I had to work, my coworkers surprised me with a gigantic breakfast in bed and Evan had a huge vase of flowers delivered to me in the office. After dinner and Goblet of Fire (which earns a thumbs-up from both of us), Evan gave me several awesome gifts: a homemade Carpenters t-shirt, some much-needed housewares, and lastly... a commitment ring! We each now wear a sleek silver band, and I haven't taken mine off since he gave it to me. Now all throughout the day I have something with me that reminds me of my baby-- who is himself, of course, the greatest gift I could ever hope for, birthday-related or otherwise.

On Thanksgiving day we woke early and made the planned drive up to Asheville. Just as I'd expected, Evan enjoyed meeting my family and vice versa. Thanksgiving was a little... different, I guess, this year, due to the attendance of the families of several of my parents' friends whom I'd never met before. Now, I must note that I completely understand that this was my parents' celebration, not mine, and also "the more, the merrier." Still, as childish and embarrassing as it is, spending such an important holiday with strangers made me feel surprisingly resentful of their presence. Evan and I spent most of the gathering catching up with my sister and her friends, though, and that night we went to their inn a short ways down the mountain, drinking and talking till almost 2am. We didn't get to see as much of the city as we'd hoped-- well, none at all, really-- but we're planning to head back up there soon for a longer visit that will give us more time to explore.

Since Thanksgiving, things have been fairly stressful at work. One of the other leasing agents left, so we're down to only three people in the office. Seeing as we're one of the largest apartment communities in Athens, the extra work and accompanying stress have started to wear on all of us. All the better, then, that we started interviewing potential new leasing agents this week and I finally got word that I'm being promoted to assistant manager soon! With it I'm getting a $2/hr raise and either half or all of my rent for free, depending on how generous the regional manager is feeling. I'll continue doing collections, thankfully, but focus more on doing all the weekly and monthly reports rather than showing apartments, which is fine with me. I think I'm really going to enjoy the position, and the raise and free rent will be a huge perk. We're all eager to get someone new in the office to ease the workload, but it's a delicate situation: we have a very close bond in the office and want to find someone who will compliment that. I just hope we can do it quickly.

Speaking of things that I'm excited (if not slightly nervous) about, Evan's graduation is next weekend, which means I'm going to get to meet his parents this week. And after that is Christmas, which I'm spending in Arizona with my mom and grandmother, and then New Year's, about which I still know nothing but am nevertheless looking forward to. It really amazes me just how much I love my life these days. Everything is going so well, and I have the distinct feeling that it's only going to get better.