See that i phone camera case?

It’s mine.

Earlier this year Allison asked for a new phone plan. She was traveling quite a bit with her athletic training work at the school and her old phone was a piece of junk. We crunched the numbers and realized that it would not cost much more and that I could get a free phone and be bundled into the plan.

I have resisted getting a cell phone for my whole adult life.

I rarely go anywhere and any time I needed to make a call when I was out shopping I would simply step into a crowd of people and say, “Does anyone have a phone I can make a call with?” And ten people would offer me a cell phone.

So the most darling new phone was shipped out to me last spring and I went on Amazon and searched for an I phone case with roses and pearls.

The excessive bling has resulted in a years worth of commentary and hilarity at my over the top decked out phone.

But I love it.

See these bifocal glasses?

They are my birthday present.

According to Ally, who knows about these things, I have some serious high class tastes when it comes to eyeware. All year as my eyes have increasingly blurred while reading, I used the cheapo reading glasses from the drug store to do my six to eight hours of study every day.

I really felt the need to go to an eye doctor to get my eyes checked, so Paul and I went on a date to the opthamologist. (It’s what middle aged people do for fun!) The doc was an old buddy of his from high school and was about as pleasant a fellow as you would expect a small town Cedar City Eye Doc to be.

These sorts of moments in life are great reminders of how amazingly wonderful most health care professionals are. I spend so much energy ripping Allopathy here on my blog that it is ALWAYS good to have interactions with those necessary portions of medical care.

I have not had my eyes checked professionally since I was in College.

And I was curious to hear how they were doing. Because I spend so much time reading every day, I was certain they were a mess, but the Doc assured me that my eyes are quite healthy and fitted me for bifocals.

As I wandered around his office looking for some sturdy and beautiful frames, I spotted a pair that had roses on them and knew immediately those glasses were mine!

See this basket of goodies from the health food store?

It is my birthday present.

We have a tradition of celebrating the actual birthday of our family members with a special breakfast (Paul made me cracked Kamut Cereal) and a special birthday dinner and cake.

We also purchase a basket of favorite store bought snacks. We do so much cookin’ from scratch around here that it is fun to get some treats that are packaged professionally!

While we lived in Colorado we would purchase this amazing carrot cake from the Huckleberry in Louisville every year for my birthday. It was so yummy. Paul obtained a carrot cake recipe from our neighbor down the street. She had brought that cake to us the first week we moved here.

He made it with half fresh ground Kamut Flour and half King Arthur unbleached white organic pastry flour. Shelly grated two cups of fresh carrots and they created pure magic with a can of crushed pineapple, raisins, cocoanut and cream cheese frosting. As we chowed it down last night, I had to bless them both for all of the effort! That cake was BETTER than my Huckleberry cake!

I feel so overwhelmed to have so many blessings poured down on my head this 46th year of mortality.

Thanks to my family for celebrating with me a day early. Today is fast sunday and we Mormons skip two meals and give the money we would have spent on food to the poor as a fast offering.

Paul cooking and doing dishes all day was such a gift! I love him with all of my heart!

Here is that carrot cake recipe:

Sharons amazing Carrot Cake (with a slight change by Paul Hatch)

1 cup Olive Oil
2 cups Sugar
3 eggs
1 cup crushed pineapple (1/2 can – don’t drain)
2 cups flour (As I said above Paul used one cup of fresh ground Kamut Wheat and one cup of King Arthurs White Unbleached Organic pastry flour

1 tsp Sea Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Cinnamon
2 cups Grated Carrots
1 cup Cocoanut
1 cup Raisins
Nuts – He left the nuts out cause I am deadly allergic…

Mix all ingredients and bake in cake pans for 30 minutes at 350′

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz package of Cream Cheese
1/2 cube Melted Butter (4 Tablespoons)
1 tsp Vanilla
3/4 cups Powdered Sugar

I boxed up all the leftover cake and put it in the freezer and plan to enjoy a piece now and then all month long!

I love my family…

Jenny Hatch