The Best Way to Turn 33

I have to say, my birthday was so 

great this year. Jake was on a busy month 

in the PICU, so my expectations were 

very low. So it was a great surprise when 

I found out he took MLK day off to 

celebrate my birthday (a few days early)!

First, he arranged to watch the kids

while I went to a surprise breakfast at

the Mad Hatter with some friends.

Heck, I didn't even know I had this 

many friends here in Durham!

(From left: Cassie, Charisse, Jessica, 

Stephanie, Cabrina, me, Melissa & Janssen)

In the afternoon, he arranged for me

to have a nap and then we went to 

Cheesecake Factory as a family.

I ordered my favorite avocado rolls,

and got a darling mini Sundae for

dessert (since I don't like cheesecake).

(outside the restaurant)

On the 21st, I held a playgroup at my 

house and had quite the turnout! At one

point I counted 12 moms and over 30 kids.

I bought a Publix cookie cake to share,

and picked up a new flavor of Bluebell.

After the crowd left, my friend Melissa

stayed and put our kids to work sanitizing

the toys. We had lunch and a nice chat.

When Jake got home, we ate dinner and 

opened presents, and Corbett sang 

"Happy Birthday" to me about 7 times. 

(note how he says, "To Bethany")

I can honestly say this was the best 

birthday I've had in a long time.

Ringing in 2015

We spent New Year's Eve 

with my friend Jamie McAllister and 

her family at their lovely home in Maryland. 

Our friend Allison McKee joined us and 

we had a blast eating homemade pizzas and 

brownie sundaes and playing games until 

the ball dropped in Times Square.

(From left: Jake, Bethany, 

Allison, Jamie and Jared)

Then we toasted with some 

sparkling cider and stayed up way too late 

talking and reminiscing. Other than us ladies 

losing "Battle of the Sexes," it was a perfect 

way to spend New Year's Eve.

The Deines' in DC (Part 1)

Since we live so close to DC now, 

we decided to use some of Jake's vacation 

time to head back to one of our favorite cities, 

and where it all began for our family. 

There are so many great things to do

in DC, but our first priority was 

visiting the Lincoln Memorial. 

It was pretty frigid outside, 

but we bundled up and had a great 

time exploring old and new sites 

along the National Mall.

Potomac River:

World War II Memorial:

White House:

Washington Monument: 

Jefferson Memorial: 

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial: 

DC is just awesome.