happy birthday!

today is my mom's birthday! in her honor, i decided to give my blog a makeover. nothing to drastic...i'm all about keeping it natural. i updated my profile, added a picture, and added some links in the sidebar. and sadly, yes, it was time to give some people the boot to the "barely breathing blog" section (hey, it's your own fault for not updating enough!). they're still great blogs, i'm just tired of staring at the same entries for a month before something new appears. so i hope you enjoy. i promise, good things are coming to those who wait.