It Should Be Called, "Crazy Friday"...

*I just have to post this update because I am SO mad at myself for getting up that early! Brad and I just got back from another trip to Walmart (groceries we needed). It was nice and quiet, no lines...and there, at the back of the store, was a display FULL of the item that I got up early for and stood in line for this morning! UGH! I could have waited till this evening and got the same thing at the same price! How frustrating is that?

I swore I would never do it, but today I did. I got up at 4:30am, headed to Walmart, stood in line for an hour, and got a good deal (I can't say what I bought though because it is a secret present for Brad!).

I think I should have stayed in bed and just paid the extra $50!!!

For those non-Americans out there, let me tell you what you are missing. Today is the day after Thanksgiving, and it is known here as "Black Friday" (I think because it is a day when stores have massive sales which puts them "in the black" instead of "in the red"). Some stores open at 4am and you can usually find great deals. If you are willing to brave the crowds...

People are SO crazy! I cannot believe the amount of people that were in Walmart this morning at 5am. It is the first time in my life I have been in a traffic jam in a PARKING LOT! I told Brad (who was a sweetheart and came with me) that people should only be allowed in the store if they were in a good mood. That would probably have weeded out about 2/3 of the people!

We finished up at Walmart, came home and slept for a couple more hours, and then headed out to a few more stores. I'm not sure why but we just had so much fun. We laughed and got some more good deals, had lunch together...it was a very fun shopping date :)

But I will never, ever, EVER get up before 9am on Black Friday again. Ever!

The Christmas Cow

A couple of weeks ago, we entered our local Meijer store to do some grocery shopping. As I turned to get a cart, Brad immediately rushed over to the Christmas display. I turned around to see him with his arm around a lighted Christmas cow (kind of strange - they had a pig, too). Then Brad proceeded to moo at me. Loudly.

A couple of nights ago we were at Meijer again. Conversation as follows:

Brad: Let's go see my Christmas cow!!!

Me: Well, honey, it's not really your Christmas cow...

Brad (with a smile): No, but it could be.... :)

I am hoping so much that I will not come home and find it on my lawn!

Spending Some Time Indoors...

After waking up to this...

I knew I would not be able to talk myself into running outside today!

So I decided instead to use this...

A friend recently gave me a free week at her gym so that I can try it out. I went today and loved it! It was so good not to be cold! And the people working at the gym were the most friendly and helpful people. I'm going again tomorrow!

Can You Hear the Laughter from Canada?

I am so happy to be home! It's been a while and I am ready for some sister time with my little sis, Sarah. She gets me laughing so hard and I love that I can just be my goofy self. I mean, I'm always my goofy self, but sometimes that means I get strange looks from people! Here...I just fit right in!

So Sarah and I just spent half an hour trying to get a decent picture. We agreed it must be the lighting that kept making our pictures turn out so bad. After 22 shots...we agreed this was the best it was going to get!


I am happy and carefree today because not only do I get to spend some time with my family, but I actually got a full night's sleep last night! We have been transitioning Daisie from sleeping in the bed to sleeping on the floor on a dog pillow...and there have been a few rough nights at the Hunt house this week. For some reason, Daisie seems to think that after a four hour power nap, she should get up around 2am and be ready to PLAY. We have discussed this at length with her and last night she finally complied with our rules and stayed on her pillow! This morning I found her all tucked up in her blanket looking all cute and cuddly. I liked her much more after she let me have a full night's sleep.

I know that it won't be too long until I am being woken up by the cries of our little one, and at this point I naively look forward to that :) But that time is not yet here and I am not willing to be woken up by a dog. Baby, yes...doggie, no! I do not want practice, I want to sleep! :)

A Whole Lot of Nothing

It has been a busy busy week, hence the lack of blogging! (sorry Ang!) I think I will copy Rachel's bullet idea for a quick catch up of what has been going on.

• Still working on the basement...will it ever end? Hopefully this project will be done by the end of Thanksgiving break


• Yesterday was the 3 month mark of our being on the waiting list! The time seems to be going by pretty quickly and (most days) I am able to keep myself from going too crazy thinking about the future.


• Poor Brad has to have a root canal today :( It will be the first time he's had a needle in his mouth and he is pretty nervous about it.


• I have the best boss ever! Look what he brought me back from a recent trip to England :) Yep, it's an enormous chocolate bar. I ate so much of it this morning that I started to feel sick...but I didn't even care! I love British chocolate! Unfortunately, this candy bar combined with no running this week (knee pain again) equals a very unhealthy week! As you can tell from the picture, I am very concerned.

• I get to go home to Canada this weekend! I am so excited and it feels like it's been so long since I've been back. I can't wait to see family and friends and to have fun NOT cleaning the basement!

• I am back to scrapbooking and feeling the passion again! Tonight is scrapbook night, my stuff is all organized, and I know exactly what I am going to work on!

This Week's Big Basement Find...

Jackpot! $15 Canadian to spend when I go home next weekend!

The funniest part is that this money was in a card someone must have given me several years ago. Oops! Oh well, now it will buy me some much needed Canadian chocolate bars (also known to my American friends as "candy bars").

I am hoping to come across hundreds of dollars as I continue to clean...but I fear I am to be sorely disappointed.

Say it with me now, "I will not procrastinate, I will not procrastinate..."

This may seem like a strange picture, but to me it is a great accomplishment! Christmas presents purchased BEFORE Christmas Eve! What an amazing concept! Of course, I can't show the presents because some of the people who will be receiving them read this blog :)

For the last few years I have spent Christmas Eve (which also happens to be my birthday) having to go to the store for at least one last minute present. I leave shopping till the end and then it turns out that it is no fun whatsoever because I am grouchy and the stores are busy and I don't know what to buy...so this year, I have put my foot down! I am no longer going to be a procrastinator!

I started purchasing presents in the summer (Kristy, are you so proud?) when I saw stuff I knew was perfect for a family member or friend. I am now getting to the end of my list and it has definitely been a better way to do things. This year I have enjoyed shopping, have had time to really think about each person I am shopping for and find things they would like, and have found some great deals too :)

I will never go back to being a last minute Christmas shopper!

Made to Worship

I never dreamed when I picked up a guitar ten years ago that it would one day feel like a part of me! I have so happy to be playing a lot again lately. Playing on the praise team at church and helping to lead the youth praise team has been such a blessing to me these last few months. I love to play, but more than that, I love to worship the Lord. I have been learning a lot lately about worship as I have been thinking through why and how we worship. The Lord has changed me in so many ways over the last few years, and one of the things He has shown me is that worship is not about me. I used to get nervous, I used to think that people were looking at me or that I would mess it all up. I used to worry if it was not perfect and stress if things did not go how we practiced. I was quick to be critical of other people's efforts - thinking we were playing it too fast or too slow or too loud or too soft or just not the way I wanted! But through His Word I have been gently (and not so gently) reminded that worship is about HIM alone. It is about singing to Him and singing about Him. I am learning to let go of my perfectionistic (and self-focused) ways and to worship with my heart. He is so worthy of my praise!

"I will praise you, O Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever." Psalm 86:12

You Can't Miss Me!

Long gone are the days of cute summer running outfits :( It is now a matter of survival. Appearance is unimportant - warmth is everything!

A few years back I was on a volleyball team. When we ordered our team shirts, we expected yellow...but we didn't expect to glow in the dark! This shirt has been stuffed in the back of my dresser for years...but at long last it has a purpose! I feel very safe and visible now when I am running with my "bright as the sun" shirt on!

Today it snowed and was cold, and all I wanted to do was curl up and take a nap...but instead I met my running buddies and did another 5 miles. It was hard and cold but the company was good and we managed it! And now, I am back home, warm and cozy, and ready to sink into the couch for a good long while :)

I'm a Nerd and I'm Proud of It!

Last night Brad and I attended a fundraiser auction at our local Christian school. It turns out I am actually quite competitive when the bidding starts :) It was a silent auction, so we had to write down our bids, and then they told us when the bidding was going to close for that area, and you had to push your way in to write down your bid right before it closed. I am super excited about what I ended up with:

Yes, I love Little House and the Waltons! I don't care if they are old fashioned or not "cool" these days...I just love them! I love seeing when life was simpler. Sometimes I wish I was born in that time period, but then I remember about the outhouses and I think maybe not! This afternoon I am going to put some episodes in and watch them in the basement while I do some more sorting - hopefully it will make it go by more quickly!

That's My Dog

She goes up...

But can't get down...

She hates it when she's left alone...

(She was asleep when I went down to the basement, and this is what I found when I came upstairs five minutes later)

She always looks tired but has energy like you wouldn't believe!

That's my dog!

Today's News...

Completed I-600A form and having fingerprints taken for US immigration (needed in order to be approved to adopt from another country): $830.00

Knowing we are one step closer to holding our little one in our arms: PRICELESS!!!!

I'm So Excited...And I Just Can't Hide it!

Today was the perfect running day. It was cool, but not too cool. A light breeze, the sun shining - perfect. The park was gorgeous, surrounded by beautiful gold and red trees, a blue sky...just an overall perfect day to go running.

So after work, I went running.

I was hoping to be able to do about 3 miles, but wasn't sure if I could since I have been running only 2 or 2 1/2 miles each time recently. It has been a couple of weeks since I've done 3. Once I got going, I realized that I felt pretty good and thought I could for sure do the 3.6 I had planned. Once I finished that...I decided to keep going!

And I ran 5 miles! I REPEAT - FIVE MILES!!! I cannot believe I did that without dropping over dead. The signs at the park said I ran 5.4 miles, but based on my usual running paces and how long it took me today, I'd say it was closer to 5.

Either way, that is the farthest (furthest?) I have ever run. I am a happy camper :)

A Beautiful Gift

At church on Sunday, a dear lady approached me and gave me a beautiful gift. It is a bracelet that says "Heart to Home" and it was given to this lady by her mother-in-law when she was waiting to bring home her little girl from Guatemala. Well, her little girl has been home for a couple of months now, and so this lady passed this bracelet along to me to wear (or keep - my wrists are so small that I'm scared it will fall off and I'll lose it!) while we are waiting. She told me that when my wait is over, I can pass it along to someone else who is waiting to bring home a child.

What a beautiful reminder that I will not always be "in the waiting"! One day, the wait will be over and I will have my child in my arms. Every day I grow more and more certain that in the not too distant future I will look back on this period of my life and say, "It was SO worth it!"