Internet-less

Brad cancelled the cable today...and the INTERNET SERVICE!!! So I may be gone for a couple of days. Thankfully he just wants to switch to another provider. He knows I need my blogging fix :) I hope to be back online soon!

Oh the Nothingness of it All

I'm back! I haven't really been gone, I've just been....chillin'. I have had plenty of time when I could blog the last few days, but I just kept putting it off because I didn't have anything to say.

Unfortunately, that has not changed. But lucky for you - I'm here anyway!

I think it's time for some random bullet points :)

• On Monday I think I did 7 loads of laundry. It amazed me that we still had other clean clothes to wear. And that I couldn't remember the last time I'd done laundry...
  
  
• Daisie keeps tricking us into thinking she is out of the puppy phase, only to prove very clearly that she is not. Yesterday while I was in the shower, she shredded two of Brad's Nascar magazines. Apparently she and I have similar feelings towards racing.
  
  
• We are cancelling cable tomorrow in an effort to save more money towards the adoption. This may not seem like a big deal to many people, but to us it is MAJOR. We watch too much t.v. - I will admit it. So this is a big step for us towards saving money and setting ourselves free from the grip of the box that claims too many hours of our day. Gulp. Does it make me a bad person that I am sad to say good-bye to cable???? Don't answer that.
  
  
• I am THANKFUL for so many things (and people) this week: the headaches are gone and I'm feeling great; my sisters who are ALWAYS there for me; my dear friends who made me toast, bought me a scarf, and prayed for me when I was feeling lousy; the lovely chocolate bar sitting in my cupboard that was brought all the way from England just for me; my sweet little nephew who has already stolen my heart; and the Lord's faithfulness and patience with me.
  
  
• Brad and I have started eating fruits and vegetables this week. I wish I could write that we've started eating more fruits and vegetables, but unfortunately that would be a lie. Lately the only fruits I have been eating are ones that begin with "chocolate covered" and the only vegetables Brad has been eating are ones that came on top of a pizza. But we are making a change!
  
  

Hopefully I will be back soon with something more interesting to report! Until then I will leave you with a random picture:

Me and Brad (2006). It is so weird to see him with facial hair! The day he shaved it off, I screamed really loud!

A Day of Recovery!

Today was so wonderful - we did absolutely nothing! We have had a busy couple of weeks and it was so great to just lie around the house not doing much. I slept until noon (something I have not done in ages) and feel so much better today. I even managed to make it to the gym and ran 2 miles! I am feeling so encouraged to have energy again and to not have a headache for a change.

Last night we had a youth group activity at the local Christian school. I was pretty tired going into it but had such a fun time. I just love working with teens and having time to just hang out with them last night was a real blessing.

I told Kylie I would put this picture on my blog, so HERE IT IS :)

I just love her!

Just What I Needed

The concert was FABULOUS! Being with friends, loud rockin' music, and worshipping the Lord. It does not get any better than that!

As soon as we walked in to where the concert was being held, we started cracking up. It was being held at a local university (where I went to school actually) and we quickly realized that we were much older than the average concert attender! By like 10 years. How did that happen?

Before the concert we got to go and meet the David Crowder Band, which was cool but a bit awkward. It was so weird - none of us could think of what to say to these people we didn't know and didn't know much about! But they were really nice and the awkwardness was soon ended as Chris suggested a photo. What a good idea :)

David Crowder

Our group - we may be old but our tickets were free! HA!

After the concert we stopped by Culvers for a treat and Rachel was working. It is possible that the people she works with now think her friends are crazy :) Well, they might be right!

An Adoption Update, Concert Tickets, and A Strange Side Effect (But Not in that order)

I just got home from a wonderful praise night at youth group and am now watching American Idol, drinking a cup of Ovaltine, and blogging. Life is good :)

I am SO happy to say that the Lord has answered my prayers (and the prayers of many dear friends) and my headache is G-O-N-E!!!! The crazy part - it disappeared before I started taking my medicine. Totally a God thing!

Still, I started taking the meds last night as a preventative. I was looking over the lovely list of side effects and noticed a couple of strange ones that I have never seen on any medication I've taken before.

1. Excess sweating. Um, that is just gross.

2. An increased appetite especially for sweets. Oh dear.

I am wondering if someone has been drugging me with this medication for years...because I seem to have always had an increased appetite for sweets. At least now I have a valid reason for it...

So if you see me with a donut in one hand, a chocolate bar in the other, and sweaty armpits...now you know why.

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The Adoption Update - I hope I did not get your hopes up. I really do not have much news to report. But I did want to say that as of tomorrow we will have been on the waiting list for SIX MONTHS!!!! Time is passing, sometimes more slowly than I would like, but the day is coming!

People keep asking me what comes next (and by the way, I am never annoyed when people ask about the adoption - it shows me that they care and are interested in our lives and I love it!). So I thought I would just tell a little more about what we are waiting for.

We hope *so much* that maybe by the end of the summer or sometime in the fall we will receive what is called a referral. This is the time when we are matched with a child. We will get their picture, any medical information they have about them, background info, etc. I'm guessing that at this point the waiting will become almost unbearable :) After this, it will still be 3-6 months until we can bring them home (paperwork and immigration stuff I think). And then...our baby will be here!

And I will need to rename my blog! I think I might name it, "I Never Want to Wait for Anything Ever Again..!" Although I'm guessing that by that point the waiting part will have faded away and I will be writing that it was totally worth the wait :) Maybe I will rename my blog, "Waiting? What Waiting?"

Oh, how I long for that day.

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Tomorrow night I will be going to see the David Crowder Band in concert!!!! Our friends, Chris and Mindy, won tickets from a local radio station and they invited us to go with them! We are so excited :) I just love live concerts!

They won backstage passes too. The crazy part is that another good friend, Tamara, won tickets too on a different station! So we are all going to be there and hopefully we can sit together.

Do you ever sit down to publish a short little zippy post...and then end up with a great big long one? That seems to be happening to me tonight! Sorry!

A New Little Nephew

Today we welcomed our new nephew, Benjamin, into the family.

So sweet, so beautiful...truly a gift.

"For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:13-14

What a Weekend!

Sorry for the lack of blogging this weekend but honestly, we have been so busy! I have taken two naps today already!!!

Our friends, Sue and Stan (in the red behind me and Brad) arrived on Friday night for our annual Daytona Extravaganza. There was a big Nascar race on Sunday afternoon, so we had some friends and family over to watch the race. It was, as always, lots of fun!

The weekend was made a little difficult by the fact that I have not been feeling well for quite a while now. I have basically had a headache every day since just before Christmas. Most days I can still manage to do my normal stuff - I just don't feel too well. The last couple of weeks have been hard because I have really not been feeling like myself and I've been struggling to keep up with life. This morning I went to see a neurologist who said he believes it is a type of migraine...I am hoping to do some research about this (when I'm finished blogging of course - don't you love my priorities???). Hopefully I will be feeling better soon. I have decided to not think about how I have not gone to the gym in over two weeks. Maybe tomorrow...

Tonight we are looking forward to dinner with Brad's brother, Chuck, and his wife, Karen. I am so thankful she called - I don't think I have enough food left in the house to make a meal!

I should have some interesting news to post tomorrow....so stay tuned!

Stuck in My Head

I often find myself with songs stuck in my head. Sometimes I will wake up and honestly the first thought I have is a line from a song that is stuck in my head.

This week, the song of choice...

"There was an old lady who swallowed a fly...I don't know why she swallowed a fly...I guess she'll DIE!"

Hmmm. Are you concerned about me yet?

What about if I tell you that I keep bursting into song (so far only when I am alone) and singing the part where it goes, "How absurd to swallow a bird!"

You know what I can't wait for? I can't wait until I will not seem crazy to be singing silly songs. I cannot wait till our little one is here and I can sing little songs to him or her :) I can't wait to be a mom!

Even though that may make me crazy in other ways..

Not Fast Enough

Ah, the wonders of technology. It is hard to imagine what we used to do before cameras had a self-timer. How did couples get pictures of themselves when they didn't have someone to take their picture? Now that I type that, it seems like a pretty obvious answer - they didn't!

Wow, it's been a long day.

I was looking at our pictures today and found a few "classics" that I just had to share. Please feel free to enjoy a laugh at my expense :)

The first...taken last summer while trying to get some nice photos for our adoption stuff. And along came a gust of wind...


Then there's this picture, taken on a beach in Traverse City while we were on vacation there a couple of years ago. I set the timer, raced over to Brad as fast as I could...and almost fell over when I got there! Can you see me face?

Please allow me to blow that up larger for you. Needless to say, we had to try that one again!

My favorite by far was taken this week. My sister Joanna came over to hang out and watch a movie and I needed my "picture of the day". So I set up the camera, pushed the timer button...

...and almost made it back to the couch before it took the picture! Flattering, I know :)

The best part is how much I freak out when I push the timer button. If I would just walk calmly over to be in the picture I would probably have no problem!

But then what would I blog about?

Look over to the right - I have a new button!!!! My friend, Rachel, is hosting "The Year of the Scarf" bloggy carnival (which obviously you can read right on the button!). Now, I am pretty new to these "bloggy carnival" things. I think what it means is that on March 2nd, we all post our scarf pictures on our blogs and Rachel will have links to our blogs from hers. If I am wrong about that...well, nobody will really be that surprised.

This means I have to buy a scarf. The new scarf trend is one of my favorites. I am not normally what you would call "trendy"...I'm usually at least a year or two behind in these things. I held off from capris for a good 3 years (mini pants? Who wants those?). But I think I might actually be able to do this one!

As for life around here...the weekend was lovely and I am so enjoying the sunshine! Brad and I took Daisie for two walks this weekend at a local park. Very enjoyable...very muddy!


This week is a busy one as we are excitedly preparing for our annual Daytona party. Racing season is back and Nascar is dominating the television once again. Sigh. But I must say I do enjoy seeing my husband getting all giddy. It's pretty cute (in a manly way of course!).

So the week ahead promises to hold lots of cleaning, grocery shopping, and maybe some baking. And then on Sunday...the house will be full of excited Nascar fans (and me) for an afternoon of fun and laughter and good food. I will begrudgingly admit it - I love the Daytona party!!!

Thoughts of Warmer Days

It is a difficult thing to admit, but I was, at one point in my life, a "Trekkie". I used to love the show "Star Trek - The Next Generation". One of my favorite things in the show was how they could just "beam" themselves to other places. Howcome it is the year 2009 and that is still not possible? All the old shows seemed to imply that things like that would be possible by now!

So I was thinking tonight...where would I beam myself to?

Normally I would come up with some thoughtful answer and beam myself somewhere that would have a great impact on my life or the life of others...but not tonight!

Tonight I have decided I would beam myself here:


Of course, I would beam Brad with me. Nobody wants to be beamed alone. Well, except for some of the mothers I know who have several small children...

For the last few weeks I have been YEARNING (yes, I said yearning) to be lying somewhere on a beach. I think about it nearly every day. Which is funny because truth be told I have never been much of a beach person. I have often scrunched up my nose at the thought of planning a vacation to a beachy type place.

Apparently I have had a change of heart. Oh how I long for sunshine!

I think the sun was shining today - I saw it through the window - but unfortunately this is how I spent my day:

Curled up on the couch with a sinus infection.

Longing for the beach...

Treats I Can't Resist...

Day or night, no matter where I am, they call to me.

Lately I just cannot seem to get enough of these:

(regular or salt and vinegar!)

and these:

I cannot comment on quantities of either that have been consumed in recent days. But I can say this - IT HAS GOT TO STOP!!!!!

(As soon as I finish this bag of chips and use up my Tim Hortons gift card of course!)

I thought I would share that today so that all of you could feel better about whatever it is you ate that made you feel guilty today. Now you know someone who ate more junk food than you!

He's Just So Good

Yesterday I was reading in Exodus about how God led the people of Israel out of Egypt and how He parted the Red Sea for them. They saw Him do such amazing things, and praised Him because of it. But soon after, as they began to travel through the wilderness, their praises quickly turned to discontentment and grumbling. Instead of turning to the Lord, they questioned Him for bringing them to this place where they had no water.

Well of course as I read this yesterday I thought to myself how fickle and faithless these people were. They had just seen the power of Almighty God - how could they so quickly turn on Him and lose faith in Him? Hadn't they seen how He had protected them and taken care of them?

I would never be like that! No way, not me!

And then comes today. I got home this afternoon and discovered that we had received a letter in the mail. We did not get an adoption grant that we were hoping and praying we would get. I was disappointed and even a bit angry. This was NOT the answer I wanted.

But as I cried about it and stomped around (yes, I know, very mature!) I heard the Lord quietly whisper to my heart. He reminded me of this story that I had just read. And He asked me if I was going to trust Him even when things don't go my way. He reminded me of the countless times He has been faithful and has provided - especially when it comes to the area of paying for this adoption. When we began, we did not know how we would do it. But He has been faithful every step of the way. And as I remembered these things and turned my eyes away from the discouraging situation and onto Jesus, the peace came and the tears stopped.

He is so good.

So if you need some encouragement today, check out Exodus 14-16. You will find a God who cares for His people, and who deals so patiently with them. I am so thankful for that!