Thank You

I heard this song about 4 or 5 months ago and have been falling in love with it all the more! It's become my favorite song, my inspiration and my prayer. I have it on my current favorite CD and in my IPod. No matter how many times I listen to it, it touches my heart and evokes big emotion. I hope & pray it continues to keep it's effect on me.

I have been praying on the way to work for years, remembering to mention each child in my class by name and asking God to help me be just what that child needs that day. (among other things naturally) I listen to this song on the way to work each morning now, then pause to not just ask for God's blessings that day, but to remember to say THANK YOU!

I listened to it from my IPod while we were cruising. I remember laying in the sun on a day at sea, watching the ocean that God made, seeing the beautiful sky and knowing how blessed I am. I listened to this song and stopped to say THANK YOU for all the blessings in my life BIG and SMALL.

There are days I listen to this 4 or 5 times, never tiring of it, reminding myself to be THANKFUL for all of God's blessings. Do you stop daily to think how blessed you are? This is for me too, I'm not preaching, just reminding- Do you have a family? Friends? A Home? Food to eat? A car to take you places? A job where you earn money? A church family to love you and bring you closer to God? Do you have air to keep you cool and heat to keep you warm? Do you have enough money for those fun extras in life? Are you able to buy music you love, coffee from your favorite spot, a movie on DVD, a new outfit? There are too many things to name that we take for granted, there are so many people in the world who don't have those blessings.

May my song touch your heart
and remind you to be thankful too!

It's by 33Miles, download it!

What if in morning when I wake up
Even before I fill my coffee cup
I said thank You
Thank You

What if I look at the day and the hours ahead
And before I move forward I bowed my head
And said thank You
Oh I said thank You

What if I looked at my life in a different way
Took a little more time to stop and pray
I know it would change all the moments in between
So here I go

Thank You for everything
Thank You for loving me
It don’t even matter what tomorrow brings
Well I will sing my

Thank You for sun and rain
For what You give and take away
For all Your goodness I will always say
Thank You
Oh I’ll say thank You

What if I lost everything that I had
I could smile and somehow still be glad
And say thank You
Thank you

‘Cause life is joy, life is pain
But the prayer on my heart will never change
I say thank You
Oh I’ll say thank You

Cruising

I know, how many blogs can one person have about cruising, right?! I just have to go back and hit some things that I didn't talk about though. We were telling Andy's brother last Sunday that we are addicted to cruising, I think we need a support group. I wonder if support groups cruise a lot??

We came home to immediately start looking online for the next one! We had been cruising two or three times a year and last year only went once, this trip reminded us how much we love it and we're ready to go again. We are going on another in May or June!! :)

We've only been to the beach in Florida together twice, both of those being trips with my parents. (One before we married and one the year we did get married) It's funny b/c we'd both been so many times before & now WE'VE never taken a trip together, just us to Panama City. Strange and funny!! However; we have been to beaches all around the Caribbean, so we're not complaining!!

You can NOT beat the value of cruising. Every time we look at going to the beach, looking for somewhere to stay and spend a FORTUNE on that alone, plus food and getting out to do some things... It reminds us of just one reason we enjoy cruising so much! The value for your money can NOT be beat! A great comfortable room, all the food you want all day & night, entertainment out the wazoo and you have to do NOTHING!! This last trip cost us about $150 a night for the two of us when it was all said and done. We could never stay at the beach, eat 3 meals a day and have extra spending money for $150 a night!

This past cruise we also did something VERY different for us. We love to eat, we look forward to each and every dinner especially! We have always taken clothes to "dress up" for dinner at night in the dinning room. We started taking an outfit per night, slowly we've started taking things we could mix & match to save on packing space. Then you have one (or two if it's a 7 night cruise) "formal" night. Ugh! All those clothes to wear for just an hour or two. (We go back & change right after dinner anyway-) We realized on this trip that almost every food offered in the dining room was also in the casual buffet. Usually every entree except for one (we would compare the menus), all the appetizers and at least 3 of the 4 desserts were on the buffet!

I ate so many wonderful things that I would have never ordered off the menu. I like to SEE what my food will look like, especially seafood. We could get all we wanted to try on the buffet and go back for more. Of course you can order all you want in the dining room, but you have to wait on them to get it and so on. The fact that we didn't dress up alone was awesome! We are going to start packing one set of dress clothes only (if that) for lobster night b/c it wasn't offered on the buffet. :) Otherwise, I think we're now officially casual kinda folks!! Maybe if we cruise with others we'll go to the dining room, then again maybe not. You never know- (Plus it saves money on tips, shhhhh we're cheap!)

Time always flies too, that amazes me. On the first or second day I always think, man... we have such a long vacation ahead of us. Then something happens and it's the night we have to pack for home before I know it. I always plan to do so many things and we never get them done. I wanted to play putt putt, the ships all now have a 9 hole course. I wanted to consider a massage, I planned on doing a ton of activities offered that I never got to. Funny how fast time flies!

I just had to share one more time how much we love cruising! Andy now gets more excited than me I believe. We're ready go again for sure! ...and now that silly boy is mentioning being ready to go to Disney again too, you know he wont have to talk me into that one!....

Home Visit

I am both blogging this and emailing it, in case you don't pay attention to one or the other. You may see this twice. I wanted everyone to be "in the loop" on where we are, you guys are so amazing and supportive, we appreciate it!!

I am so thankful to announce that we are finished with everything we can do for our entire home study. Every piece of paperwork is complete and filed. We’ve been poked, prodded, questioned, interviewed, studied and visited. Saturday our social worker, Jenni whom we love, came out to visit. I was sad that she didn’t notice my spotless dusting, clean baseboards, freshly washed curtains, new blinds, cleaned fridge and oven, cleaned out closets, nothing under the beds and general tidiness. We’ve spent 2 months getting ready for the big day, that was more like an hour visit from a friend. Funny! I know that we went above and beyond, but it was things that we needed to get done anyway. We went to the dump once and Goodwill twice, how can we have so much stuff?? It feels good to have everything done for once though.

She took a grand tour, laughed at just how much we have in the nursery already. Amazed like everyone else! She checked our smoke detectors, did notice I had all chemicals in boxes on a high shelf in a bathroom closet (I pointed it out) and she did ask to see the fire extinguisher. She met the dogs, all three. She talked to Millie & Casey outside and loved on Gizmo during her entire visit. She asked us a few more questions about what school our little one will attend, how far away the nearest hospital is, how far away the nearest park is (yes, she asked), how far away our church is and a few other random questions. Again though, it was just like chatting with a friend. It feels absolutely amazing to have that final step behind us.

What now?

Jenni will write up her report and send it to our coordinator for approval, she’ll also send us a copy to approve for factual information. Then she will have our coordinator sign off on the final copy and everything we’ve done up to this point will all be sent to the office in California to be signed off on. Sometime while that is happening, our birth mom letter should be approved. We’ve sent our third edit back and are waiting to hear from it. Hopefully if we have anything else to change, it will be very minor. We are hoping and praying that this all comes together in the next 3-4 weeks. Your prayers are much appreciated. I imagine we’ll be able to be “in the books” and “waiting officially” by the time I am out of school. That will give me plenty of time to sit and stare at the phone every day! (Just kidding, I have tons of summer fun ahead of me!)

We continue to value and thrive on your prayer support. It isn’t easy when all you can do is wait, but we’ve been waiting for almost 9 years so we’ve had a lot of practice. We are so firm in the faith that God’s timing is perfect and his hand has guided us each and every step along the way. For some reason now it feels like it’s more in his hands than ever. I know he was with us along the way so far, there are so many examples. To know that we have nothing else to do finally seems like it’s officially handed off to him though and we take such confidence in knowing our God is in control. We will stand back and wait to be amazed by him once again.

A Sunday School teacher talked to us one year, 6th grade I think was when we had Ms. Campbell (right Lisa?), about miracles almost weekly. She reminded us that God wanted to bless us with miracles. We need to pray for them,then watch and EXPECT to see them from God. We need to look for them in all the little moments as well as the big ones. We are praying, expecting and anxious to meet our own little miracle!!!!

So, pray for us and wait with us!
Much love to all!!

Friday, Day 6 @ Nassau:

Back in Nassau. Funny, every cruise we’ve taken has led us there eventually. I have to say that it is what you make it. This was a perfect day in the Bahamas. It was such a pretty, hot, clear & sunny day to begin with. We arrived @ 7:00 and we got up pretty early. We headed off for some shopping. We were walking around a little before 9:00 and most of the stores had signs up that said they didn’t open until (and yes this is a quote) 10:ish! I knew I loved it here, I fit in!! We walked through more stores and alleys than ever before and it’s becoming so comfortable to be there now. I found two things that I wanted and eventually talked myself out of, then wished I’d had gotten. Gotta hate when that happens. We came back to the ship for a short visit with Mr. Dean & Mrs. Carolyn and a piece of pizza. Then it was off for our Stingray Adventure and beach trip to Black Beard’s.


*Picture headed out to Black Beard's. Left to right: Regal Empress (she's tiny, down and back to Nassau from Fort Lauderdale and we want to try it sometime), Carnival Glory, Disney Wonder, Carnival Imagination & Carnival Sensation*

It was our 3rd time to the same beach and we always enjoy it. The stingray adventure there is better than ones we have seen other places. We spend about 3 hours at the beach and you can go in with the stingrays as many times as you want and stay as long as you want. The people on the island are super friendly. The boat ride there is about 25 minutes each way and it’s a pretty boat ride. They have ray feeding once an hour and it’s a ton of fun, if you can get past holding the slimy squid in your hands. Ick!! It’s awesome to hold them under the water though and have the rays suck them right out, amazing!! It’s also so cool when you step into the water and they come and glide around your feet & legs, rubbing on you like a cat would. It cracks me up and continually amazes me, no matter how many time we do it! When they know it's feeding time and you've fed them already, they are all over you! When I'm on my knees with them and they are swarming me, they typically knock me backwards and off my knees. It's hilarious, they're so funny!!

*Picture: I didn't have a water proof camera with me this time, so I didn't get many close pictures of the rays. That little critter wouldn't stay still long enough for me to get a good picture*

We have always had the island pretty much to ourselves with our excursion group and maybe one or two more. Today however; was chaos! We’ve never had a problem getting something to drink, getting our food from the grille, finding a chair or spending time with the rays. There were 5 ships in port today and I’d never seen an excursion place like that. The lines were so long for food & drinks that we gave up on our food that we’d already paid for with the price, Andy (bless his heart) waited for 20 minutes on 2 Cokes! There weren’t enough chairs for the number of people there and it was wall to wall (sand to sand) people. I really think they over booked themselves and that’s not fun for everyone. It was still a good day, but I imagine it’ll be our last trip there. Time to find a new favorite place in Nassau.

*Pic : Us on Black Beard's *


*Pic: This was un LAST TIME we were there. We didn't get the picture taken this time because the line was SO LONG!*



For the second excursion in a row, we got back to the pier just in time to jump on the ship. They were pulling up one gang way and standing around waiting on us at the next one. Our group was the last one back to the ship, thankfully we were with a group and they were waiting. We had 5 minutes to spare, yikes!

After a cheeseburger back on ship, we spent a few hours by the pool before it was time to head back and get ready for the night. It was also packing now, how fast that slips up on you! Dinner, a show and it’s over again..

Towel Animals

A highlight of any cruise, you know you love 'em.
You know you take picture of 'em! The beloved towel animals!!

What is this? Andy says a bunny, I say a dog? Opinions, thoughts.....






We love when we get a new one and this trip we got a frog. I think he's adorable!! Don't you want to save these things and take them home?! I want someone to make one for me every night on my own bed. I always say I am going to the class about making them and never fit it in.



Then there was this guy, again we had NO IDEA! Andy says a jack-a-lope! LOL!!! I don't know what to guess, crazy looking!





We had a few others. I already posted the elephant and I didn't take pictures of the other one or two. We didn't get a swinging monkey, first time I think. So cute though... a new Carnival Caper each night to read about the following day and a new animal, such fun!!

Wednesday, Day 4 @ Sea:

We slept a little later, went to breakfast and then spent the day on a top deck basking in the sun. After breaking for lunch we found chairs by the main pool amidst the craziness. I enjoyed finishing yet another good book while Andy went to visit with Mr. Dean & Mrs. Carolyn. It was dinner and show time. The show was a comedian and hypnotist, we’d never seen one before. I was always curious and am not sure if he was typical or not. His name was “Puck” and we weren’t impressed or amused, not fun at all for us. Such is life, we’ve now seen one.


*Pictures of the sunset, we watched from the top deck. So amazing, again God is so good to us!!*

Thursday, Day 5 @ Sea:

Pretty much the same as the other days at sea. We spent half of the day on a top deck enjoying the wind and views, then moved to the smaller pool for the remainder of the day. We ate dinner and saw the show. The show was “A Walk Down Broadway” and one of my favorites, though the male lead on this trip isn’t as good as the previous ones have been. I love the music in this one!
We went to karaoke on the pool deck under the stars, it was a hoot!!

*Picture of us with Mr. Dean & Mrs. Carolyn Dodgen, still so funny that they were on board with us. We saw them pretty much daily. There was also another lady that we went to church with, Ms. Mobley, and her Mother on board. Small, small world!!!*

Tuesday, Day 3 @ Belize:

We woke up a little earlier, ate breakfast and watched the activity as tender boats began to take people over to the mainland. We were scheduled to leave @ 10:15, headed back to the private island of Bannister Caye. It is the same place we visited on our last trip to Belize and it is truly beautiful!!! Some of you may have gotten my email a few weeks ago about a favorite island being for sale, this was it!! Sure wish we could just buy it and stay-

*Picture from our boat headed from the Glory to Bannister. Glory big ship there in the front, then the Norwegian Sun was close by and a ship from "Fred Olsen Cruise Lines" was there as well. More about that later. There were tender boats EVERYWHERE and the ocean was beginning to look like a parking lot!*

It offers a water trampoline, kayaks, floats, there’s a grille, two very tiny stores, a restroom, a bar, tons of chairs and all the sand & sun you can stand. Andy took a short snorkel trip for about an hour on a little boat from Bannister Caye. He enjoyed it, but said the snorkeling wasn’t as good as the day before in Cozumel. The trip was great and we would recommend it to anyone at all! (Obviously since it was our 2nd trip there) It’s only about a 15 minute boat ride from the ship and I think you really get your money’s worth of beach time! The views from the beach are just breath taking!!!! The water is TRULY CRYSTAL CLEAR!! The shells, I’ve never seen anything like it. We took sooo many pictures last time of the shells, you put your hand in the water and this is what you pull up… each and every time!



We returned for a snack and some serious lazy time. Today I have been reading one of those “I hit the jackpot buying this” book from a bargain table at the Christian book store. There’s nothing like picking up a $5 book and finding a new favorite author, more about it in my reading blog coming soon I’m sure. Lazy time also led us to check out the menu for tonight and once again what we wanted to order from the dining room was on the casual buffet, how can you turn that down? I spent some time online checking email while sitting by a wall of windows and watching the ocean go by, so amazing. I couldn’t stay on long enough to post to the blog again though. The wireless connection was in and out and frustrating.

*Picture: With a 2 hour time difference, our 10AM excursion was really just 8AM there. It was HOT first thing though and the sun was just beautiful on the water*

We got ready without getting dressed up and that’s my favorite way to do it! I also like when you see all the foods on the buffet and you can then chose what you want to try. I ate fish again and it was absolutely fantastic. If I’d have seen it on the menu and read the name of it (I can’t remember now) I would have never ordered it, after seeing it and giving it a try though… it’s pretty much all I ate!! Yay for new kinds of grilled fish~ We realized if we cruise and only eat in the dining room one or two times, it would save us packing as much. We could come in just one suitcase for sure! What all do you really need on a ship? Good books, toothbrush, a few swimsuits and you’re good.

We had big plans of playing bingo, a show and then going to the “Rocky Horror Picture Show” (I’ve never seen it and am dying to see what all the fuss is about) at midnight, but old age kicked in! We headed back to put on Pajama’s, watch a movie and I finished my book! Cruising is all about doing what you want and what you’re in the mood for. Andy’s already asking when our next one should be . . . .

*Picture us on Bannister, note the clear blue water*

And on that note, let me add.. We keep pointing out couples with babies, guessing their age and looking to see that yes, those little ones seem to be having a great time. One little guy, who couldn’t have been more than 5 months old was getting his picture made and had a crowd gathered around because they were making him laugh and it had turned to hysterical giggles. He literally made himself laugh until he cried and he was soooo funny!!! They don’t know they are on a big ship in the middle of the ocean, but they’re enjoying life just the same. Just the confirmation we needed that our wee one is going to be a cruiser at an early age…

*Picture: Andy was up early enough to watch the sun come up, he took several pictures. God is amazing huh? He didn't have to make our world so beautiful, but I'm trying to remember to thank him every day for doing it anyway!!*

“Somewhere on the Sea, Somewhere waiting for me….”

((I wrote these while we were still cruising, just couldn’t get blogger to post them while we were out there))

Monday, Day 2 @ Cozumel:

We woke up to beautiful sunshine and docking in Cozumel. After breakfast Andy & I headed off the ship for a little shopping. The pier area is super nice. There are very nice restrooms, shops out the wazoo, places to eat everywhere and super friendly people. You could get off and could spend hours right there within a few steps of the ship, they are doing big things now for cruise lines. We walked on down the street a little through town, then made our way back through the cruise terminal shopping area again. Back on board for a snack and getting ready for our excursion.

We debated for days, right up until the very last minute last night on what to do. I had read fantastic reviews from Cruise Critic about visiting Paradise Beach for just a few bucks for a taxi ride. There was an excursion though that seemed to offer something we’d both enjoy. Andy made the final decision and off we went. We boarded a 65foot catamaran through “Fury’s Catamaran” trips. It was huge, 3 decks! There were shady seats and sun decks, restrooms, a bar and all you could drink beer, margaritas or Pepsi. We drank our share of Pepsi! *This is the picture of our ship the Glory at the back, the Fantasy (which was the 1st cruise we ever took) there in the front and our catamaran coming towards the pier.*

The ride out was great and we stopped for 45 minutes at a reef for snorkelers to get their fill. Andy said it was the best snorkeling he’s done in all of our trips, and if you’re keeping up we’ve taken quite a few!! (this is our 7th cruise) That’s pretty impressive for him to say. He saw an enormous barracuda that he’s still talking about. You could jump off the side of the boat or walk right down the ramp into the water. I opted to lay in the sun with a great new book, imagine that. The snorkelers (is that a word?) reboarded and we were off again. This picture is of them in the water. There were guides out to help, direct you to schools of fish, be sure everyone was OK. It's actually part of a National Park Reef. There were buoys to keep people in one area. It was a beautiful sunny day, despite the fact my picture looks a little dark. It wasn't by any means!!

We went to a private beach, just next door to Playa Mia (Which is where we went on our last Cozumel visit) We had chairs, floats (mats), kayaks (no thanks) a bar, restrooms or horse back riding. Horse back riding would have been a hit, if it weren’t for the fact we were in wet bathing suits!!! Ick- We spent an hour at the beach. The water wasn’t as pretty as it had been where they snorkeled, but the water was relatively warm and we enjoyed it. Getting off the catamaran, down the ramp steps and into the water was a little exciting. We didn’t make it all the way up into the sand, we were in about waist deep water.
This picture is the private island!


The ride back was fantastic! The views were beautiful. With a motor running and both sails open wide, we were getting speedy! They cranked up great music of all kinds, the drinks were flowing (which made our shipmates quite entertaining to watch) and it made for a perfect ride back to our ship. We had never cut it quite so close, with 5 minutes to spare as we all sprinted back to the ship. Thankfully we’d been dumped off at the pier just steps away. It was a fantastic day though and I would recommend that excursion to ANYONE, of ANY AGE, ANYTIME!!! Picture of us on the ride back.

We came back for a snack, got ready and were off to a show. It was a great day and we were tired. After sitting downstairs in the lobby people watching, we went to check out the dinner menu. It turned out that what we wanted was also offered on the casual buffet and we opted to bail on the dining room and eat at the buffet. What a great choice! I got 4 things that were on the appetizer menu, a plate full of my favorite fish dish ever and we were stuffed. I wish I could find the same “Piked Perch with Cream Tomato Sauce” offered somewhere close to home, yummy!!

After dinner we called it a day and headed to get our beauty rest-



**Note** Since returning home and having the "what was your favorite???...???" discussions we have both decided that this excursion was one of our all time favorites. It was really a great day. I don't snorkel, but I wasn't the only one that didn't. Andy truly loved it and said it was the best snorkeling he's ever done and he's ready to go back. The ride alone in the catamaran out there and back was tons of fun, a great way to see around the island. I was worried about the "party" factor involved, since we don't drink. There were plenty of families on board who weren't drinking though and the music was lively and fun, but not inappropriate. Lots of line dancing for all ages. If you are a drinker, well... the free drinks is enough to entice you I'd imagine. The private island wasn't the most beautiful we've seen, but you're only there an hour and they offer a ton of things to do or you can choose to do nothing at all. I see us doing this one again, I stand by my recommendation for this to anyone! This picture of just how blue and clear the water was where they snorkeled. It was deep, but blue and clear as glass!

Sunday, Day 1 @ Sea:

We ended up sleeping relatively late. Sleeping late for Andy usually means he forced himself to stay in bed until 6:00 or 6:30, this morning it meant 8:30!! The thing with cruise ships is this.. You have a balcony room or window room and the sun in shinning through bright and early at 6:30, you can’t sleep through it. Or.. You are like us on this trip and have an inside room, no light, no clock, not a sliver of shine coming under your door. You are totally oblivious to any time and can sleep through a day without ever knowing it. (Andy was convinced his watch had stopped when he woke up and saw what time it was, he was confused!)

We headed to breakfast for a funny, crazy surprise.

We walked to a line and got right behind a gentleman, who turned around… and… was a very good friend from church! Mr. & Mrs. Dodgen were Sunday School teachers, Bible Study leaders, camp counselors and so on for us growing up. They have two sons, one close to Andy’s age and one close to mine. We’ve known them our entire lives and here they were. Same ship, same cruise, same breakfast! Hilarious. We caught up while in line and exchanged room numbers in plans for getting together again this week. Life is funny!!!!


We spent most of the day on the 11th sports sundeck, enjoying the warm sunshine and (knock ya down hurricane style) breeze blowing! It was a beautiful day, couldn’t have asked for better. We got a little sun, I read an entire book and we took a break for lunch only to return to sunning ourselves like lizards. We did make it to the “Newlywed and not so Newlywed Game” this late afternoon, always a hoot!

I got online a few minutes (though blogger wouldn’t come up so this will be posted later) and Andy went to run, what an over achiever! LOL…. We’re going to be lazy until time to get ready for our before dinner snack (you have to eat something when you wait until 8:30 for dinner). It’s formal night, though we’re on the “not so formal” side of things. Lobster to be eaten and then shows to be seen!




Inevitable picture of towel animals, you have to take these!?! I can't remember if we had an elephant before or not? We liked him though, we also had a frog. We'd never had a frog for sure!

Crusin’ Gotta Love It!

Let’s see if I can give you the highlights. I’m not very good at making it brief, but I’ll see what I can do.

Saturday, Boarding Day:

We left our hotel in Ocala about 9:00 and had a super easy drive through to Port Canaveral. Andy made me cry in Orlando with his pathetic rendition of “When you wish upon a star”, but it was a enough to make me miss Disney. This is our first ever drive through where we wouldn’t be stopping on either end of our journey. I couldn’t help it!!

We arrived early and made a stop in Walmart @ Cocoa Beach, you just can’t pass up a good Walmart.

We made it to the port earlier than ever before and were thrilled at the lack of lines! We breezed through dropping off our luggage, walked straight through security and straight through to check in, not a line in sight. Early my friends, is the way to go! (I am NEVER early for anything, when early means being there before 12:30 though, I can handle that!)

We headed for “Lunch on the Lido”, Andy dreams of that phrase for months before we arrive. Coming home to the Glory, for our third cruise with her, was familiar and comforting. She’s like an old friend and it doesn’t take days to remember where things are, kinda nice. We spent the afternoon in our swimsuits basking in the sun, 86ish degrees in Florida, life is good!

We are eating supper (dinner to you Yankees reading :)) late and at a large table, though only one couple from just outside of Orlando showed up. We had eaten a rather large snack (fried shrimp & French fries) and I couldn’t eat most of my supper; however crème brulee was a dessert option and I had to force that down! It’s my favorite! We saw the “Welcome Aboard” show and called it a day.

Interview done, home visit officially on the calendar and birthmom letter now getting close to approved. And we ... are headed off on a cruise! We've taken this cruise before, this ship 3 times now. Cozumel, Belize, Nassau. Sun, 80 degrees, sand, crystal clear water, beautiful shells, private islands, great food, fun shows, relaxing waves, swimming with sting rays and did I mention great food?

Bon Voyage-

Mountain Moving Faith

I'm reading "The Power of a Praying Woman" by Stormie OMartian. It was given to me for Christmas along with "Power of a Praying Wife" & "Power of a Praying Parent" by an awesome friend. Thanks T! I've read so many things that I want to remember, to remind myself, to share. I'm going to start with this one.

The chapter starts out with remind us of Matthew 17:20 "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'move from here to there', and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you."

Wow- How powerful is that? She goes on to say "If that's all the faith it takes to move mountains, then surely I can come up with enough to move the obstacles in my life."

We have put all of our faith into our plan for adoption. Along the way I've ran into people who asked me "don't you think you'll jinx it" when they heard all the things we were doing. We did some work around our house, we got new carpet & floors and then we started taking big steps. We weren't yet approved (still aren't yet) and we were buying furniture for the nursery, bedding, toys, clothes, etc.. Several people would say again "don't you think you should wait?"

Wait on what? was my question. We wouldn't have taken this road unless we were 100% sure that it is what God had planned for us. We felt like he had spoken to us in huge ways over the past years about adoption. God is good like that.

The thing is, you have to be open to those times he sends signs to you or speaks to you. I don't think he is going to drop a banner in front of you that says "You should sell your house." I do believe, from personal experience, that if you are walking with him and having a real relationship with him, he will speak to you or send you signs. When we sold our house 5 years ago, we prayed asking God if it was the right thing to do. We felt like it was and we started working with an agent. She was wonderful and we knew from the first moment that God had sent us a sign, he'd made our paths cross. I prayed that if it were right, please let it happen fast. We didn't want to be on the market for months and months, years and years. We put our house on the market, it was shown about 6 times in the first week and by the second week we had a contract! It couldn't have happened faster, God is good!

Before Andy & I got married I was teaching Pre-K for someone whom I wasn't thrilled to work for. I prayed about it all the time. I got a random offer out of the blue offering me another Pre-K position at a brand new center, on a recommendation from a previous student's parent. I hadn't looked for the job, it dropped in my lap. It LOOKED like it was a sign from God. I paused to pray again, was this what I was suppose to do. I struggled b/c my Dad had always been very firm about teaching me "you finish what you start" and I believe that with my whole heart. Could I leave this group of kids I was working with, in the middle of a year? Did God send me a new job, without me looking at all. After praying I went to school one day to have an amazing conversation with a 4 year old. Her family was a Christian family and she was an awesome little girl, we'll refer to her as K. She told me that she'd dreamed about me the night before and I was crying. She said I was crying because something happened and I thought I might have to leave them. She told me in her dream, don't cry.. you'd never leave us like that. That was my sign, not the new job that would have been so much easier. It was a new center, a great new boss compared to where I was. I could have very easily read the wrong sign there, had I not continued to pray and seek God's will. It was the children that I do it for and it was in the form of a child that God spoke to me! He can use anyone, anytime, anywhere!

Back to Stormie, she says "Whether you realize it or not, you are living by faith everyday. Each time you go to a doctor, you trust he will do the right thing. When you buy medicine from the pharmacy, you believe they will fill your prescription correctly. ...... How much easier and more certain is it to trust God?"

"We have no idea what great things God wants us to do through us if we would just step out in faith when He asks us to." That's why he lets us go through difficult times. Times when we feel weak and vulnerable so that we will turn to Him and give Him our full attention. It's in those times, when we are forced to pray in greater faith, that our faith grows stronger."

Matthew 9:29 "According to your faith let it be to you" That could be scary for some people!! May I have enough faith, that God can do those things he wants in my life accordingly!!!!! May I be close enough to him to know what he wants for my life, find my purpose and see or hear his message. If we aren't having any sort of relationship with Christ, how in the world can he do great things in our life? How can he show us what road to take? How can he give us the miracles he so wants us to have? It's not always easy to stay on the right path, but I'm on it... and I'm holding onto it with both hands!!

"God, please take the tiny seed of faith that is often all I have. Grow it into a giant tree of faith so you can see all the things you want for me - come to be!"

He is Risen,
What now?

That was the title of Mike's sermon at church yesterday. It wasn't a typical "Easter sermon", if there is such a thing. We of course sang chorus' of praise to our risen Saviour on such a beautiful Easter morning!

Then we began our study on Onesiphorus. Who is that? Onesiphorus was a "minister of refreshment" in the New Testament. What in the world is she talking about? (That's what I was thinking about Mike as well!!)

We read in 2 Timothy where Paul was writing his very last letter to Timothy. If you recall, he was in jail. Think more, hole in the floor .. dungeon! He was lonely, very very lonely. He says there in 2 Timothy that he was deserted by everyone. His friends, family and even his church. Where he had once been surrounded by people who supported him, they all turned their backs when he was sent to jail.

Mike went on to talk about how many lonely people there are in the church, at work, in our homes, on our streets, in our communities. It doesn't matter if we're in a house full of family or have tons of friends to hang out with, we can still feel lonely on the inside. Isn't that true, we've all felt it.

Onesiphorus was a long time friend of Paul, from what we gather. He went on to say that when Onesiphorus came to town, the first thing he did was come to jail to see Paul. He didn't care that he was in jail, that he had to probably shout down through a dark hole to talk to him. He loved his friend and when visiting him, brought Paul a time of refreshment. It lifted his spirits, made him feel "not so" alone anymore. It made his soul rejoice. He said "May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day!" (2 Tim. 1:18) He wants the Lord to bless Onesiphorus for being such a faithful friend.

We all make mistakes. Families are made out of people who make mistakes, churches are filled with people who make mistakes. May we all find friends who will love us IN SPITE OF those failures. Even more important though, may we LOOK FOR friends who we can REFRESH in spite of their mistakes, failures or hard times.

It's our job, it's what God wants us to do. He wants us to be saved, have a relationship with him and spend eternity with him. What do we do meantime though?? That was the point of Mike's sermon. He is Risen, we are saved if we accept him. Then what? Then what are we going to do with our lives, with Christ's love? We are to be a spirit of refreshment for those around us. I'm sure we can think of people that might need a little encouragement: a phone call, a visit, an encouraging card or just a pat on the shoulder. May we all look for people that we can bless in our everyday lives.

I thought it was a fantastic take on what Easter can mean to us all!


_________________________________________________________________

On a different Easter note. I spent 45 minutes sitting on the floor in a Christian book store last week looking for a good book to share the story of Easter with my kiddos at preschool. I have a few books, but they just weren't what I wanted this year. I found that either the text was too much, the pictures were too graphic and it just wasn't the way I wanted to share the Easter story with my little ones.

Our Bible verse this month is "Jesus has Risen, just like he said he would." from Matthew. Our prayer is "Help me to tell others the good news about Jesus." I wanted a book that would tell the children what good news they were suppose to share. We talked about it and they are all aware they are suppose to tell others that Jesus loves them and to show people that in their actions. Still, I wanted it all in a story.

I found it! I found a book called "God's love at Easter" by: Joy Morgan Davis. It's great!! It's very simple text. It's also has a rhyming pattern and you know how that helps the children keep their attention on the story. It reminds us about Jesus living with his family on Earth and loving others. (Which was nice to pause and review what we know about Jesus' birth and childhood) Then it talked briefly about his ministering to others (again, good time to review those other Bible stories) and then it talked about his death on the cross. It went on to tell how he arose on the third day and how he appeared to people on Earth and waits for us in Heaven. It ends with saying we need to tell others about God's love. It tells the whole story, all the points I wanted to share. It's a great book!!

___________________________________________________________________

And no a final note... There is nothing more refreshing to me than standing in church on a beautiful Easter sunny Sunday morning, singing praise songs with my church family. There's just something amazing, powerful and "big" about it. I'm so thankful we returned "home" to our church. We spent several years visiting, searching and even being VERY actively involved in other churches. I cherish that time, we made some awesome memories with awesome people. There is something about "being home" though, with those who know you and love you anyway. Those who have watched you grow up, been there through the good times and bad. Here are the words to a praise song we sang yesterday, music moves me in BIG ways. "Mighty to Save" by Hillsong!

Everyone needs compassion
A love that's never failing
Let mercy fall on me
Everyone needs forgiveness
A kindness of a Savior
The hope of nations

Savior
He can move the mountains
My God is Mighty to save
He is Mighty to save
Forever
Author of salvation
He rose and conquered the grave
Jesus conquered the grave

So take me as You find me
All my fears and failures
Fill my life again
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in
Now I surrender

Shine your light and let the whole world see
We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus



And the song...you can watch & listen!

Typing Test

I took typing in high school, did you? At the time I thought it was silly, but it has paid off 10 fold over the years. I made money a few times in college typing papers for people. I had now much rather type a letter or email than write anything. (Maybe that's also because of my lack of being able to spell, plus the reason that I now write like I talk - in thoughts rather than grammatically correct)

Anyway, found this link to a typing test on another blog. Thought it was fun. 64 on my first try and 84 on my second try. I like this one and will continue to try to improve my speed I imagine. It's harder to type these random words than complete sentences, but it's still fun and challenging.

Enjoy

84 words

Speedtest

The Big Mail Off

Yesterday was a big day in the journey of adoption! After 4 & a half months of paperwork, we finally mailed the last pieces off to our adoption coordinator. (with a HUGE sigh of relief might I add) We started with a two page list of things to turn in, was surprised with an extra page of to dos in late January. Done, done, done! There were many adventures along the way.

Like the fun (old, grouchy, serious) lady who takes her job at the 911 office very, very seriously. She was flabbergasted with me because I wanted something saying we had NOT called 911 in the past 5 years. (or ever for that matter) She couldn't understand why, though I had explained in detail from the second I walked in what we were doing, I needed a report or letter with nothing on it. Then there was the trip to the Marietta License Building to get our certified marriage license where I tried to walk OUT the IN, security guards and my husband all laughing the entire time. Boys- There was the stalking and begging that I had to do in order to get a physical that hadn't been scheduled for over a year, I mean seriously ... There was the fact that Andy had to get one test twice because no on seems to understand when you'd like results back within a few months time! There was the search for somewhere to take a 10-panel drug screen, who knew those things were so hard to get. The seedy little place we went is a whole different story in itself. (Seems Tuesday is half off HIV test day and you can now get a paternity test for ONLY $395, must be a bargain by the SALE signs they had posted. I kid you not)

There was the 12 page "paper" we wrote for our autobiography. Well, MINE was 12 pages (imagine that) and Andy's was about 7. Then there was the 7 page questionnaire that we also had to write. Just like being in school again. It was interesting to think back about your life and get it all down on paper. There was the septic tank inspection. "Seriously???" you ask, "YES, SERIOUSLY!" Let me know when they start requiring those for people who give birth in the hospital. I'm just sayin'

This list goes on, but it is now complete. Complete with many little green lines. I used a green marker to happily strike through each and everything as it traveled from the Post Office (usually via over night or certified mail) into the hands of the IAC.

With the paperwork, I also mailed off the "Birth Mom Letter". This is one of the hardest things of all. I knew the general idea and had been working on it even before we signed our contract. We had pages and pages and pages in our "notebook" on guidelines for this letter. We sat through hours and hours and hours of discussion about it at our weekend intensive workshop. We looked at dozens of examples. Keep in mind that we are trying to present ourselves, our lives, our values, our hopes & dreams, our family & friends, our traditions, our desire for a child, all on a piece of paper front and back. While meeting all these guidelines. It is seriously over whelming! (Especially for someone who likes to talk ..ramble.. as much as I do. YOU KNOW ME)
You need pictures for a glimpse into your lives.... that is a whole other set of problems.

There are again, pages and pages and pages of guidelines on this picture for the front you must have. I have thousands of pictures (You know me, right???) Photography is quite the obsession. A friend made fun of me once, "you have ALOT of pictures of you & Andy in your house". Why, yes I do! I love to be surrounded by pictures of our adventures and life. Just look around, there are PLENTY of all those we love as well. My niece said last week "I don't guess I've ever seen her without her camera". My preschool kids have gotten use to it, they no longer hide or complain, they show me their best "cheesy" grin and go on about their business..... I digress-

We needed a new picture though, the perfect picture. Ugh! We had scheduled twice to meet with a photographer friend's family to take said perfect picture. The first time, we had to cancel due to snow. Snow?? In Georgia?? Yes, the freak snow in Georgia WOULD come on the day I had this planned! The second time, torrential rain. Yep, Georgia who has been in drought conditions the past year... has torrential rain on the second scheduled day. Who knew it would be so hard to get Andy in town and a sunny day, TOGETHER. Dad came up to the plate and took pictures of us once, then we took OUR OWN pictures on another sunny afternoon. I do pretty good work with a bench and a tripod. We'll see if she approves... we like the outcome.

Anyhooo... after months and months of tweaking this thing. Re-writing the text over and over and over and over again. Changing the entire color scheme twice. (Because we changed what we wore from first set of pictures to second) Learning the new computer program bought for just this letter. Making 9 trips to the printer this week, help from Ms. English Major herself *cough*Tracey*cough* on my one difficult sentence.... it's done for now.

Our coordinator will look at *search over with a fine tooth comb & rip apart* the letter and then tell us what edits to make. I hear stories of it taking 1 or 2 edits, others it takes 8-10. Of course we're hoping for the fewer.

She should schedule our home visit, which scares me to death, pretty soon. (I know some of you assure me not to panic, but think back ... you know you did!) Then we have individual interviews with her. Those my friends, are the only things left on the to do list for approval. We are so close, we can see the finish line and it's so very exciting!!

How cute is this?

I found this today on another blog, I can't resist sharing it with yall. Watch it through, only takes a minute at the most. Totally worth it, so funny and sweet!!!

*Turn your volume on*

Tanner Paul Thurmond

March 1, 2008

On Saturday, while at my preschool conference, I got a text message from Andy. It said that Tanner just couldn't wait until Tuesday and arrived earlier that morning! Silly boy, he made his own schedule. He weighed 8 lbs & 9oz.

Uncle Andy & I were headed to the hospital just as soon as we could get on the road!! He's the most perfect little thing that I have ever seen!! He gurgles and gibbers all the time, wonder if he's going to be a talker? Is that a sign? He opened his eyes several times on Saturday evening, just to check me out I think.






Aunt Monica & Uncle Andy
meeting Tanner!














His sister Layla called him her baby upon meeting him; however later that night she wasn't too crazy about the idea of baby brother. I'm sure she'll warm up and she's going to be a great big sister! Here are pictures taken by Aunt Ruthie.






Mimi with Layla and Tanner on the left.

Big sister Layla holding Tanner on the right, I love her look in this one!!














Tanner's proud Mommy, Aimee! Three days old.
(Should have taken one of just as proud Daddy, Jason)

Welcome to the family baby boy!!
We love you!!

Adoption Journey Continued...

Back to our adoption story. We went in late December on Friday & Saturday to a workshop at the IAC office in Tucker. We were there with 5 other couples. We chose to just make a weekend out of it and spend the night in Tucker so we didn't have to make the drive back and forth in traffic. (Oh, we also met a couple who knows a fantastic college friend of mine. Small world!)

We were, once again, ahead of the game with information. I'd learned so much from my friend who'd been through this, it wasn't as new to me as it was to some. We watched some fantastic video interviews with birth parents on their journey and how it changed their life and we watched some with adoptive families and how it's changed their lives. They were all fantastic. We went through a gigantic notebook of information from the center. We learned how to get through the crazy paperwork, tips to make it go faster, what to do while we're waiting, what to expect and so on. We had many of our questions answered. We did several roll playing things where we had to figure out how we would react, not easy things to think through.

It was a roller coaster of emotions for the weekend. I found myself getting so excited and feeling so at peace about the decision. Then we'd run into some unknowns about the situations that can arise and I'd get very nervous, we just have to play so much of it by ear. We were so excited about officially getting the ball rolling and taking those first big steps, we signed our contract. We know this is the path that God wants us to take and we couldn't wait to share it all with our families and friends. We are just so anxious for our child to be a part of our lives, getting through all the other stuff can be a little over whelming. All in God's timing though-

We returned to head straight to a family Christmas party with my Mom's side of the family. When we told them where we'd spend the weekend, they were very excited. Everyone has been waiting right along with us for 8 & 1/2 years for a little one to join us, they are just as ready as we are!

The following weekend we told Andy's entire family at our Christmas get together with them. There were tons of hugs, tears of joy and questions. Again, they are all so very excited!! There are two more babies joining the family this year, so it's going to be amazing for our little one to grow up with their cousins! We could not ask for a more supportive, loving or excited family!

We went to church where I shared the news with a few friends. By the next week we had officially told everyone we come into contact with and were met with amazing excitement and love!!

Since then...

We have completed what seemed like a mountain of paperwork. We've had our fingerprints taken, physicals, drug tests, blood tests, had our phone records checked, our septic tank inspected, gotten copies of marriage license and birth certificates, taken pictures of our house, had our animals all get checked out at the vet, made copies out the wazoo and been checked by just about every agency under the sun. One beautiful Monday morning in February I was thrilled to head to the post office with the final batch of paperwork. Then... I got home to find a brand new packet of paperwork in the mail box. Seems some new things were added in the new year. On we go though, it is all now completed as well.

Up to date: We have been finishing our birth mom letter and we think it's now complete. We had a little trouble getting our photo together. We had a freak Georgia (never happens) snow storm cancel our first photo session, a crazy rain storm for days (we'd been in a drought for a year) cancel the second photo session and eventually decided to try taking some on our own one afternoon. We were pretty happy with the results. We were able to add our new nephew onto it as well, he was born on Saturday. It's gone through , too many to name, changes over the past few months. We are happy with the results though and the glimpse into our lives that it gives. It's hard to share yourself, your lives, your family, your goals for your family and future all onto a one page piece of paper front and back! Thankfully we also have a website that allows me to ramble on and on, sharing as many photos as I want. I know that God is in control and will lead the right birth mom to us through one of these things. We also now have a toll free number, which includes the world "HOPE"!!

Meanwhile we have been waiting on our GBI & FBI fingerprint results to return. As of today, those are in and approved as well. So I will mail off our birth mom letter for approval and we'll see what suggestions for editing are made. We'll get that done and wait on our home visit and individual interviews. Hopefully those things will be scheduled as soon as possible and go quickly. Prayers for speedy approval on our birth mom letter, someone to make it for our home visit quickly and our peace of mind to remain calm are all appreciated.

Nursery Update: My Dad came last week and painted the top half of the walls in a color I'd chosen, it looks fantastic. Dad came Friday night to help Andy move the furniture (we'd bought a few weeks ago) upstairs and into the nursery as well. It's all looking fantastic. I will blog and post pictures of that soon too!!

Plus a blog on our brand new great nephew who is just that, GREAT... coming up next!!

Children's Books

I imagine most of you know, I have a HUGE obsession with children's literature! If I had to start over with going to college now, I think I would be a media specialist. I'd love to share books, stories and discussions with little ones! I have hundreds (maybe close to thousands) of children's books. Most of them are currently in "theme" boxes for preschool, according to what we're doing. I do have a book shelf of favorites though. I thought I'd list just some (and yes, this is a huge list, but only some) of my favorites. I think these are books that EVERY child's library MUST have! You can never read too much (or even enough) to your children! It is so good for them, their vocabulary development and becoming pre-readers themselves. I was listing these for a new teacher on a web forum that I visit and I thought I'd share them here as well.

In no particular order. First of all, you MUST shave EVERYTHING written by the following authors!

Audrey Wood, Eric Carle, Leo Leoni, Giles Andreae, Jan Brett, Jamie Lee Curtis (Currently "Tell Me Again About the Night I was Born" is my favorite of course) and Shel Silverstein

Wemberly Worried & Chrysanthemum - Kevin Henkes

There's an Alligator Under my Bed - Mercel Mayer
(Nightmare in my Closet & Something in my Attic)

The Kissing Hand - Audrey Penn

The Doorbell Rang - Pat Hutchins
(We're doing a day theme on that & Who Stole the Cookies from the Cookie Jar in a few weeks. Class book, activities, everything)

Good Night Princess Pruney Toes - Lisa McCourt
(Still remembered by the wee one and her favorite from preschool)

Storm is Coming - Heather Tekalee
(This is a great book about getting children NOT to be afraid of storms, so funny)

Is Your Mama a Llama - Deborah Guarivro

5 Little Monkeys - Eileen Christelow
(There's about 5 or 6 of these)

If Elephants Wore Pants - Henriette Barkow

I Aint Gonna Paint No More - Karen Beaumont
(I found this about 2 years ago and LOVE LOVE LOVE it)

If You Give (a pig a pancake, mouse a cookie, moose a muffin, etc..) - Laura Numeroff

Eleanor, Ellatony, Ellencake and Me - C M Robin
(one of my best friend's bought me this book, super cute about nicknames)

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly - Simms Tabath

10 Black Dots - Donald Crews

The Dot - Peter H. Reynolds
(a best friend bought me this one too, very very very good "moral of the story" about doing your best!)

All Russell the Sheep Books - Rob Scotton
(I just found these last year and I love the sweet stories and the artwork)

Tops and Bottoms - Janet Stevens
(A classic, you'll have to find it online used)

It Looked Like Spilt Milk - Charles Shaw

Down by the Cool of the Pool - Tony Mitton

The Velveteen Rabbit - Margery Williams

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom (and Chicka Chicka 123) - Bill Martin Junior

Inside a Zoo in the City - Alyssa Satin Capocilli
(and Inside a House that is Haunted)

Stand Tall Molly Lou Melon - Patty Lorell
(great story about just being YOU)

Fancy Nancy - Jane O Conner
(a kiddo this year gave me this book, there are several...a hoot)

The Night Before (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, etc..) - Natasha Wing
(they are all very cute)

Miss Bindergaraten (there are a ton of these too, all great) - Joseph Slate

Go Away, Big Green Monster - Ed Emberley


*I read through this and instantly start thinking of dozens and dozens that aren't on it, they're in my boxes. Such is life*

Wow-

I found this quote today and think it's blog worthy.
May we all learn to look forward!


"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson