on the road ~ day 3

The day’s not through yet, but I just have to write a quick post about meeting Meredith, Holly and Joanne. We met this morning at the hotel where I’m staying, and decided to go to Java Guru for coffee. My goodness ~ to be honest, you’d think we’d all been friends for a million years. There was no awkwardness or hesitation at all. How lovely to meet in person and find that these 3 ladies are exactly who they say they are on their blogs!

We sat at Java Guru for about 2 hours and just talked about whatever came up. Then we decided to go to The Black-Eyed Pea for lunch ~ Holly’s favorite (thank you Holly for suggesting it ~ lunch was very good!). We talked and talked and talked ~ I think we touched on just about every subject under the sun. It was fantastic ~ a wonderful time with sister believers. I don’t think I’ve ever met other women with whom the conversation so easily flowed.

Joanne gave us really pretty Moleskine notebooks she had sewn some material onto ~ I’ll have pictures of the ladies and the notebook Joanne gave me when I get home. Joanne has the most amazing charm bracelet ~ she said there’s about 75 charms on it, and she has had it since she was 7 years old. What an amazing collection of memories she carries around with her every day. I imagine she has people ask her about it often. I have only read one of Joanne’s books (so far), but her “voice” in her books is the same as in real life.

Sweet Meredith has been fighting an illness alongside her daughters. I’m thankful she felt well enough to come today. She has lost most of her voice, and I’m praying that she will feel 100% soon. Mer, next time we get together we’ll let you talk more than the rest of us, I promise!

Holly is just as dear and sweet as I expected her to be from reading her blog. What I didn’t expect was her sense of humor! She had us all laughing frequently. Sometimes she was even in danger of one of us laughing so abruptly that we might accidentally spit our coffee or food on her ~ I’m pleased to tell you though that we managed to keep the drinks and the food in our mouths.

You know, I have to marvel at the power of the internet, and the amazing way our awesome God uses it for His glory. There I sat with 3 ladies who I had never actually met before, and yet I felt comfortable, and the conversation was easy. If you know me, you know I’m not a big social person. I don’t “do” squadron wives’ get-togethers, and I don’t usually do any of the officer’s wives’ things, and participating in Bible studies can be difficult for me when there are too many people involved. I can be uncomfortable in groups. To me, more than 2 is a group!

Anyway, thank you Meredith, Holly and Joanne for making today a pure joy. I enjoyed each of you, and I truly enjoyed the time we were able to spend together. God is good all the time ~ He blessed me tremendously today with your sweet company. And I can’t wait to do it again!

on the road ~ days 1 & 2

We left Little Rock Tuesday morning and arrived in Denver safely. Our flight was direct from LR to DIA ~ I always forget how BIG Denver’s airport is. It seemed like we walked for miles just to find the baggage area! But, we found all of our luggage and we were off on our adventures.

We did a little shopping and nosing around Denver and Castle Rock, then headed to the hotel to call it a night. It was a long but pleasant day.

We spent yesterday at Winter Park. While Sawyer and Caitlin hit the slopes, Roger and I sat in the lodge and chilled. We ate lunch at a restaurant, then the kids went back to the slopes. The lifts closed at 4:00pm, so we headed back to the hotel. We had dinner, then called it an early night. This thin air up here really takes it out of you!

Today I’m meeting Holly, Meredith and Joanne for coffee while the kids are with Roger at Winter Park again. We’re having dinner with Roger’s mom and step-dad this evening. Tomorrow we’ll take in the outlet malls ~ watch out Gymboree, OshKosh and Baby Gap, here I come! I hope you have lots of cute little pink clothing in stock! LOL

congratulations, nana! your grandbaby is……

a girl! Attison is right on schedule ~ a little over 1 pound at 21 weeks. We still have a due date of July 1.

Ashley is so impressed with the prenatal care she’s receiving. Her ultrasound appointment today included genetic counseling, and the ultrasound itself is 4D. Yep, you read that correctly ~ 4D. Ashley told me Attison’s face is as clear as a bell. They gave her print copies AND a CD of the entire ultrasound. She’s sending me a print and a CD. I won’t be able to see them until after we get home from Colorado, but that’s ok. I’m thrilled just to know we’re having a girl!

i’m gone :)

I’m going to be gone from the blogging world for a little while (although I will most likely post on Monday after we find out whether our grandchild will be an Attison Cole (girl) or Jonas Allen (boy)!). We are leaving for Colorado next Tuesday, and I don’t plan to blog while I’m on vacation. I will post about our trip after we get home, though.

For now, I’m working on baby shower invitations. My sweet friends from church and homeschool co-op decided they want to have a baby shower for Ashley while she’s here visiting. I checked with Ashley before agreeing to it ~ she was in tears, humbled and amazed that these ladies would want to have a baby shower for someone they don’t even know yet. The love of Christ is a powerful thing.

Before we leave I will be doing laundry and cleaning. I like to come home to a very clean house when I’ve been gone for a while. We were going to hire a lady to come in and do the spring cleaning before we left, but I haven’t heard from her and I don’t have time to look for someone else ~ so, I will be doing the cleaning myself.

Patrick is sick ~ his right tonsil is swollen to the point of blocking off almost half of his throat. He was supposed to go to the doctor this morning, but the Residential Mentor who was supposed to drive him to his appointment overslept (great mentoring there, don’t you think?). I’m angry about it because Roger is supposed to be taking Patrick and Ariel up to Drury University today for Trustee Scholarship interviews and a tour of the university. It’s probably not the best thing to be whisking our sick son off to Missouri, but we figured since he has made it through the past 2 weeks with this thing (we had no idea his tonsil was so swollen; he thought it was just a cold sore on the back of his tongue that was irritating his throat) he’d be able to make the trip just fine, especially after seeing the doctor. So now we’re in a pickle as far as getting the kids up to Drury in time for them to participate in the tour and so forth. The interviews are Saturday, and Ariel has a choir scholarship audition as well as a Trustee Scholarship interview……..(major sigh) what a mess. I’m letting Roger handle the whole thing ~ if I called the school right now and chewed someone out because Patrick missed the doctor’s appointment and may possibly miss a scholarship interview, and therefore possibly lose a very prestigious scholarship, well, let’s just say Patrick’s school administration might not want him as a student there anymore! (I’m very angry, so it’s best that Roger handle it.)

So, in a very cynical tone, I say happy birthday to me, welcome to a new decade! LOL Ok, really, at this point I’m just going to have to laugh, and remind myself of all of the really great, amazing things God has blessed me with, especially lately. Truly, today is my 40th birthday ~ I have a fantastic husband, 3 (!) great kids, a roof over my head, food in the pantry, a regular source of income (that would be Roger’s job, but his job is still a blessing to me), I’ve been given the opportunity to develop a relationship with my daughter, and I’m going to be a nana in less than 5 months! I’m not about to let the enemy have any part of my joy.

I’m still hanging onto the Rock and looking for the rainbow ~ and that’s a joyous thing!

doctor’s visit report

Ashley had a doctor’s appointment yesterday morning. The baby’s heartbeat was strong. The little bugger decided she (he) didn’t like that fetal heart monitor pressing into her space so much, so she kept kicking it! LOL They drew blood and will do the whole battery of tests. No cause for concern, just routine stuff. Ashley loved the staff at the clinic; they were friendly, gentle, and told her everything they were doing and why they were doing it.

Next Monday morning ~ 8am to be exact ~ Ashley is scheduled to have an ultrasound. So, you can expect to find out whether this baby is a boy or a girl next Monday. I’m certainly looking forward to that ~ I think Ashley is almost as excited about it as I am! LOL

so many projects……

so little time! I was a busy little beaver this past weekend. Friday I decided to clean up, clean out and rearrange the craft end of my office/craft room/sunroom. It took me most of the day, but I’m very pleased with the way it turned out.

I consolidated my stock (stash) of candles that are left over from my candle business ~ we officially closed the business December 31, 2007, so all of the unsold candles now belong to me. When I consolidated the candles, it opened up a lot of space on the rack where I keep them, so I moved all of my rubber stamps to that rack. I also stashed a few other crafting items under that rack.

Then I rearranged the rack where the rubber stamps had been, opening up some room for my smaller canvas bags full of yarn. I moved the wire cubes I use to hold my 100% wool yarn (for felting) over next to my desk and rearranged a few other items.

(This picture makes my craft area look so small ~ just realize there’s more space on the right hand side once you get past the bookcase and white cubes. The wall cuts back an extra 2 feet or so ~ there’s a steel shelving rack full of scrapbooking materials and yarn just past the white cubes that you can’t see in this picture.)

The wooden cubes where I store my 8 1/2″ x 11″ cardstock as well as scrapbooks waiting to be filled had been sitting on one of my 6′ craft/work tables. I decided that really was not a good use of precious work space, so I moved them over next to the bookcase. Now I have 12′ of working space for crafting, scrapbooking, stamping, cardmaking and whatever else I can come up with.

Thanks to Barb @ A Chelsea Morning, I have started another new project. I’m going to make my grandbaby some nice burp cloths. Barb posted a tutorial here. The thing is, I don’t own a sewing machine. And even if I did, I wouldn’t know how to thread a bobbin, much less sew a straight line! So, I’ve enlisted the help of a lovely young lady who loves to sew. I’m going to do the majority of the work, then pass them along to her for the sewing-up part. It should be a fun adventure for me to even get them ready for her to sew. I’m just going to follow Barb’s tutorial ~ I’m pretty sure I can do that. I’ve decided to do a LOT of burp cloths ~ 12 for Ashley to keep, and 12 for Nana (that would be me) to keep at her house. I’m adding micro fiber cloths under the fabric, and I’m using flannel rather than cotton fabric.

I also started a recipe book for Ashley. When I got married, I had absolutely no idea how to really be a housewife/homemaker. None, whatsoever. I took 1 home ec class in high school, and the only thing I learned in that class is how to cook scrambled eggs. Now, don’t get me wrong ~ Roger loves eggs, but we couldn’t live on JUST scrambled eggs! So, I put my nose to the grindstone (so to speak) and started learning the hidden art of homemaking. I’m still learning ~ and I am so thankful to those precious ladies out there who are willing to share their know-how and mentor the rest of us! Since my daughter is 19 and pregnant with her first child, I figured it was time for me to step up to the plate and share with her some of the things I’ve learned. I bought this 3-ring style recipe book for her (I found it locally at Mardel for $18)

and I have written down a few of our family favorite recipes to get her started.

When she comes to visit in March I will give it to her. I made a few minor changes to the recipe book itself. The front cover had this little dollhouse-like set of silverware, a plate and a little napkin glued to it. Personally, I thought it was rather ugly ~ I love the recipe book itself; the 3-ring style and the red leather are beautiful and exactly what I wanted. But that place setting on the front cover just didn’t do it for me. So, I removed it, and replaced it with the bottom right-hand corner of one of the recipe cards I bought to go along with the pretty red leather book. I cut out the corner of the recipe card, glued it to a piece of black cardstock, then glued the whole thing into the place where the ugly place setting had been. I think it turned out beautiful.

I also found some cute little fleece sweaters and pants for my grandbaby. I’m not usually a fan of yellow or green when it comes to baby clothes. But these were just so cute ~ and they were marked down so much!~ that I just had to buy them. They’ll be perfect when the baby is 3 to 6 months old and the weather begins to cool off a bit.

I still have to finish the wedding afghan I’m making for our niece and her groom, and I have a couple other small projects to complete before we go to Colorado. I have plenty of time though ~ I should be able to get all of the crochet projects done, and maybe even have my part of the burp cloths finished so I can pass them off to be sewn before we leave. That means I’ll be spending less time on my computer. I’m enjoying the craft projects though ~ I’ll post pictures as I get projects completed.

you know you married the right guy when…….

he knows that roses are NOT your favorite flowers, so instead he sends you tulips on Valentine’s Day ~ because tulips ARE your favorite flowers!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

changes on the horizon

My friend Meredith wrote this post about the calm before the storm. You know, I’ve been thinking about that a lot over the past two weeks.

I’ve had some pretty big drama in my life. But that was years and years ago ~ truly, I have lived a nice, quiet, calm, unremarkable, satisfyingly content life for oh, I don’t know, about 15+ years now. Once I figured out that I was the cause of most of the friction in my life ~ I caused my own problems by my own sinful choices ~ things turned around pretty quickly. I’m not saying there haven’t been consequences for those sinful choices; but God has used those consequences to show me His love and mercy, to draw me closer to Him, and to help me understand my need for Him. Even with the bad stuff (what I call junk) God has been good.

Finding my daughter and discovering that I’m going to be a mother-in-law and a nana soon are some pretty big events. I see evidence of God’s handiwork in every aspect of my life, especially right now. I am not a drama queen ~ when my life was one big drama after another I was completely miserable. I know some people who thrive on drama; in fact, I know some people whose lives make better soap operas than the ones they show on TV! I don’t know how they do it, running from one major life event to the next, never taking the time to really slow down, listen to God, and then just obey.

There are some really big changes in my life on the horizon. And not just my life, but but in the lives all of those whose are close to me ~ my husband and children especially.

I used to think that change was something to be feared and avoided at all cost. Change can cause major drama, and I have a tendency to shy away from major drama. But as I have grown older (and perhaps a touch wiser?), I have been able to see how God orchestrates the changes in my life. Most of them have happen slowly and quietly, mainly in my heart and my attitude. But there are some big events coming, and I’m doing my best to rest in the Lord and not be afraid.

God is my rock and my foundation ~ winds can blow, seas can roar, mountains can crumble ~ none of that can shake my home. Unless, of course, I let it. How would I let it? By stepping outside of the safety, covering and security of the Lord’s arms. I can choose to step outside and let the winds blow me around, the seas wash me away, or the mountains pile on top of me. Or, I can choose to trust the Lord with every tiny detail of my life, resting in the knowledge that He holds my life in His hands, and He is ultimately in control.

The changes that God has brought into my life over the past two weeks have been amazing. I know I’ve probably said it a million times, but I can’t express my joy in finding Ashley enough. I know she’s in a tough situation right now ~ being 19 and pregnant, living with her fiancee and feeling she had no one to turn to for the past 2 years has been very difficult for her. I’ve been there, and that’s what I mean when I talk about drama. But you see, for Ashley it’s different than it was for me. She has me and Roger now to look to as parental figures. And she even gets a couple of brothers thrown into the bargain too.

So while I can see the storm clouds moving toward me, I know that I am secure, and nothing can shake my foundation. Maybe some of the useless stuff will blow away ~ the wind and the seas can have the junk. I’m hanging onto the Rock and looking for the rainbow.

thank you

Look what my sweet secret sister sent to me! This little book is a devotional style guide “with inspiring meditations and practical how-to’s” for “simplicity God’s way”. I’m really looking forward to reading it and gleaning what God would have me to learn from it. Thank you, Secret Sister!

lots of goings-on

I’ve been pretty busy lately (for me, anyway). With Sawyer’s activities ~ choir, youth band practice, homeschool co-op, French horn, youth group, and baseball ~ we have something going on every day. Not to mention the fact that we do homeschool! We have a church Valentines “Loves, Laughs and Lasagne” dinner to attend Friday night. On Sunday Roger will take Patrick up to the University of Tulsa for scholarship interviews. I’m trying to get things that we don’t need cleaned out of the house, schedule a lady to come over and help me with (read:do) the spring cleaning necessities hopefully before we leave for Colorado, get things ready so we can go to Colorado, AND have things mostly ready for when we get back from Colorado and Ashley comes to visit! Whew!

I apologize for being absent ~ but thank you for your grace and understanding while I work through what to me is a whirlwind of activity.

about ashley’s adoptive parents

Thank you so much for all of the well wishes and interest in the process I went through to find Ashley. I’ve had a couple of people ask me about her adoptive parents, so I figured now would be as good a time as any to tell you about them.

Ashley’s adoptive father, R., passed away in June of 2006. He had some serious health problems that had not been diagnosed, and he died in his sleep.

Ashley’s adoptive mother, E., lives about 10 minutes away from where Ashley’s living right now. They have a very strained relationship. R. and E. separated when Ashley was 11, and by the time her 13th birthday came around they were divorced and living in different states. Ashley chose to live with her dad.

Ashley has a younger sister, A., who is also adopted. A. has lived with their adoptive mom all of her life. Ashley has a good relationship with her sister, but it’s difficult for Ashley to be around A. because A. lives with E.

I don’t really want to go into too many more details in order to protect their privacy. Let’s just say that Ashley’s relationship with her adoptive mother has been difficult and strained for quite a few years. The fact that Ashley and I are in contact with each other now isn’t really a major issue in their relationship. Ashley has told E. she’s in contact with me. E. isn’t thrilled with that, but she told Ashley years ago that she’s on her own. This whole thing isn’t really a major contributing factor to the decline of their relationship.

I would love to have the opportunity to talk to E. ~ I would love to tell her thank you for raising Ashley as her own daughter, as if she were her own flesh-and-blood. Whether adopted or biological, a mother loves her child, and I know that Ashley’s adoptive mother loves her. So did Ashley’s adoptive father.

I wholeheartedly believe God brought Ashley back into my life, and therefore brought me into Ashley’s life, for a purpose. I continue to pray for Ashley, Jacob, Ashley’s adoptive mother and sister, and for Ashley and Jacob’s baby. Jeremiah 29:11-14 continually runs through my head:

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

i’ve known her for a week

Wow ~ what an incredible week this has been. Over the past 7 days, I have begun to forge a relationship with my daughter that I pray will last a lifetime. We’ve literally spent hours and hours talking on the phone. Roger and I bought Ashley a plane ticket to come to our house in March. I wanted her to come sooner, but between Valentine’s Day and Jacob’s birthday (both of which Ashley would like to spend with Jacob) and our trip to Colorado, getting her to Arkansas before March just isn’t going to happen.

There has been a small bit of confusion around my house ~ with my daughter and Roger’s niece’s husband having the same name, and my future son-in-law having the same name as my dog, we’ve had to do a little bit of clarification! LOL So, from now on, when I refer to Ashley, I mean specifically my daughter, unless otherwise prefaced by the words “our niece’s husband” or something that clearly indicates that I’m NOT talking about my daughter. As for my dog and future son-in-law having the same name, I’ll try to refer to my dog as Jake and my future son-in-law as Jacob. No promises, but I’m pretty sure you’ll be able to tell when I’m talking about my dog Jake or my daughter’s fiancee Jake. But I really will try to use Jacob when referring to Ashley’s (my daughter’s!) fiancee.

Ashley told me that she and a friend of hers are going to Target and Babies ‘R Us to start baby registries. I’m still so amazed that I’M GOING TO BE A GRANDMA ~ or in my case, a Nana! Goodness. You know, it’s strange to have actually only known Ashley for only a week ~ there are so many similarities between us…………it’s actually kind of freaky. Who knew that fish-phobia (as I call it) is an inherited trait? I have this unexplainable fear of ocean/water creatures. I won’t swim in lakes, or even rivers, because they have water creatures (mostly meaning fish). There’s no way, let me repeat that, NO WAY anyone is ever going to convince me to go swimming in the ocean. I DON’T CARE of there are “beautiful” fish and other sealife living in some incredibly blue tropical waters. I’m not going in. Period. And I do mean period. No way. Uh-uh. Don’t even bother to try, because it won’t work. I don’t like fish ~ any fish, of any sort. I’ll deal with spiders and cockroaches all day ~ just don’t put me in even ankle-deep water with creatures who live there. As amazing as that is, Ashley shares the exact same sentiments. Roger, ROGER, pronounced the whole thing “freaky” when I told him that. And that’s just not a word my husband uses.

Who knew I would be so incredibly thrilled to be told I’ll be a Nana in 5 months? (Well, ok, besides you, Barb, and you, Bev…) Angie’s wedding afghan is on rush order now that I’ve found my daughter ~ I have baby blankets and hats and sweaters and toys to knit and crochet!!! Oh my goodness. I went to Target yesterday and looked through the baby aisles ~ I had more fun, all by myself in the baby aisles, than a barrel full of monkeys! All those things I wished they’d had when I was toting babies around, like car seats that transfer into strollers and wipes warmers and microwave baby bottle and pacifier sterilizers and bags that keep baby bottles chilled while you’re away from home ~ someone has actually invented them. ALL of them. Duh! Why didn’t I do that myself? I knew there was a market for them! Nonetheless, they’re invented now. And did you know there are baby monitors that also have real-time baby video cameras? When I had babies in the house, we were just thrilled that there were baby monitors to begin with ~ they had just been invented when Patrick was a baby. I don’t think I ever dreamed that baby monitors would have little video cameras on them so you can watch as well as hear your baby. Wow. This is why I’ve decided NOT to rent an extra car while we’re in Colorado ~ I have baby stuff to buy!

I’m pretty sure I must sound crazy to most people. But truly, I’m thrilled and I feel blessed beyond belief to not only have found my daughter but to have a grandchild coming so close in the future. I’m excited and anxious for Ashley to come for a visit. I’ll be going up to Minnesota for the baby’s birth. I’m hoping to find out next week whether Ashley’s having a boy or a girl. I’m not one who wants to wait until the baby’s born, although I understand why some people prefer it that way. I’m just not one of those people. I want to get started on buying blue or pink ~ I’m not fond of yellow or pastel green.

The rest of my immediate family seems to be as thrilled about the whole thing as I am. My previous marriage and Ashley’s birth have never been a secret ~ Roger was a part of my life when I gave birth to Ashley and released her for adoption, and our sons have known about her since they were old enough to understand they have a half-sister (although we don’t refer to her as a half-sister; she’s their sister). And from what I can tell, Ashley is just as thrilled about all of us as we are of her. She told me the other night she feels like she has hit the jackpot ~ not only has she gained a birth mom, but she has gained an entirely new family and friends. So cool ~ just so cool.

more acceptance letters

Patrick has received two more college acceptance letters this week ~ Tulsa and UCA (University of Central Arkansas). Things are moving right along in our quest to discover which college is right for him.

martha’s homemade holidays

It arrived today ~ the Martha’s Homemade Holidays DVD I won from Barb during the big bloggy giveaway! I’m hoping to have some time this afternoon and/or this evening to watch it. With all of the changes my family is going to go through this year, I think it will be wonderful to add some new traditions ~ I’m sure Martha has some really great ideas I can incorporate into our winter celebration and rememberance of the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

he made it!

Patrick received notification this afternoon that he has been selected as a National Merit Scholarship finalist! We’re pretty excited about this ~ the scholarship itself isn’t really any big deal, but the recognition is huge.

When Patrick became a semi-finalist, we started receiving offers from colleges saying if you are selected as a finalist, we will offer you such-and-such amount of money (usually the full cost of 4 years of tuition) if you name our school as your #1 choice. We’re just not sure yet which school is going to be his #1 choice.

Roger and Patrick are going to tour Tulsa University and Drury University this month. After that, we’re going to compare all of the schools Patrick is interested in based on academic environment, the campus and housing, cost of tuition, room, board, books, activitie fees, etc., and the amount of money the college has offered to off-set those costs. Patrick has received a few scholarships from a couple of schools already, which can be combined with their National Merit Scholarship finalist awards.

We have some very important decisions to make over the next few months. Roger and I are so thrilled for Patrick that he has been able to attend this school, get enough college credits that he will effectively enter college as at least a sophomore if not a junior, and that he has been selected for some pretty high honors. He has worked very, very hard ~ and the challenge has been very good for him. He is growing into an independent young man ~ independent from his parents, but closer in his relationship with God. I’m a bit stunned that high school is almost over for him, and he’ll be moving on to college in 6 months!

P.S. I wonder if he can use his rock star status in his favor on his college and scholarship applications? LOL!!!

charm country

I know it’s kind of early to be thinking about Mother’s Day, but nonetheless it has sort of been on my mind lately. I found the cutest little boy and girl birthstone “charms” (for lack of a better word) ~ I’m enamoured with the idea of a Mother’s bracelet. The birthstone kids are here. They also have birthstone babies that I especially love, but they’ve discontinued them ~ once they run out of what they have in stock it’s all over. So, birthstone kids it is…….

reminder

Don’t forget ~ if you want to be eligible to win the $25 Amazon.com gift card, you have until next Monday, February 11, to get your Winter Reading Challenge list posted. I will be coming around and checking out everyone’s list ~ I always find such great books on other people’s lists! You can sign up, and leave a direct link to your Winter Reading Challenge book list, here.

If you miss the deadline to be eligible for the gift card, that’s ok. Play along with us anyway. It’s always fun, and can be quite motivating, to post your goals and let others hold you accountable.

parody on "glamorous"

LOL Ok, if I ever needed any proof that my oldest son is a total goof, I definitely have it now.

He and the other kids at his high school who live on the 5th floor made this video ~ a parody on Fergie’s “Glamorous”. My son is the white boy on the left gettin’ his groove-thang on right towards the beginning of the video. Towards the middle of the video (if you last that long) is a white girl in a light colored shirt ~ that’s Patrick’s girlfriend Ariel.

You wouldn’t think these kids would have enough time to come up with something like this since it is, after all, a “smart kid” school ~ shouldn’t they be DOING calculus rather than singing and making a video about it??!!!

Let me add this disclaimer ~ since this video is on YouTube, I have no control over what ever else may come up on the page.

more info

I have had so many wonderful comments and emails about finally locating my daughter who I released for adoption nineteen years ago. Thank you all.

I’ve also had a couple of emails inquiring as to the circumstances of my divorce from my daughter’s father. You know, usually I’m an extremely private person. It’s not that I feel I have anything to hide or be ashamed of ~ to be honest, I’ve just sort of felt that things that happen in my life that are of a private nature should stay private.

I opened the door on this one though, so I’m going to answer the questions as best I can. I will not bash on my ex-husband ~ it was a LONG time ago. God has forgiven me of my sins, and I have been given the strength and mercy to forgive my ex. The short of the long story is that we got divorced because he was involved in extra-marital affairs. Yes, affairs. Plural.

Please understand, that time period of my life is still very painful. I think it probably always will be, no matter how much time goes by. I’m not bitter ~ in fact, I’m thankful that God has been able to use that part of my life to mold me into who I am now and who I will become in the future. He is the potter, I am the clay. He has used everything in my life for my good ~ sometimes it takes a good schwack across the head with a boat oar to get my attention. But God always uses a good schwacking within the context of disciplining me, teaching me, drawing me closer to Him, and showing me His mercy and His love.

And so, I am eternally thankful that I have had life-altering and life-changing experiences. And just look at how God is redeeming them for me ~ not only do I now have the opportunity to have a relationship with my daughter, He has also given me the opportunity to have a relationship with a grandchild! I’m beside myself in thanks and awe to my God Who knows exactly what I need, and Who continues to work in my life, shaping me into the image of His Son!

thank you

Thank you to everyone for the kind words in comments and emails ~ you all have greatly encouraged me, and I’m thankful for all of you!

but i’m too young……

I think the reality of finding my daughter and being told I’m going to be a grandma in 5 months is just now really starting to sink in. Especially considering I haven’t even celebrated my 40th birthday yet!

Roger and I have been looking at plane tickets between Minneapolis and Little Rock ~ I think we’ll get Ashley a ticket to come visit in March. I’ve been walking on a cloud ever since I received that note from Ashley with her phone number and her request that I call her. It feels kind of strange………

answered prayer

This has been a long time in coming……

Most people don’t know that I was married once before I married Roger. I was 18, young, foolish and, quite honestly, in complete and total rebellion towards my parents and authority in general. As you can guess, the marriage didn’t work out so well, and we got divorced.

About a week after I left that marriage, I found out I was pregnant. I don’t know that words can adequately describe the emotional flood and turmoil I experienced. It’s a very long story ~ but in the end, I decided that adoption would be best for the child. It was the absolute most difficult decision I have ever made in my life.

On August 22, 1988, I gave birth to an amazing, perfect, beautiful little girl. I spent a couple of days in the hospital with her, then had to give her over to the attorney who was handling the adoption. I sobbed nonstop for 3 days. And I mean sobbed ~ it was awful.

I have always wanted to know where she was, how she was, who she was ~ but I thought finding her would be very difficult. Recently Roger began urging me to find my daughter ~ she’s 19 years old now, and Roger knows how much I wanted to find her.

I did a quick search on Google on adoption, and found an article on About.com that explained about “search angels”. Search Angels are people who have access to birth records, and will do a search for you to help you find your child you released for adoption. I contacted a couple of Search Angels who have the birth records for Ohio and asked if they could help me find my daughter.

Within hours, I knew my daughter’s adopted name ~ Ashley ~ who adopted her, where she grew up, and I even had a means of getting in touch with her. Wow. I was amazed at how easy it was…..

I fretted over contacting her, because obviously I didn’t really know anything about her situation or how she would feel if I contacted her. But I went ahead and sent her a message, praying that whatever her reaction would be, I would handle it well and that the Lord’s hand would guide me.

I decided to set up a MySpace page, since I was trying to contact Ashley through her MySpace page. While I was online, I noticed that one of Ashley’s friends, Maggie, was online. So, I sent Maggie an IM asking if she knew how I could get in touch with Ashley.

Once I assured and convinced Maggie I wasn’t some wacky nutjob, she agreed to try to get ahold of Ashley and let her know I was looking for her. Maggie and Ashley have been best friends since they were 5 years old ~ God worked this whole thing out so amazingly well!

Within 30 minutes of my last IM with Maggie, I had a message waiting for me from Ashley. She gave me her phone number and asked me to call her! She was as excited about being found as I was about finding her!

I can’t even begin to describe how it feels to have finally found my daughter. And guess what ~ I’m going to be a grandma in July! LOL Can you believe that?! When Ashley told me she’s pregnant I was beyond overjoyed; I’m getting a two-for-one deal here! LOL

Here’s a picture of Ashley…….

Anyway, thank you all for praying about my unspoken request. If you would, please lift up Ashley, the baby, her fiancee Jake, and the rest of us in your prayers. This is such an amazing time for us!

P.S. If I seem to be very straight forward about this, it’s only because I’m trying to not jump out of my skin and run around yelling and jumping for joy! Truly, the past 24 hours have been so amazing……

martha stewart

Woo hoo! I won! I won!

Barb at A Chelsea Morning participated in the huge bloggy giveaway hosted by Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer. Barb was giving away a copy of Martha’s Homemade Holidays ~ a Martha Stewart DVD ~ and incase you didn’t get the message in my first paragraph, let me reiterate ~ I WON!!

Thank you, Barb; you’ve totally made my entire week! I can’t wait to watch this DVD ~ I know there will be tons of great projects and information on it!