So blessed

Okay, so I thought I told you about my dear friend M, who bought me this really cool purse at www.haitiancreations.com. When I went back to link to the post, I couldn't find it so now I'm guessing that was the one time last month I got on FB and must have wrote about it there. Anyway, back to my, now new, story.

My friend M bought me this really cool purse. Yes, I know, I already told you that. It started when her SIL bought her a purse from the same ministry. It's a very cool purse and I had commented on my appreciation of the purse. Well, with my birthday coming up coupled with the fact that the proceeds go back to women in Haiti (where M was born as a missionary kid), M decided to buy me a purse. It was very thoughtful but to M, the thoughtfullness of the gift didn't cover over the fact that she didn't like the bag at all. In fact, she wanted to cry. She was so dissapointed. She even offerred to just order me a new one. I took the gift she ordered, did a little cleaning up with my seam-ripper and voila, I had my own Haitiancreations bag. Not near as cute as M's, but such a cool gesture in multiple ways.

That was a few weeks ago.

Last night, M also took me out for dinner and had even arranged a sitter for our kids. We chatted over Chinese food. She picked up the tab even though I didn't agree with her doing that after buying my bag. It felt so wonderful to be spoiled by a friend. I do occasionally get that from Ryan and other family and I appreciate that, but it was different when it came from one of my buddies!

Thanks M. We should do this again before your birthday in July.

DJ the dog

DJ, the dog, Buitenwerf
born on 7/7/1997
Ryan's buddy his whole life
crossed the rainbow bridge 3/10/2010

DJ has been Ryan's dog for almost 13 years. He kindly welcomed me into the brick home when Ryan and I got married. DJ thanked me when Scott was born and I kicked those pesky cats out of the house. He quickly realized that another human addition to the house meant that DJ was once again pushed to the side a little. Even then, he was Ryan's faithful dog. When Bethany came along, it was yet another human invading his space. In a few short years DJ had gone from top dog sleeping at his master's bed side to being kicked out in the hall to sleep. He managed to put up with the kids because he was still Ryan's buddy and still went everywhere Ryan went in the vet truck.

We have watched DJ's healthy slowly decline this past few months. It has been hard to watch, and annoying to clean up. This morning one sad veterinarian made the decision to put his buddy, his dog, down. DJ while sleeping/dreaming kicks his feet and runs and we've joked a lot this past year that he's trying to cross the rainbow bridge. This morning, DJ did just that.

Ryan told me that he put his dog down this morning. As much as I despised dealing with DJ's anxiety and elderly issues, he's the family dog. I was sad for Ryan's decision but it did seem like it was time for that decision to be made. At least he was put down by someone who loved him!

Emotional Rollercoaster

Today was my day to get a million things done at the office. Though I was productive, I was also distracted by a rollercoaster of emotions.

Last night I talked to Ryan about taking the kids to the Dells after we get home from Ethiopia. Today he received word that one of the drug companies is treating us to a 2 day trip to the Dells at their expense. Yipee! Thank you Lord for providing the opportunity to go and not have to worry about the financial side of it.

Exciting!

In the same email, Ryan told me that he had to put his dog down. I felt like I was at fault since I've been cranky about DJ issues and inform my husband about every single thing so he's aware and can make informed decisions about DJ's health. I even started to cry... and the dog annoys me.

Not good.

Trying to be positive, I went to a work friend to tell her about the news of going to the Dells. She and I had talked about it yesterday since her family is going next month.

Excited again.

She asks me if we'll be in Ethiopia then. I hadn't thought about that! According to my calcu-guesses, we'll be travelling 8 weeks after we pass court tomorrow. That puts us leaving for Ethiopia at the same time we're supposed to go to the Kalahari Resort.

Excited? Not so much!

I come back to my computer to see that someone has finally posted to the Holt yahoo board about the 2-trip issue in Ethiopia.

Now, I'm sick to my stomach.

I stop for a moment to pray: Lord, Your ways are higher than my ways. This is YOUR adoption. You have provided for every little detail. You know the details of our lives and things have worked for Good. Lord, in my selfishness I ask that we not be affected by this 2-trip issue. If we are Lord, would You continue to provide in every manner as You have before. You know our situation with finances, time off work, needs of our child... everything down to the number of hairs on my head. I trust you with this Lord.

updated to say that I got an email from Holt and it sounds like we won't be affected. Thank you Jesus!

I'm glad that tonight I'm meeting with a dear friend for a belated birthday celebration of Chinese food. Last week when we planned it, I asked her if we could spend some time at supper praying about our court date that will be occuring in a matter of hours. How little did I know that I would also be praying regarding this new information from Ethiopia.

I have many blogger and yahoo group friends who will definitely be affected by this news. Would you pray with me that God would work out the details - change of rules, financial gifts for extra airline tickets, or whatever He sees best to meet their needs? Thanks.

The rollercoaster will continue through the night as I lie awake and pray about our court hearing. I love real rollercoasters, but definitely not the emotional ones!

Mabel's Labels

Have you ever heard of Mabel's Labels? If not, you should totally check them out at www.mabel.ca. I first heard of Mabels Labels from my friend Jody over at www.iowageekonline.com. She made use of the labels with her kids somehow. I perused the site and thought it was cool but this thrifty mama just couldn't justify the cute labels at the time. I continue to drool over their products and hope to buy someday but for now I'm being content with money going to adoption.

Do you want to know what some of my favorite products are? The 411 wristbands are pretty cool. Do you ever take your kiddos to big public places like the zoo, the state fair, camping, the mall? These wristband labels help identify your child and give contact info so that when your child gets lost or runs off, they can contact you. How cool is that?!?!? They also have an allergy wristband. If you're little one is allergic to something or several somethings and you send him to a birthday party, to summer camp, etc. then you can add that info right to his wrist band so others can be informed of his allergy. Very cool.

Mabels Labels also has label packs. If you're extremely organized like me (or like I wish I was), there's perfect packs of labels for you. The cord control pack is my favorite. No more wrapping them with scotch tape and writing on the side to identify which cord, of the 100's we have around the house, goes to which electronic product.

The last of my favorites is an entire grouping of labels for clothes. I could have so used some of these when Scott didn't get his snowpants put back in his cubby at school and some other little guy took them home. If we would have had a label on his snow pants, that might not have happened and we certainly wouldn't have missed several good days of sledding!

The Mabels Labels products are cool. What I also appreciate about them is that they know they're generous. For example, when I was at the iblog conference last fall, Mabels Labels gave us cute little tags for our swag bags. I also appreciate their prompt response today when I contacted them with a concern. Way to go Mabel's Labels for having good customer service - something too many people lack these days. If you haven't checked out Mabel's Labels, stop on over by clicking here.

Weekend Fun

For some odd reason, my body is begging for a break but I keep on movin' and God keeps sustaining!

It started with a quiet night Friday. Popped Monsters Inc in for the kids and had popcorn and potato chips for supper. Once they went to bed, I sifted through all of Scott's old clothes to see what could be used for boy #2.

Saturday morning we stopped at mom's for breakfast and hung out with Aunt Janie for a little bit before saying goodbye to her and hitting the road ourselves. We were off to spend a short weekend with Tera and family in Iowa City. Arriving with our McD's bag in hand, we had a few bites before we headed to the mall.

Only we weren't there for the mall, but for my eye doc appointment with Dr. O'Neill at Mc Donald Optical. I couldn't recommend him enough. He was wonderful at asking questions, explaining what he was doing, asking for questions, clarifying issues, etc. I wouldn't typically drive 2 hours for an eye doc but I was so sick of not receiving help with my current guy. In a 20 minute exam, I learned lots about my eyes and specifically why I was having problems with my contacts. Dr. O'Neill was easy to understand, spoke in layman's terms and very genuine. I walked out with a new pair of contacts and a place I'd be willing to come back to. When you're in customer serving, it's important to feel like you were served. The staff at McDonald Optical did just that. (Let me also share that Tera is the office manager there so they already knew of my complaints, had a general idea of my prescription, and had my paperwork all filled out for me. All I had to do was give them my insurance card).

While I was in my appointment, Tera took the 3 kids for ice-cream. Their faces looked like they enjoyed it but it was a moment in my memory cause I didn't have my camera.

From there we hauled the 3 napless kids to Kohl's and then over to Old Navy for some clearance rack shopping. I had to wonder over to the sale racks too since spring is coming and my darling Bethany has nothing cute to wear. I also realized that though brown colors look good on my pale kids, it likely won't be the color of choice for A. At both places I felt like I got good deals but nothing GREAT.

We spent the evening hanging out. I played with baby Gavin while the 3 other kids played and watched a movie. It was nice to catch up with Tera and Kevin a bit. I learned two important things on Saturday night:

1. Fruit punch spilled all over pizza is NOT going to be the new thing.
2. Just because the bed is big enough, it doesn't mean you should try to sleep with two kids - the couch would have provided much more rest!

Starting out Sunday morning was way too early. Bethany moved ALL night long and every half an hour let out a painful scream. She must have had a gassy belly like me so I gave her the one drink that was left of my pop on the night stand. Scott fell off the bed once and had a bad dream later so I was awake twice with him too. Needless to say 630am came way too early!

I must be glutton for punishment because I had two kids who hadn't napped the day before, didn't sleep well during the night, and weren't going to have a nap that day but I decided to take them shopping anyway. And not normal shopping either. By normal, I mean a store with carts and fairly wide rows where you can confine the child and keep them from grabbing at everything even if they are whining the whole time! Nope, we went to the outlet mall. Fortunately I found great deals here but we all had to deal with my two plus Tera's son's cranky attitude. Not so much fun! And who knew that at McD's you could wait over 15 minutes to get your oder at 2 in the afternoon!

When we finally left at 4pm, Bethany fell asleep shortly after and Scott played with his new happymeal toys. Tera was probably glad to see the cranky kids go! Bethany slept the entire drive home and I was thankful!!!

My kids, all 3 of them, now have some clothes for the coming months. Hopefully that will be enough to get them through the coming months cause every penny needs to be going towards adoption at this point. Whew, I'll be so glad to not have that financial anxiety hanging over my head anymore!

More on Journey Bags

Well, this is the finished bag that I showed you last week. I made it for my Aunt's little granddaughter since my aunt is always making stuff for my little ones. Jennifer is about 7 months older than Bethany and I hope she likes it.

After I finished that up, it was back to the canvas bags for the kids in Samuel's village:

(let me also clarify that I am not expecting. After seeing this picture, this is definitely not my favorite shirt anymore and I'm not even sure if I wanna wear it again...)

This project wouldn't have been such smooth sailing without my helper, Aunt Janie, who helped me cut out the bags, surged the sides and argued with me about how I chose to design them. Thank you Aunt Ugly, I love you dearly!
Of course, I had two other little helpers: one of which was doing this while I was trying to work and the other who played nicely while I ignored him

As we were wrapping up our work one night, I layed what I had done so far out on the carpet to see... it's nice to see progress when you're working

Bethany proceeded to dance on the bags even though some had pins in them. When we finally got her off the bags and she wanted to show them off:

If I can get all my appointments scheduled for work today AND I can find my shopping list, I think I might take a little leave this afternoon and head over to WI to do a little grocery shopping and pick up some more canvas. After a break from sewing this weekend, it's time to warm up the sewing machine again and get the handles made for these bags...

Donny

My friend high school friend, Donny Querin, past away yesterday. It was a courageous and inspiring battle with leukemia. For those of my Kingsburg friends who know him and want to read more, check out the web page where his mom was keeping people updated: http://www.abbasheart.com/donnyupdate4.asp

Donny was a wonderful friend starting in our elementary years. We lived near each other and in junior high we walked home together. I remember his parents building the new house, I remember running through the vineyards on our walk home. As we grew and matured a little bit, I remember watching him work on his pickup with such dedication and interest. But most importantly I remember my friend Donny leaving home to spend a month or so in Africa serving others. It was an amazing experience for him and for me. I got to watch from the outside as he prepared to go and then meet him the night he returned home. I remember the stories of reaching out, trading with the natives, etc. It was Donny's influence that tapped my interest for going to Africa someday. His example, and that of his family, was definitely an encouragement in my decision to do mission work abroad.

Though I hadn't seen my friend since high school, his friendship and his life continue to impact mine. It has been a joy to watch him walk with Jesus through excruciating pain of leukemia and the problems that were associated with that. He told his mom recently that "I just wanted to be sure that God will be able to tell me I did everything He told me to do. I don’t expect Him to tell me I did it good, but I do want to know that I tried and I want Him to know that I did my best.” What an amazing man of God.

Donny, I'm guessing that as you stepped into the presence of our most Holy God, that He did say "well done my good and faithful servant."

Gifted

Thank you neighboring agency for the gift of a headache today! I look forward to the next time I can bang my head against the wall dealing with your nit-pickiness.

kombucha

This drink has grown on me. The first taste I had of it was not good. But I tried it again. It's an aquired taste for sure. Kombucha can be bought in health food stores or brewed in your own home. It's a fermented tea. A bacteria/yeast scoby added to a super sweetened tea and left to ferment. The scoby eats the sugar and leave you with a drink full of probiotics. Some claim that kombucha helps with digestion, and other things I can't remember right now cause I'm tired :)

I started drinking kombucha less than a year ago. My health-conscious brother in law brews his own and got me started. I took a break this winter cause of the craziness of life and finally "canned" another batch. I can't wait for it to carbonate some and I can drink it.

Kombucha may sound crazy. Don't knock it until you try it.

Lunch Break

Some thoughts real quick that are circling in my chaotic mind:

1. Had our "carpeted room" wood floor redone finally. We pulled the carpet up last July and have been waiting on the guy to refinish which we said he could do at his convenience. The floor is looking awesome and it wasn't even done yet. I wanted to lay on it. Bethany danced on it. Beautiful!
2. I have 15 of the journey bags partially done. All I need to do is add the handles and sew a quick corner on the bottom to give them depth. Woo hoo! With that in mind, I need to get more canvas to finish the project which I hope is easy to accomplish.
3. Bible study is tonight. That means its Thursday. After being up till 11pm last night and getting up at 510 this morning, I could use a nap. But alas, I'm alive, I'm awake and I feel great!
4. Made a batch of kombucha. The first batch I've made in months. Taste tested it the other day and didn't think it was quite finished. Tasting it again last night it still wasn't done... and then I realized it's missing the carbonation cause I need to put it in jars. Will do that tonight hopefully.
5. I'm going to Iowa City this weekend to see the optometrist and hang out with Ryan's cousin. Our kids are close in age so it hopefully proves fun for all of us :)

Journey Bags

I would love to introduce you to my friend Janel via her blog. When we decided to adopt, a friend connected me with Janel's blog and I've kept up with it ever since. Over New Year's Jake and Janel were in Ghana, Africa working on their Kingdom Hoops project. While there they met Samuel, the boy they're adopting, and gave gifts to the children in his village. When I read her journal entry from day six and saw this picture, the bags immediately caught my attention. I left the following comment for Janel: "...then I read of the bags. The first time I saw the bags I knew it was likely something that would not get recycled or thrown away here. And as I read on about how you wish you would have bought better ones, I automatically thought of how simple it would be to sew some. Maybe we can get together and sew up a bunch of bags to take with you when you go to get Samuel. That would be awesome!"

That was mid January. Fast forward a few weeks and the bags are coming together. It has been a fun and a huge blessing to work on these bags. I wanted to do this project with a couple of us girls. On Saturday I started to do a sample bag just to see how they would turn out, how long they would take to make, etc. I used one of Ryan's old veterinary scrubs that he hardly used. One scrub made two bags. That was pretty simple. I added a little embellishment to one and gave it to Bethany. I did a few more for fun and then decided to cut into my good fabric. It's very cute asian fabric that I picked out specifically for bags. I pieced it together and added an embellishment to the bottom specifically for Addy and was proud of my own little creation.

In the process of making these smaller bags, I realized I would quickly run out of the much needed black fabric I used to line Addy's bag. With a quick phone call to my mom who was out shopping, I asked her to pick up more fabric. That afternoon when she and my visiting Aunt showed up to the house, I got them involved in my little project. Aunt Janie had found canvas and purchased 5 yards of it for my project. We decided that on Sunday after church, we would dive into these bags.

Sunday afternoon we did just that. We cut canvas for 16 bags and started designing them with a little color. I picked out the colors and designed them and Aunt Janie helped out and surged the ends. Mom and Ryan chased my kids while we worked. As I worked, I prayed for those who would receive the bags, those who would deliver the bags, and those others who could use a simple gift that would potentially be life changing.

These bags that we're sewing together will have quite the journey to Ghana. With our own personal interest in Ethiopia, I might have to make extra so I can take them there. In thinking about these simple bags, the journey they will make from my house, to Janel's suitcase, to the hands of a Ghananian, I started referring to them as Journey Bags. I'm excited to see what journey they'll go on and also what Journey God will take me on as I seek to give of my gifts and talents for someone else.

Friends, I'm headed back to the sewing machine to finish up this little bag...

Things I learned from Isaac’s return flight to Mexico City:

1. Give Isaac a “local” number to call in case he needs it.
2. Don’t just ask if he has ENOUGH cash, ask how much he has.
3. Give him extra cash just in case.
4. Over-communicate.
5. Pray more regarding his travels home
6. Know how to communicate with his family in Mexico.

Here’s how it went down for Isaac’s return trip yesterday:

Night before: Bob asks Isaac if he has enough money for food. Isaac says yes. I think no more about it.

630am: S&M pick Isaac up at my house and head to Des Moines. He’s in good hands. I say a quick prayer for him and jump in the shower. While showering, I realize I didn’t give him the financial gift I had on my dresser for him. Oh well, I’ll get it to him eventually.

1pm: S&M take Isaac to the airport. Time is running short. They give Isaac $10 for food, see Isaac through security and watch him walk away. After he’s no longer in site, M realizes its too late and wishes she would’ve given him somebody’s phone number just in case.

730pm: Isaac should be leaving Atlanta for Mexico City.

815pm: I’m sitting in bible study and my phone rings with 3 different calls, none of the numbers I recognize. Thinking it a little odd for the 3 calls, I finally answer my phone. It’s Isaac’s sister in law’s brother. Follow that one? (Isaac was visiting his brother and sister in law in central Iowa before he came to our place. While Isaac was visiting us, his brother and sister in law left for Peru). Isaac’s SIL’s brother, Luis, was trying to make some connections for the family. Isaac had emailed Israel, his brother, about problems with his flight but Israel didn’t fully understand it. Israel was on the computer instant messaging with Luis who lives in MN and asked him to call me. Luis called and I knew nothing.
820pm: I call S&M who are still in the Ames/Des Moines area to ask them what they know about Isaac’s trip. They’re busy with friends so I leave a message.

830ish: I jump on facebook and with some help from google translate, I find out that Isaac had a flight delay and was still at the airport and planning to sleep there. Can S&M go get him? If they catch their message soon enough, maybe they can.

Searching for details about Isaac’s flight continued and included people in 3 different countries. Over the next few hours while sitting at Meg’s house with her laptop in my lap, we try to figure out what’s going on. Waiting for returned phone calls and trying to come up with a plan, I also sit and visit with friends. A few more have showed up now and we chat, look at Kara’s facebook pics of the last week of events and dig around.

1015ish: I facebook Isaac asking him where he’s at but he’s not on facebook so who knows if he’ll get the message. I’m thankful that when we repacked his bags, we had him put the laptop his aunt had him purchase for her in his carry-on. This would be his sole method of communication unless he had money to buy a pre-paid phone card to call Mexico since he doesn’t have phone #’s of anyone in the states.

1030pm: Michelle is leaving Salt Company in Ames, get my message and calls me back. She offers to go get Isaac at the airport. Michelle wishes they’d given Isaac someone’s phone number and more cash for food, etc. Meg wonders if Isaac is in Atlanta since his flight was DELAYED, not cancelled. How can we figure that out??? I tell Michelle maybe he’s not in DesMoines and hang up with her so I can gather some more info.

1106pm: Determined to find out what’s going on, I open my email and search for Isaac’s itinerary that was sent to me back in January. I’m so thankful that I asked for the itinerary and didn’t get the time of his flight back then! With that information, I open Delta’s website and plug in his flight details. It shows it being on time. Then Meg wonders if the date is right. I tell her that I chose today. Ah, today is now Friday if you’re on eastern time! Change the dates and Isaac’s flight info pops up. His flight leaving Des Moines was delayed 3 hours. It did leave and arrive in Atlanta 3 hours late which meant that having only 1 hour layover, he missed his connection to Mexico City.

1115pm: I call Michelle and let her know he should be in Atlanta. The group at Meg’s spends a few minutes trying to think of anyone they might know in Atlanta that would pick Isaac up so he doesn’t have to sleep in the airport. No luck there.

1130pm: I’m tired but adrenaline is moving and I don’t even feel tired. I’m sorry that I didn’t take better care of Isaac. I sent him off with two granola bars, no cash, no contact number, and a short prayer. Good friend that I am.

1145pm: head for home. While driving, I think to let Luis know what I’ve learned so that he can contact Israel in Peru and Israel can contact his dad in Mexico. It’s late for a phone call so I opt for a text message (yes, I actually texted). I wait until I get home to text Luis: “Isaac is stuck in Atlanta. Will fly to Mexico manana.”

Midnight: I crawl in bed and my phone rings with a reply from Luis.

Seriously, how did Isaac get this lucky? Most of us would be ticked about the delays. Some of us would use it to our advantage and let the airline fix what was going on. With the swipe of a credit/debit card, we would have had food to eat, bought a book or game to entertain us, and grabbed out our cell phone to make a phone call. That doesn’t work the same when you’re not an American national and you don’t have American money, carry a US cell phone, or have a credit card. I hope you survived Isaac and are willing to come back again sometime!

This morning I open my email to see a facebook message in my email. It was from Isaac at 1148pm last night. It read: “i have arrive now in the hotel in atlanta...its a lon long day...... i wait for lon time in des moines......but i'm ok.. tomorrow i will leavin at 9 am... thank u for all....bless u“. I’m thankful for the contact from Isaac and decide to spend a few minutes to pray for the rest of his trip! I’m tired too buddy and I didn’t have the day you had yesterday!!!

Things I learned from having an international visitor:

1. Talking about cultural differences helps both of us understand. – At meal time Isaac’s culture serves their guest in every way: plate of food, drinks, more food, more drink, taking your plates, etc. They don’t expect you to lift a finger. At my house when food was prepared we got it all ready to be served and then let Isaac serve himself. I didn’t want him to feel like he didn’t get served enough or that he was served too much and had to eat it all.
2. I pretend to know some Spanish but when it comes to talking to native Spanish speakers, I’m not so sure of myself. – I use lots of Spanish phrases at home with my kids and didn’t do so much of that with Isaac there to judge my inadequacies.
3. Language barriers suck. Especially if you know just enough to get by but not have a thorough conversation. – I found myself on more than one occasion not knowing the Spanish translation for a word. Since we were all tired, it was easier to just forget the conversation all together. I also found myself not having in depth conversations with him because of the language barrier.
4. I can make “real” Chorizo and Eggs. – The first morning I made this for breakfast, Isaac told me that he felt like he was eating in Mexico. Maybe he was just being nice but it made me feel good.
5. Sleep is important. Early mornings and late nights can really wear a person down. No energy = bad attitude for me.
6. Community living, at least during supper each night, was very cool. – I loved gathering with like minded friends for a meal, to watch our kids interact, to talk about what God is up to, to sing together, etc.

Adios Amigo

It was been a wonderful but tiring few days. We have enjoyed having Isaac here. He definitely got to see rural Northeast Iowa stuff:

• playing board games
• ice fishing on the Mississippi
• drove a John Deere tractor
• sledding
• snowboarding
• drinking hot chocolate
• spayed a dog with Ryan (the local vet)
• toured the local hospital (his mom is the chief nurse at a hospital in Mexico City)
• toured the local University where some friends work
• worked out at the ghetto gym with the guys

We all had a great time hanging out with Isaac and each other. As a group we joined together for dinner each night (those who could make it), ate too much food and stayed up late.

This morning we just saw Isaac off. It wasn't sad at all to say goodbye this time because I'm guessing we'll see him in the future. Who knows when that will be. I do know that he's doing a missions project up in the mountains where he's working with livestock and sustainability with the locals. Something that is right up Ryan and my alley as far as education and experience. We'll see.

You know you live in a small town when...

You get this notification from the school in your inbox:
 

> DATE:02/23/2010 12:00 PM
> TYPE:Informational
> REASON:No School on Monday 3/1/10 due to State BB @ 11:00am
> MSG:The school day will be made up.

---

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My Cup Overflows!

My Cup Overflows
My cup overflows. It’s a biblical reference (found in Psalm 23:5) It’s used, in my mind, as an expression of gratitude for God filling my cup. Some days my cup overflows because God continues to pour out His love, grace and wisdom into my life. Sometimes I think it overflows from the living life in constant motion – think swirling effect from stirring your hot chocolate.

Today is a little of both.

Life has been a continual motion lately. Friday I spent 10 hours cleaning my house and running a few errands. It was crazy and I’m so thankful to my mother-in-law for her wonderful help. Friday night the snowfall kept our company from joining us. My husband was sad for me that I’d spent the day cleaning, had rooms and beds prepared, and a dinner party prepared but no one came. I was bummed that our plans didn’t work but thankful for a quieter night and some time to hang out with my parents. Saturday morning we got up early to do a few dishes and hit the road. We met our company half way to exchange “the gift” as Israel referred to him. Isaac, who’s been in Iowa for over two weeks, was finally coming to Elgin! (For those who don’t know, Isaac was the guy who quickly became like a brother to many of us on our Mexico Missions trip last August). We made a quick stop at Upper Iowa University to snap a photo of Isaac with the peacock and continued home. After a totally Americanized Mexican meal of taco salad, we sat down to chat and Kara came over. We chatted for a bit before bundling up and heading out to the sledding hill. Cutting short the sledding, we rushed back to the house to change and jumped in the van to leave. It was then that I heard a voicemail from my mom regarding supper plans. Yikes, two places at once. Not possible. Since we were already in the van with friends, we decided to head to the spaghetti supper – a fundraiser for our friends going on a missions trip to Belize next month. While there Isaac got to visit many of the people that he met in Mexico City. After the kids were covered in spaghetti sauce and the adults had ingested way too many noodles, we headed back out in the lovely above-freezing cold. Made a quick stop at mom’s to see my aunt who arrived from California to visit. Stayed long enough to give her a hug, give her grief and walk back out the door. Back at the house we had 6 or more guests over to play a few games. We played Quelf, which was hilarious and super fun. After that, we played UNO, the game most easily understood by the various cultures sitting around the living room.

Sunday didn’t simmer down. It was another full day. Worship at church was rough but good. Seriously, do my kids really need to act their age? Can’t they be more mature in public places? During the service, Isaac and Shane sang “Inside Out” by Hillsong. While Shane sang in English, Isaac sang in Spanish. It was great to see a brother from another country where we’ve ministered worshipping right along side of us! Realizing I was beyond my max, I opted to take lemonade to the potluck meal that a few select persons served on Sunday. Nice. Because the meal was related to the church business meeting to follow, I sent Isaac home with Kara to hang out. While my friends enjoyed coffee and a game of ____, I moderated a business meeting where I felt like I was also acting as sergeant at arms. Okay, it wasn’t that bad but I did have to put my foot down and be firm multiple times. At one point I even had to inform a member that his blurting things out after I asked him not to was totally inappropriate, twice. Not fun having to talk to someone your elder like that! We left the meeting, grabbed the kids from my moms, said hi to my aunt again and headed home for naps. Though I needed a nap, I got approval from my hubby to leave him with the kids and go hang out at Kara’s for an hour before we had supper plans. It was a long hour, whoops, and I stopped at the house long enough to use the bathroom, remove my burning contacts, pick up Bethany and walk back out the door. At supper, we gathered with the Jensen’s at their home full of friends. It was great to hang out, chit chat, take some pictures, sing some worship songs in Spanish and English and chase kids around. As the night started winding down, I was more than ready to hit the sack!

In all of that, you might see why I had the overflowing cup based on the constant motion. But it was so much more than that. My cup has been overflowing with things that I’m reading as I journey with Paul and other committed guys through the book of Acts. It’s been overflowing as Ryan pours his love out on our family. It’s been overflowing as I’ve gotten used to eating smaller, healthier portions and feel better about myself. It’s been overflowing as I visit with people who are passionate about pursuing Christ. My cup has been overflowing as our old Mexico Missions Team and a few other like-minded friends have been gathering daily to hang out. This morning I read www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com and it was a difficult but good reminder of where I want to be in life. I don’t want to be the American she refers to in her post – the person who merely says that I’d be willing to do it in a heartbeat. I want to be the person who acts on it. As I came to work, I kept that mental picture of the overflowing cup. How can I work with purpose? How can I pour into someone else’s life? Can I do that while at work?

God, I don’t know where we’ll be 10 years from now. My prayer today is that we’ll be serving faithful, giving EVERYTHING, and growing to be more like you. As the God who created everything, Who cares about the intimate and mundane details of my life (yes God, another gray hair… Happy 30th to me) God my hearts desire is to serve others. God would I be a tool for You in the small things so that You can trust me. Similar to Paul, I don’t want the damnation of others on my conscious because I wanted to live comfortably! And in so doing, would you open doors of opportunities to be used by you and SLAM shut doors that would be of selfish desire on my part.

Just one Picture

Because I've been using Kara's camera or letting her take the pics, this is the one good pic I have to share from our last few days:

note to self

Wish List: writing it down because when the time comes to give someone a gift idea, I can never come up with a list.

"There is no me without you" by Melissa fay greene

"The hospital by the river" by Catherine hamlin

Quelf board game - this is hilarious!

A.W. Tozer said- " God is looking for people through whom he can do the impossible, what a pity we plan to do the things we can only do by ourselves."

God, would we be people who let you work and do the impossible through our faithful lives!

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Guest Post

I will be guest posting over at Jenni's blog today about plantable greeting cards. It's a super fun post and after I wrote it, I really wanted to post it to my own blog. I can't wait to try it out. Go on over and check out my post and Jenni's blog.

Happy linking,
tamara b

Sweetheart Supper

The Sweetheart Supper went off wonderfully this year. I thought it would be fun to give you a run down of the the activity involved:

Saturday while Michelle and I grocery shopped, Kara began baking desserts and Jessica watched Kara's son and my kids. Saturday night Diane and JB joined me at the church to wash the stem ware and the china while Ryan was at home marinating pork loins and making raspberry vinaigrette.

Sunday after church we dropped our kids off at my parents for a movie and popcorn party and began the rush to get things done. Tracy and Ali peeled 15 pounds of potatoes before I got back to the church. We then were joined by Diane, JB and Jessica for set up. Between the six of us, we got the tables set up, covered, and set for each guest. M&M's were an added touch which seemed to be a great snack for those of us settting up.

Meanwhile Ryan peeled the rest of the potatoes and moved outside to cook potatoes and pork loin. By this point I'd made multiple trips to the store: grab lunch, back to get batteries for the grill starter and something else. Kristen showed up and some time in there they began candying the pecans for the salad and did LOTS of stirring. It all kind of blurs together but I think JB and I were setting up the lighting while Michelle was doing dishes. The church was out of dish soap and I made trip #3 to the store while Jessica ran home to get her slicer. Ryan came in with the finished potatoes and I heard him say he didn't think he had enough. Seriously, it was 20 pounds of potatoes. Apparently cooking them in the turkey fryer (it was clean people) got nice and warm and they disintegrated into the water. His potatoes looked like potato soup and were reduced to about 5 pounds of potatoes. To the store again and this time I drove. More potatoes were peeled, Ryan was grilling, Michelle was doing dishes and we were right on track.

I went to the bathroom to change out of my grubby clothes but had forgotten a camisole to go underneath. Great. Asking Ryan if the shirt was too low cut, all of us ladies got a realistic lesson in how guys think. Kendra ran home and got me a camisole and I headed back to the bathroom to get ready. Back in the kitchen Spenser and Kendra were there to get the salad ready. It looked super yummy and I realized much later when I sat down to eat that I forgot to have them put the crumbled goat cheese on! Oops.

Shortly after that, our drivers (Kendra, Pastor Lee and Spenser) headed out to get a few of the ladies. I headed outside to greet the ladies as they arrived at the church.

We had 25 women join us for supper. They were thrilled to be there. Down the steps they were again greeted by some friends who took their coats. As they removed their coats, in front of them was a table full of roses donated in secret - one for each lady that came.

They sat at the tables and began chatting away with their neighbors, friends, and those who were there to serve them. I welcome the ladies and prayed before we served them. Salad was served first. Organic greens from the local food co-op topped with crumbled bacon, purple onion, candied pecans (they will stick to wax paper if you bake them - we found out), and home-made raspberry vinaigrette.

While they were enjoying the wonderful flavors of the salad, we were preparing the main dish. While some cleared the salad plates, others refilled drinks and served the main dish. We enjoyed Pork Loin grilled by Ryan, green beans prepared with bacon, garlic and spices by my folks, and mashed potatoes prepared by Ryan.

While ladies were enjoying their food, and servers were clearing plates and chatting, Shane and John were providing background music. Considering my lack of communication with Shane, this was perfect. Shane and John were amazing as they played guitar, mandolin and even the harmonica. It was lovely.

After supper dishes were cleared, the guys took a break to eat and the ladies each had a chance to share their favorite thing of the year. This sounds really corny to me and I wish I could come up with something better. But honestly, I think they love sharing so it works out well.

By time we were done with sharing, dessert began coming out of the kitchen. Kara is wonderful at baking. She prepared two kinds of truffles, "X", "O", and heart sugar cookies that were amazing. Nothing simple from Kara. By time dessert was served, I think us volunteers had the extra desserts polished off!

After dessert, we did some more visiting before the ladies picked their rose and got ready to go home.

It was a lovely evening. I'm so incredibly thankful that I could serve in such a small way in my community. I'm blessed beyond measure for my friends who helped out. Many hands make light work! For those who helped out financially, those who shopped, watched kids, set up, cooked, baked, served, photographed, cleaned-up and whatever else people did. I can't wait for next year!!!

Tidbits from the Weekend

In bullet point fashion cause I'm busy like that:
- Bethany got a Vday card from Ryan's parents. She loved it! As soon as she woke up Saturday, she sat up and reached for her card!
- Prayer meeting at church and I trusted my kids in the nursery by themselves. Bethany needed some water in her the sink of the play kitchen and improvised. I walked in to find her juicy juice ALL OVER the place. Fun mess to clean up.
- Fun parent moment: during the offerring at church Scott did NOT want to give his money to God like he normally does. He informed us loud and clear that he wanted to keep his dollar to buy himself a toy. Nice.
- Cooking 20# of potatoes that mostly disentegrated and ended up with about 4 pounds of potatoes and another trip to the grocery store.
- Not quite a full 360 on the snow covered driveway just before the pond. Ended up being about a 270 circle with the pond on one side and a steep drop off on the other. Boy am I glad for snow banks stopping us!
- Good time with friends for two days but no housework done
- Oreo truffles... yummy!
- Sweetheart Supper with 25 ladies and ~15 friends to help. Awesome! More on this later when I get pics to post with it.
- More snow and a slow drive home!

My husband sent this to me...

and said it brightened his day yesterday.

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Heartache for Haiti

Last night our bible study watched a video that broke my heart. I'd watched a 7 minute overview of it the other night to decide if we wanted to use that during our offeratory at church on Sunday when we take a special offerring for Haiti.

The longer version of the video is just over an hour and is tough to watch but good to know. I want real life stuff like this to affect me, to change the way I live. I've personally found that watching shows like CSI, NCIS, etc hardens my heart to the realities of things going on in our world. Seeing people dead on the street on a video is too normal to me. Though this idea is weighing heavy on my heart, its not the point of my post.

As I watched the video 32 hours: the church in haiti done by Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill Church, I was amazed at what I saw. The earthquake was devastating. But the hardest part for me to swallow is that it will only get worse. A few thoughts that stuck with me last night are:

1. There is no police, no system of protection.
2. What do you do with 4-story structures that need to be completely demolished. Where does the rubble go?
3. People can't sleep on the street forever.
4. People are shooting people over a gallon of clean water.
5. People are digging out dead bodies with their bare hands (covered by bags because they don't have gloves). The wallets, shoes, belts (and other useful items) are removed and re-used because people don't have that stuff.
6. I have multiples of each of the items mentioned above.
7. Where do people sleep when the rainy season comes NEXT month?
8. Do the people know how to feed themselves? Grow a garden? What kind of quality soil do they have in the country side?

I prayed last night that this would be on my heart enough that it would change me. That I would act differently, do something. Right now that something is prayer and finances. Oh Lord, would I be diligent to pray for and speak in behalf of YOUR children. Like Mark Driscoll said on the video, they too are image bearers of Christ... laying dead in the street. How can that be okay?

Take a coffee break and watch this video:

Snow Fun but no pictures

I got home a bit early with the kids last night. Since it was light outside, I decided that playing in the snow was more important than getting something ready for supper.
We made snow angels, played on the swing set, cleaned the snow off the fort, tromped through the snow, and sledded down the hill... all in about 30 minutes. Ryan came home in time to take one long ride down the hill on the sled with Scott. Then we headed back to the house... Bethany running down the driveway and loving every moment of stepping in the snow and Scott getting a ride back in the sled.
We got back to the house about 30 minutes before we needed to leave for bible study. No supper, no babysitter but we had fun. Fortunately Ryan thought about supper and brought pizza home and our neighbors were willing to keep the kids (which my kids LOVE).
Nice. I love when things fall into place like that!

Big News

Big News posted here.

Wanting Fun

Looking forward to playing: gotta love winter weather!

getting healthy = enjoy fresh snow

Passport

Dear Passport, please come out of hiding. Ryan is concerned for you since you were not in your proper place. If I have left you somewhere, I'm sorry. I hope you find your way back to the lock box soon. I will look in my adoption paperwork and red bag tonight to make sure you're not in there. Sleep tight dear passport, I will find you. I need you.

tamara b

Health and Weather

Ryan took Scott to the doctor. He has scarletina/strep throat. And the doctor said that since I've also had a sore throat and the same thing as Scott (though I've never actually checked my temperature), I probably have it too. He sent Ryan out the door with a prescription for Scott and for me. Nice!

Big snow storm supposed to hit here. My all day meeting for tomorrow is cancelled. I brought work home with me cause I'm so behind at the office. Maybe we will get snowed in tonight. Who knows. I could really use to sleep in tomorrow so I will be taking a benadryl tonight which will help me sleep and help with the itch :)

Sick of being Sick

Lots going on with our families healthy lately.

Warning: I'm about to be pretty transparent below. Don't read if you don't want to know!

I spent some time with my favorite lady doctor on Thursday because of a lump in my breast. This is news is not new at all. However, the last month the lump has been tender. If I happen to get bumped playing with the kids, it hurts! Dr. Ryan thought I should have an ultrasound done to make sure what was going on. Friday the hospital called to give me an appointment for Monday.

Moving forward with the weekend, on Friday night Scott developed a fever of 102+. With advil, we could drop his fever but after 2 hours it started to creep back up. Saturday I noticed a heat rash. The kid is warm bodied so a temp easily means a heat rash for him. Then I watch him like a hawk to make sure he doesn't have another random seizure. Sunday was the same. The rash wasn't going away. I would bathe him in cool water, put some hydrocortisone on the worst spots, and lotion him up. Still no improvement. I stayed home with Scott during church and then when Ryan came home, I headed to the church for a meeting.

Now I was out and about and fighting a cold myself, taking care of a sick kiddo and preparing for a Superbowl party. Do I cancel the party? Nah, Scott would be happy to hang out in our bedroom away from guests if I would turn on a movie. I got home from church a short bit before guests arrived. Fortunately the house was kinda sorta picked up.

Scott was sick. I was run down but we were having fun with friends. I gave Scott motrin at 6pm and it finally kicked his fever. I checked him when I put him to bed, no fever. I checked him twice during the night, no fever. Whew. We're finally done!

Not so much. This morning Scott's heat rash was still there. Ryan and I agreed that we should at least get it checked out. But wait, I also have an appointment with the time yet to be determined. I took a quick shower while the kids ate and got ready to head out the door. The phone rang at least 10 different times. Finally I quit answering it and managed to get out the door to drop Bethany off at my mom's and head West.

I had my appointment which ended up being nothing! Praise the Lord. A lump for one month that was sore EVERY single day and this morning it was gone. Thank you Lord. After the appointment, I met Ryan and Scott for a quick bite at Subway. Scott looks horrible and Ryan will be taking him into the doctor shortly. What's your guess as to what's going on?

I'm glad we're sick this week. Next week is the Sweetheart Supper. And the week after that is when Isaac comes up here to stay? Lord, would you give us good health and sustain us in the coming weeks!

My little mini-me

I laughed out loud this morning when my sweet daughter was playing along side me in the bathroom and I heard her say "mommy, you're driving me crazy!" I wonder where she's heard that before???

Celebrate

I don't have the energy to write what's on my heart. To keep it simple, yesterday I celebrated a birthday of a little boy who's not yet in my home. And today along with my dear friends Bonnie and Tony, we remember the devastating loss of my friend Scott (their little boy) 14 years ago.

The emotions are many today.

Today I will fill my day with friends for at least two hours as we help some good friends of ours raise support for their upcoming mission trip to Belize.

iTouch Apps

I'm considering getting an iTouch. I've been checking them out each time I stop at walmart and its tempting. I love using my ipod for podcasts, kids music, etc. But its an old one and doesn't have a lot of space. Thus the thought of a new one, with wifi capability, continually grabs at my interest.

Because I'm out of touch with apple products, I'm trying to determine if an iTouch is really for me. I like the idea of more space so I can hold more music and more podcasts. I like the idea of wifi. What I'm unsure of is how the apps work. And what apps might be good for me.

So here's my questions for you:

1. What can you tell me about the different apps? How do they work? How much space do they take, or better said, how many can you have on your iTouch?
2. What apps do you think I would be interested in having?
3. Is there only the one place to get apps - the apple apps store?

February

February is turning out to be a busy month. Doctor appointments, haircuts, fingerprinting appointments, dentist appoinment, two sets of company coming, my annual sweetheart supper, a few other fun things to help some friends raise money for their missions trip, ya know, the basics.

Whew, will I be glad when February blows by, the weather turns warmer, and I manage to forget that I'm turning 30 this year. Does this mean I officially join the "adult" club?

Why I'm exhausted today...

Our days don't always go as planned.

Plans were for the kids to stay the night with Ryan's folks. We were going to do a little shopping, get home, sleep in in the morning and then help some friends move. Didn't exactly happen like that.

We had an awesome meal with Ryan's folks. Everyone loved it, even Bethany. (Bethany has become difficult in eating lately and wants mommy to feed her and doesn't like to eat a full meal). Shortly after the meal, Bethany began projectile puking liquid all over my inlaws leather furniture. I took her downstairs and bathed her. Bethany acted just fine which was great news. I assumed the food shoveling was the culprit of the puking. While Bethany sat in Grandma's lap, she continued to have this tiny cough, just like she did prior to the first puking episode. Not wanting Eunice to worry about Bethany all night or deal with a puking kid, I asked Bethany if she wanted to go home. She jumped right up for her snow pants. Scott all of a sudden had to go home too. Great! I just drove 40 miles one way to drop off two kids that were going home with us. Brilliant! We started getting Scott ready to go, while Bethany read with Grandma. Trying to protect the wool rug just in case, we covered Bethany with her Duckie blanket. Round 2 of puking began! What fun. This time the solids came up. Fortunately not enough time had elapsed for the food to break down and the sour stink to form. This time it was all over Bethany and me. Nice! At that point, we were thinking we were all staying the night. No toothbrush, no jammies, no sleeping in!

If it was just that simple, it would be okay.

The next two hours or more were NOT fun. Bethany got her clothes stripped off again and she was excited to wear her brothers Hulk Hogan shirt. At first. She screamed and screamed. She was SO tired, she wouldn't give up. She wanted her Duckie blanket. She wanted her Duckie blanket!!! Even though she knew it was in the washer because she puked all over, she wanted her Duckie blanket. It was not getting any better. I wanted her to STOP crying. I could handle the crying. I just didn't want her to puke on me again. I was already down to my camisole and thermals with no clothes to change into. Thankfully the room was dark and there was no clock. I have no idea when she FINALLY calmed down. All I know is when I woke up this morning, I was still TIRED. Bethany on the other hand was wide awake... and asking for her Duckie blanket which I could not find. My sweet mother in law had brought it downstairs when it came out of the dryer but I couldn't find it in the dark.

Gotta love parenting!!!

You know you live in Iowa when...

According to Jeff Foxworthy, you know you live in Iowa when...

• your local Dairy Queen is closed from Sept through May.  Not true in our neighboring towns because they also act as restaraunt, not just an ice-cream place.
• If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don't even work there. 
• If you've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong
  number
• If you measure distance in squares of farm land.  Not the case up where we live.  It's rolling hills, trees and an abundance of random fence lines and tiny fields - I would know since I deal with their farm maps daily.
• If you know several people who have hit a cow or deer numerous times
• If you can drive 70 mph through 2 feet of snow during a
  raging blizzard without flinching.  Seriously.
• If you install security lights on your house and garage, but
  leave both unlocked
• If you design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a ,snowsuit
• If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow - definitely true on our driveway!!!
• If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter and road construction.  Sometimes it seems like this is true but we really do have beautiful seasons here and would complain regardless.
• If you find 10 degrees 'a little chilly'.  Definitely true right now.  It was -9 when I drove to work this morning.
  

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Isaac

Praying and Eating Children

When I arrived at my parents last night to get the kids, they were all downstairs. As I made my way down there, I had the usual greeting from Scott: repeatedly screaming mommy and running towards me while Bethany simply acknowledged me. But last night the excitement was just as quickly gone and they returned to their playing.

Scott and Bethany were using their little imaginations to the full extent. They were playing house and having a blast. I was partly involved with them but mostly just chatting with my folks. They two kids were going non-stop.

At one point Bethany and Scott were talking about being married. After having watched them greet each other yesterday morning with a kiss on the lips, I wondered if they did that because that's what Ryan and I do.

I continued my conversation with my mom.

Next thing I heard was Bethany talking about having babies in her belly. Shortly after that they must have been born and she was laying them on the stairs. Scott excused himself for a potty break and when he came back she stirnly scolded him to make sure he didn't step on their babies as he came down the stairs.

I continued my conversation with my mom.

I look over and Bethany, the new mom, has a plate in her hand with ice-cubes (from the toy kitchen set) which were her babies and she was talking to Scott about eating the babies. I informed her that she can't eat her babies and Scott, the protective and apparently hungry, father stepped right in and said that this was their pretending and they could eat their babies.

"Oh dear" I thought and sorta continued my conversation with my mom while watching out for hannibals.

Next thing I know Bethany brings me a plate - hopefully not the one she ate her babies from - and a fork. I asked her to help me pray for my food... and before I could finish my sentence she was gone with my plate to the kitchen because she forgot to frost the cake. When she came back, I initiated my request again. Short and sweet, Bethany prayed "God, thank you for God. Amen" while Scott bullied through the prayer to insert his leadership and said "we are not a praying family". "Oh really?" I asked. I thought we were a praying family and thanked Bethany for her prayer. Scott continued, this is our pretend family and Bethany and I are married and we can do what we want. We are NOT a praying family. "Well then" I thought as I chuckled at their continued creativity and role playing.

Amidst the laughter mom said "well I can imagine why they're not a praying family... they eat their kids. What family that eats their kids would be a praying family?"

Point well taken mom! Oh Lord, how I love the minds of children and their creativity that You have given them. May I always encourage their creativity while also teaching them to live a life pleasing to You, to be a family rooted in prayer and NOT to eat their children! Amen.

You get what you get, not what you want!

I can't remember if I've posted about this before or not. So, here's a recent story of my son's famous line. But first a little background.



One day during Sunday School the kids were picking out their mats to sit on. Ms. Amy told the kids "You get what you get, not what you want". For the next few weeks, we heard this phrase often! Eventually I told Amy about what my son learned at Sunday School. She laughed and clarified that she said "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit". Scott was close and his new catch phrase was quite entertaining.

Fast forward to yesterday. He was sitting with mom and Ralph in the living room. They were chatting about something related to satellite or cable - something like that. Ralph commented about what he wanted and Scott turned to him and said "Papa, you get what you get, not what you want". My mom said they were laughing so hard that they didn't have the heart to tell Scott is wasn't the place to correct him!

Thank you Ms. Amy for your dedication in teaching the SS class - even if he grasps more than the lesson and then twists it a bit!

Long Day

If I were getting adequate rest, I might not be fighting a cold. My fault, I know. Today was one thing after another and each thing had its own little special moment.

• Nice, quiet drive to church. I kept having this feeling of fasting from sunrise to sunset. I do not do food fasts. I try and I get sick. But I felt at peace about trying from sunrise to sunset. We'll see where that leads.
• It pays to be on time for church and makes the morning go easier.
• I had such a full worship experience before our pastor ever said a word.
• Struggled a little with a meeting I was in but my heart is elsewhere right now. I'm so thankful that God is working in the details of my life and priorities!
• Had a nice chat with a dear friend after the meeting. We're two peas in a pod sometimes and I'm so thankful for her! God is putting some similar things on our hearts right now and it's good to chat with a like-hearted individual.
• Tried skype-ing our friend from Mexico, Isaac. Got really nervous about what to say should he answer. My already bad spanish is RUSTY. Dissapointed to not talk to him but thankful for voicemail.
• Rockstar husband picked up the laundry that I had scattered everywhere while I was out and about. Love him!
• Got home at 5pm, friends arrived at 530 to watch the Vikings game. We get to hang out with friends and Ryan gets to watch football for once (okay, maybe the 5th time this season).
• Wild kids are a blessing. J and I loved watched our two little girls play with each other. They're both used to playing with their brothers. They played house and played doctor. So cute that I watched rather than interupting the moment by running for my camera.
• Who knew guys beating on other guys could be so entertaining. Anyone up for a butterfinger?
• Celebrated joyfully when Michelle texted me to say that Jock and Lisa were finally getting their kiddos. Thank you DHS for finally getting them their kids so M and I no longer have to stalk her FB page!
• The kiddos are nestled in bed together. Scott has a cold and should have been in bed early. Oops. I'm headed there too with my ipod in hand so I can listen to some more family life podcasts. I hope that Ryan gets back from the clinic soon so I can fall asleep.

Suh-weet

The guy on the left is flying in on Monday.
edited: as of Sunday, he will not be flying in tommorrow. As I understand it, he might come a week later. We're praying for tickets to be purchased and details to be finalized!

You don't understand how excited some of us are to see him.






Oh how I wish he was bringing these people with him!

For those who need a little refresher course, the above mentioned guy is Isaac. He played a huge role in our mission trip to Mexico this summer. We grew to love Isaac and his entire family. The second picture is taken with some of the youth from the Mexico City church that helped us in Huixquilucan. Two of the students I miss the most are in the above picture.

I'm super excited about Isaac coming to Iowa for a couple of reasons:

• I'm looking forward to connecting with Isaac and getting together with our Mexico Team.
• I'm excited to introduce him to my family because he became like a brother to me while in Mexico.
• And of super importance, I'm excited for Isaac to come to spend time with his brother who lives just 2 hours from us.

Oh Lord, would it be your will that Isaac can arrive safely. God would you be glorified as Isaac rubs shoulders with people here in Iowa.

Much better, thank you!

Back in November, I shared with you about my experience at Finnelys' Irish Pub. I was less than thrilled with the place. I'm picky, we all know that. I'm also very frugal, especially as we save for our adoption, and expect to get my money's worth. Last night Ryan wanted to go out to dinner before a movie. I thought the $10 at the theater was enough of a treat and didn't want to spend the extra money to eat out. We would have gone out to try Finnelys' except when Ryan brought home meat from the locker, there wasn't enough room in the freezer so the pizzas had to come out.

Today I had lunch planned with my sweet no-longer-Texas friend, Jen. I'm so glad she's back in town. We agreed to have lunch at Finnelys'. I wasn't super excited about going there but know that everybody needs a second chance, and sometimes if you're like I was as a kid, you need a third and fourth chance.

Anyway, I was a little more impressed with Finnelys' today. Of course, I was paying specific attention to the details so that I could give a follow-up report today. I was tempted to introduce myself but wasn't sure if the guy at the counter was Tim, who'd commented on my last blog post. I ordered something different today because to be honest, I couldn't remember what I ordered last time. It ended up being another plain sandwich which was not their fault. They dress up this specific sandwich with coleslaw. I asked them to leave it off. My bread was toasted this time. The meat was flavorful and the cheese existed (I could tell when I pulled my sandwich apart) but I couldn't really taste it. With no slaw or anything to moisten the toasted bread, I dipped it in my ranch/BBQ mixture and was fine. The waitress was more attentive than last time which was nice but Jen still had to ask twice to have her drink re-filled. We enjoyed a nice lunch together although our feet froze in there and we both had our coats over our legs which helped.

As we stood at the counter to pay, I handed Tim my debit card. He swiped and then said "you're Tamara". I replied with "yes, you found my blog". He asked how my experience was and I said it was 100 times better. I might have embellished that number a bit but the service had definitely improved and I was thankful. As I jotted down a tip and signed my name to the receipt, I thought about my second experience of eating there.

Once again I wasn't satisfied. Ten bucks for a meal (including tip) and I better really enjoy it (and the service). That's no knock against Tim or his restaraunt. I just prefer home-cooked meals that cater to my likes (no coleslaw for me thank you), cost less money and allow me to be a better steward of the finances God has blessed us with. A few things I really appreciate about Tim and his restaraunt:

1. He cares enough about it to find out what people are saying/writing about it.
2. He keeps a place running in our small town rural america which is no easy task.
3. And the thing I like best was his honesty and good nature today.

Today when we walked out, somehow my wallet snuck out of my purse and onto the sidewalk. From the story I've gathered, Tim opened the wallet to see who it belonged to. Knowing my friend I ate with, he looked up her number to try to find me. Since Jen just moved back from Texas, he then called Sara, a friend of Jen's. Sara relayed the message to Jen and Jen relayed it to me - gotta love small town america. There was no urgency in picking up my wallet and no doubt in my mind that all the junk receipts and pesos (I don't carry cash) would be in there. I walked right in and our server handed me my wallet, complete with all my junk.

Tim, if you stumble on this post, please know that I appreciate you and your staff for getting that back to me! And also know that I probably won't be back any time soon but that's no fault of your own but rather my decision to put that $10 bucks towards bringing home our sweet little boy from Ethiopia and eat cereal or leftovers at my office.

I like your ipod

I like his ipod more than mine. Is that envy?!?!? Maybe a little but mostly just fascinated with how far apple has come with their product in a few short years. My ipod nano is several years old. It was a gift from Ryan just over two years ago. It holds about 2 gig and isn't flashy at all. Nowadays, the nano has much more to offer. While checking out Jim's new nano, I found out that it can play FM radio and has a video camera. That's impressive. Check out the nano at the apple store to get a better idea of the other bells and whistles it has. They come in 8 and 16 gig which means that they hold lots of songs and video.

That got me wondering, if the nano has improved that much, how much has the video ipod improved? Ryan has a very early model of the video ipod. From the looks of my searching at the apple store, it is now called the ipod classic and doesn't look like it has the cool video camera or FM radio player. Maybe apple is using the webpage to brag about the 160gig of space rather than the camera and radio. Who knows. According to the price set for both, I think I'd go for the nano and have the radio and camera and just stick with my tv to watch movies on! Thanks apple for such a fun little tool.

Blind Side & Bethany

Ryan and I had some alone time tonight (thank you mom for keeping the kids). It was a great movie but sad that Michael's story is all too common in the US. It was interesting that I didn't know the story line at all and we were at the movie with some friends that also have a heart for the orphans. Oh how my heart aches for people who don't have a mommy and daddy to love them, read to them, nurture and celebrate with them. Oh how I wish Holt would give us siblings in addition to the little guy we're waiting for.

While we enjoyed a night out (where we at frozen pizza at my office cause I was working late), my mom and Ralph kept the kiddos. They care for our kids all day while I work and so it's like a second home to my kids. Bethany has been really clingy lately. Maybe its the cold, maybe its her age. Well apparently, she had a bit of a fun but sad moment tonight while Mom was making supper. Bethany was walking around the house repeating something that mom wasn't quite sure she understood. She had Bethany repeat again what she'd been walking around saying: my mommy doesn't care about me! When Grammy asked her why she thought that Bethany said "my mommy doesn't care about me cause she's not coming to get me". Oh child! Mom clarified that I do care about her and she could stay one night with Grammy.

Oh child, how will you cling to me tomorrow morning when I stop by to snuggle you for a bit before I go to work??? I love you Bethany and I do care about you. I care about you enough to focus a little of my attention on your daddy too!