KEDS Are Back!

I just felt the need to express my excitement that Keds are coming back! I loved these shoes when I was a kid. I had probably 10 colors, or so it seems, and I loved em! I bought a pair today for $8 at Target (ok, so they're wannabe Keds, but still), and I am ecstatic! It doesn't take much to please me.

When Sickness Strikes

Sickness has taken up residence at our house. I don't really remember the last time I felt THIS sick. Thursday I was fine. Friday I woke up with a little scratchy throat and by noon Friday I felt like death, and it hasn't gotten any better. I came home Friday night after dinner at my mom's that I couldn't taste, took some Nyquil and a bath and went to bed. But, alas, the Nyquil had no effect. It normally knocks me out, but I tossed and turned ALL NIGHT Friday night. I slept maybe 1 hour. maybe. Which stinks because I had to get up at 6am this morning to pick up one of my best friends for the Encores and More Consignment Sale! (I realize I should've skipped it, but these sales only come a few times a year, and I was super stoked because this was my first time!)

I did pretty good at the sale. I got several small items for a super good price. I love buying baby things. It makes me feel like there's something to look forward to. All in all it was a fun day, even though I felt icky.

I've been on the couch the rest of the day, and am about to take some more Nyquil (in hopes that it works this time) and get to bed.

I'm super bummed because I really wanted to do something fun with the hubby this weekend since we're both off on monday (President's Day), but it looks like I'll be stuck on the couch for the next few days. Boo! :(

Happy Valentine's Day!

Brandon and I never do much for Valentine's Day. As Brandon says, "why do we need a specific day to tell each other we love each other when we can do it every day?" Maybe that's his male way of saying "I hate Valentine's Day," and making it sound sweet. But hey, it works. We usually will either go out to eat or just cook a nice dinner at home. This year we opted for a $5 pizza and a movie, and it was perfect! :) Neither of us have been feeling good (I think it's from being pent up in the stinkin house so much this winter!), so we were perfectly happy relaxing on the couch. We never do Valentine's Day gifts, but I did take the time to make him something. I'll post on that later when I can post a pic.

Tonight, I'm headed to church to teach my precious kiddos! I always look forward to Wednesdays. I love hanging out with them, and I adore seeing them learn about Jesus. There's just nothing sweeter in the world!

A Much Needed Update!

I think this might be the longest I've gone without blogging! Honestly, I just haven't had much to blog about lately. But I'm going to try to do better!

Truth is, I've kinda gone into a depression lately. I'm not usually the depressed type so I'm not really sure how to handle it. We've been struggling financially for the last 3 months (mainly thanks to NES for their 2 months of $300 electric bills), so we've literally been stuck in the house doing nothing but watching TV and playing board games. Then there's this ridiculous weather, which keeps us locked up even more. Then there's this heartbreaking wait for a baby.

I'm struggling with a few things as far as the wait goes. One thing is how certain family members really don't seem to support our adoption. It seems like they could care less. They never ask about it or mention it, and if we mention ANYTHING related to it, they change the subject. The other day, Brandon was telling someone that we were trying to pick out our crib and that we were getting ready to start on the nursery. The response he got was, "Oh, that's nice. "

I know I shouldn't let it get to me, but it does. My mom and dad support us completely, and I think that's because they struggled with infertility for 18 years, so they know exactly what we are going through. No one else understands.

Which brings me to my next struggle. I feel like absolutely NO ONE understands how I feel or what this is like. I've got some great friends who are really supportive, and they try, but this is one of those things you can't possibly understand unless you have been there. And it's a very, very lonely feeling. Most of the time, I feel like there is no one I can talk to about this. There's no one who understands WHY we want to buy baby things or paint the nursery. And it gets old trying to explain it over and over again.

So, I guess I'm just having a little pity party. Which isn't like me. So, I'm clinging to God as hard as I know how right now, depending on Him to get me through it. I'm headed to church this morning (I haven't been on a Sunday in FOREVER because Brandon always has to work and I hate going alone), hoping for an encouraging word. Prayers are appreciated!

A Wee Bit Busy

So, I’ve totally fallen off the blogging bandwagon lately. But in my defense, life has been NUTS! I need to do some serious blog updating, and I’ll try to do that this weekend.

Life has been crazy busy lately, and I’m actually loving it. It passes the time. Most of you know I started a new job in November, and it is a thousand times busier than my previous one, and I LOVE that. And, the first of the year brought some changes with it. For starters, we’re doing the whole lifestyle change…for real this time. You can check out my other blog for details.

I also had a goal for the year of making Bible reading part of my daily schedule (I am so incredibly terrible about this). I’ve been going through the “One Year Bible Devotional,” and I love it. I’ve only missed 2 days so far, so not too shabby. I spend my lunch hour doing my devotional. I’ll blog more about that later.

I started reading Breaking Dawn again a few weeks ago since I never did finish it the first time, but it’s taking me a LOT longer this time.

School has started, and I have to say, I have NO idea how people can work full time, raise kids, AND go to school full time. I take 1 class at a time, and it’s killing me! It takes up so much of my time! Maybe I’m just bad at time management….

We’ve also been working on some very minor home updates. So, between home updates, school, a new job, fitting in exercise and daily Bible reading, and everything else…well, you can imagine. There just aren’t enough hours in the day!

As far as the adoption goes, no, we haven’t heard anything. I did email our social worker last week because I had a question for her, and, quite frankly, I was just having a hard time. We literally haven’t hear one single word from our agency since we were approved. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. I find that very frustrating. It’s as if they’ve forgotten us. And when we contact them, all we get is, “hang in there…it will happen.” I told her I was finding myself constantly wondering if anyone had seen our profile yet, and all she said was, “we show the profiles as often as we can.” Irritating.

I suppose this entry is plenty long enough for now J Have a good day!

3 Months...

It has been 3 months since we were officially approved for our adoption. Well, it's only been 2 months since we knew we were approved, which seems strange that it took them an entire month to let us know that we were approved. That's a tad irritating. But, alas, we were approved on September 14th. Although 2010 has flown by, the past 3 months have seemed like an entire year on their own. I didn't expect waiting to be this hard. If the past 3 months have gone by this slowly, what will the next 2-3 years be like? I dread finding out. Christmas was agonizing, and I am praying we don't have to go through that yet again next year.

2010 has been a crazy year. A good one for the most part, but a good one. With the exception of 2 car accidents and some crazy emotions, I don't have much to complain about. It's crazy to think that a year ago, we had no clue that we would be adopting.

I talked a little bit in my previous blog about some plans for 2011. This is going to be a long year, I believe, but I am bound and determined to make it a good one. I am just about ready to start painting the baby's room. I'm pretty sure I've got the paint colors/style picked out. I'm also starting the "Read the Bible in one year" thing. I have a One Year Bible devotional that makes it pretty simple. I'm excited about that. I want to take this crazy, exciting, scary, sad, and stressful journey and use it to draw closer to God. I've never had to cling to Christ more than I do now. He is the only one with the strength to carry me through this.

So, here's to a new year, and a new start! Let's hope we end 2011 with a bright-eyed blessing in our arms!

Goodbye, Christmas!

We ended up having a pretty good Christmas, but boy was I glad to see it end. I've just really felt like Scruge this year. I think it's a culmination of no baby, no money, and family stress. Completely out of character for me, I had all our decorations torn down by 8am the day after Christmas. But, overall, we have so much to be grateful for.

We spent Christmas eve evening with Brandon's parents and sister, Brandi, and her husband, Josh. We really enjoyed our time with them. Brandon got a new drill and I got a gift certificate to the salon to have my hair cut and colored, and boy am I excited about that!

We spent all of Christmas Day at my parents' house. where I lost 2 games of "Sorry" to Brandon and my mom. My sis, Kristy, and her husband, Darrin, were there, and Darrin's parents and brother came over for dinner. I loved spending the whole day with my family. I still really miss living at home from time to time.

I am really excited about the upcoming year. I am planning several changes for myself. I typically don't make New Years Resolutions because we all know no one ever keeps them, and I guess I'm not really thinking of it as a New Years Resolution, but I am bound and determined to get this weight off once and for all! I'm trying to encourage Brandon to join me. I'll be blogging my journey on my other blog, A Couple Of Losers. Follow if you wish. It's less about weight loss and more about making healthy changes, in hopes that my weight will follow. I don't want to be so focused on numbers that I get discouraged too easily.

I'm also really excited about 2011 because I have some fun projects planned, including working on the baby's nursery! It's torturing me! I can't wait to get in there and make it look like a baby's room! :-)

What are your goals for 2011?