Adoption Update

I’ve not blogged in a while. I’m relatively new at all of this and still trying to find time to gather my thoughts. I love being able to log on to see what is going on in the lives of those I ‘read.’ Battles with toilets, pregnancy tests, and taxes as well as looking for lost items and breaking free from old chains are ways I’ve shared life with some of you this afternoon.

My husband and I have been gathering, and gathering and gathering and gathering (get the picture) paper work since last spring to get our adoption started. It’s a longer, more tedious process than I thought it would be. Who’d a thought that a physical exam would expire in 6 months?

Well, we’re almost there! This Thursday, we will hopefully fulfill the last requirement so we can get signatures from the federal government and a sticker from China.

I’ve been having literal dreams about my ‘little girl to be’ and she is precious. Sad to say that my dreams tell me that my house will be a mess and I won’t be able to find my cell phone to call my mom with the, ‘What do I do when this happens,’ questions that WILL be asked.

It’s a little depressing to think about the waiting period for a call that says, ‘you’ve been matched.’ I just cling to the hope that God is in control and that she will be in my arms when He says it’s time – no sooner – no later.

I've been tagged...

Nashbabe, the friend of the empress of creativity, has tagged me. I feel a little obligated to follow through, but it also seems like fun. I'm a sucker for these 'get to know you' lists. There are three basic tasks to perform.

• Tag others.
• Write 7 unusual facts about yourself on your blog.
• Link back to the person who tagged you and comment on their blog to let them know you're playing.

Here are my 7 unusual facts. I'm not that unusual, so give me a break if it sounds like I’m reaching. I am reaching!

1. My husband and I were involved in a Christian music band for about 5 years. I know this isn't too unusual for folks in Nashville, but where I'm from it's pretty unique.


2. I've been to Ghana, Africa. The country is beautiful and so are the people. The traffic is terrifying!!!


3. My husband and I have made the choice to adopt a child. A baby girl from China! Some find this incredibly unusual.


4. I’ve ridden a mechanical bull. REALLY! I was thrown off pretty quick, but it was a lot of fun. I’d do it again.


5. I love Sci-Fi and Action movies. I put this because men usually gripe at the fact that women won't watch these types of movies. The fact that I love these movies makes my husband very happy. Now if I could get him to love Jane Austen movies. Hmmm...


6. I HATE two of the most loved 'songs-o-sap' on the radio. These songs are 'Butterfly Kisses' and 'Christmas Shoes.' There is something about these songs that make me want to BLECH. People find this surprising about me because most of the time I’m a complete and total sap.


7. My husband and I bonded over the fact that we both loved Monty Python’s Holy Grail.

Okay…your turn!

Scary things...

I remember how my 3-8 year old mind interpreted the night. The shadows would seem to form into very convincing shapes of strange people or monsters. For years I was positive that I wouldn’t make it through the night with my closet door open and I just knew for a fact that when the darkness crept in, the trees in my yard turned into living creatures with evil intentions.

I have a saying. ‘Sometimes scary things are scary because they are scary.’ Emphasis on the sometimes there. There are things that are just plain scary but some things are scary because I’m not looking at them from the right angle. If I had faced the shadows, closet, and trees, I would’ve discovered empty corners, my hung clothes and the same trees that I had been climbing in the daylight. Nothing scary; just the light hitting them at a different angle.

I have experienced other fears in my life that have left me feeling foolish or left me with the sense that because I let fear keep me from acting, I missed out on an opportunity. Fears of rejection, failure, embarrassment, conflict, etc. have kept me from who knows what. Sad thing is, these fears that I can’t physically touch, constantly need their foolishness proved over and over again. Why is it scary? In order to have them proved as foolish, I have to introduce an element that is not in my control. People. What do I need to learn? When my little experiment to conquer my fears explodes in my face, its okay…I’ll be alright.

I know there are things that I’m going to have to face that are truly scary. When those instances come, I hope that I have trained myself to look at the face of God for comfort and not let my mind be overcome with the fact that I’m scared that I’m facing something scary. I’m not alone at any time. I might need to be reminded of that.

By the way: The back yard is still pretty creepy at night! It just is!!

My new toy...

Okay folks. The child in me has officially taken over. What happened? I received a most excellent gift for my birthday –a video game called Dance, Dance Revolution. My cousin introduced me to the game months ago and I fell in love with it. Having this game in my home is turning me and my husband into wanna-be dancing machines. At this moment, we are playing with the hope of making it off the basic level which is pretty funny to watch. Imagine Rain Man trying to get his groove on and you’re getting close to a real visual.

Surprisingly, this game seems to be revealing a strong personality trait of mine. Apparently, I have issues with waiting. This game does NOT let you work ahead. You have to WAIT for the arrow to be in just the right spot before you can play it. I find myself working ahead, for lack of a better phrase, resulting in ‘boos’ and ‘failed’ messages on the screen. I might say this game will be an ongoing lesson in patience. Lessons can be learned from anything, right?

I have to admit, when these ‘get up and move’ games came out, I was very skeptical of them. (i.e. Wii, DDR, etc.) The key thought behind the skepticism was my disbelief that our culture would get off their bums to move around. Now I’m a believer - at least in DDR.

Something fun for the holidays...

Here's some good holiday fun. I received an email from my dad taken from a post by Rafe Needleman called 'Gather 'round the Web 2.0: Seven tips for Wholesome Family Fun.'. All of the tips involve using the computer. Since I spend the majority of my days on a computer, most of the tips don't interest to me. However, there is one that I thought enough of to share:

Cooking
Take a quick inventory of the pantry, go to Epicurious or CNET's own Chow.com (or just Google), and type in the ingredients you have on hand. Pick a recipe that shows up and cook the meal together.

I hope everyone has a fun-filled Christmas and New Year. I'm hoping to relax with my family in Missouri, hold my baby niece and play games with my family...board games, not computer games. There needs to be something in my life that doesn't require electricity!

Black Friday

I braved Kohl's for Black Friday. I wasn’t going to, but I did. The stores have a way of luring you in with deals you just can't pass up. In this case, they had exactly what I needed for $20 less than usual. I did NOT get up at 4am with the other lunatics. My sister-in-law and I showed up about 8:30 and found that the line curved around the entire store. That was a little discouraging, but not discouraging enough to send us home in defeat. We had made a sort-of 'pact' that we wouldn't get crazy and it would be a laid back morning, so we smiled and got to it.

As she held a spot in line for us, I went for the items I came for. I found them without much hassle seeing as half the people in the store were in line doing the same thing we were doing. I came back to line and my shopping partner went out. Now, she has three kids, so she took a little longer and came back with some really neat things.

Guess what...the people we were in line with were really nice. I found a fellow Arkansas Razorback fan (that's a rare thing in Tennessee) and a talkative guy from the East coast. I felt bad for him. It was his second trip to the store and the lady behind him was convinced he had cut in line. She actually confronted him about it. That was the only awkward moment of the day. Turns out, he didn't cut in line, and she ended up feeling a bit silly.

The other unexpected thing I found about being in this line was that it wasn't as boring as I thought it would be. As you circled the store, you also passed by all the things they were trying to sell. I'm sure that was a convenience to them. All of us were dashing in and out of line as we saw something that sparked our interest.

After hearing other horror stories of how people were trampled as stores opened, fights over the last toy or video game and other examples of the downfall of our society, I have to say we had a pleasant experience. It's hard for me to become obsessed over an item having seen some of the living conditions in a refugee camp and impoverished areas of Mexico and Venezuela. Some of them look at our culture and feel sorry for us. Why? As a nation, we are obsessed with ourselves and we're dying because of it. I don't mean to end on a downer, but to open eyes to the fact that we don't need anything as badly as we think we do. We'll survive without a new game system or a new wardrobe (that one hits me close to home).

Here’s a holiday challenge; do something to better the world this holiday season. There are so many opportunities. There’s the Nashville Rescue Mission (or your local shelter), Angel Tree programs from the Salvation Army, and lots of other charities that I can’t think of at the moment. Now, it’s not a command or anything, just a suggestion. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Thanksgiving!

Driving down Briley Parkway this afternoon, there was a gorgeous rainbow. It was faint at first, but as I got closer, it was popping off of the grey-blue sky. I love rainbows! I have a vague memory of my dad showing me a rainbow off our back porch when we lived in Jasper, MO. Some of my memories are later found out to be dreams (I have very vivid dreams), but I’m pretty sure this was real. We lived on a farm and the rainbow was going over the barnyard that was lined with a white criss-cross fence. I loved that farm!

There are so many things to be thankful for. I sometimes focus on the negative and forget there is so much positive. The negative would be that I’m going to miss my parents, sister, brothers and their families this holiday. I hate being away from them for any holiday. I wish I could be in 2 or 3 places at the same time, but alas, I cannot.

Now here’s the positive. We are so blessed to have Andy’s brother, and his amazing wife and kids in the next town. We get to hang out with them and still celebrate with family. On top of that, we have amazing friends that live just a few miles from our house that I’m pretty sure we’ll run into.

I’m thankful for so much more – like my amazing husband, my other friends that are amazing, having a long weekend etc. – but there is food to make! If I sit here any longer, Andy will end up having to fix all the food…hey…that’s not a bad idea. HA!