Random Goodness

Ok, I've got some more awesome things to share with you guys. In case you are new to this blog, from time to time I like to share some of my personal favorites. I do not get anything free for writing these reviews, quite honestly...I think most of them never even know I have eaten there, shopped there, etc.

My friend Kelly, mama to Nathan (Mary Elizabeth's future husband), is an awesome crafter and made the most adorable dress for M.E. for her birthday. She has now decided to start sewing again and is selling her items on etsy. The best part? All the money she raises from her sewing will go towards their second adoption. I'm hoping they adopt a girl so Joshua can also have an arranged marriage and heck, we could save some money and have a double wedding. A girl can dream right? Click on her name above for a link to her blog where she is also giving away an adorable dress to help bring more traffic and awareness to her site. I'm hoping I win!

Do you love cupcakes? Honestly, I'm normally not a big fan of cake period but when I heard my friends Rebecca and Elizabeth were making up some yummy cupcakes and selling them at Papaboo's in Greenbrier, well...I had to try one. Sunday we got the chance and I've been talking about that cupcake all week (lemon raspberry). It was AMAZING! These suckers are so good and so cheap ($1.50 a cupcake) that you will begin to feel your car drive itself to PapaBoo's and buy cupcakes. We are having some friends over for dinner tomorrow night, so I found myself back in Greenbrier today to get cupcakes for dessert tomorrow night. I can't wait to see all these adult faces light up when they see these masterpieces! Check out Liz and Rebecca's site HERE for a daily flavor menu and go buy you some cupcakes. Hey, you might even want some pizza while your there!

If you are in Gallatin, TN and are looking for a new place to dine, you MUST check out Granberry's on the square. This quaint little deli features hot and cold sandwiches, soups, chips, and awesome drinks (most in the old time glass bottles). Angie V. and I checked it out and both gave it a huge THUMBS UP! My favorite was their white bean soup, it was TO DIE FOR! The atmosphere is awesome, staff is super nice and laid back, and overall service was great. I love a good locally owned restaurant and I promise you will not regret a trip to Granberry's! I can't wait to go back.

Last but not least, if you find yourself in a pickle and need to sell your home OR if you know of someone who has an estate to auction, you MUST call Ray Carman at Gene Carman Realty. Although I was sick as a dog on Saturday, I wanted to spend the day with my hubby and he was already committed to working with Ray at his auction in Gallatin. I LOVE working auctions (even when I feel like crap) and it was nice to sit back and watch Ray and his family not only sell a farm and all the personal property, but I got to watch them witness to not only the family, but to every person there. Ray and his family sprinkled in so many examples of Christ's love throughout the day and I was honestly proud to be representing his team. He is thorough and works his butt off...he spent over 6 weeks alone at this farm preparing for the auction. You are going to pay commission when you buy or sell a home and I feel like Ray earns every penny.

Consignment Woes

I probably shouldn't put this out there. I've dealt with horrible migraines all week on top of some yucky sinus stuff, so I'm sure that is helping with the fact that this email I received today honestly just makes me want to rock in a corner and cry. I am putting this out there because my hope is that anyone reading this will think long and hard before you are ugly to someone who runs a business. I know I have had times where I want to rip someone a new one, but it feels differently when you are on the opposite end.

Today I received an email from someone accusing me of being dishonest, a thief, and many other things. She was upset about something that happened at the consignment sale and honestly, I was just floored at how she came at me like a bull in a china shop. She and I have been emailing back and forth over the course of this week and I could tell she was getting more and more frustrated with me because I wasn't giving her the answer she wanted. I won't go into more specifics for privacy sake, but I will say that I work my rump off to make sure that 100% of my consignors are happy and I will do anything I can (within reason) to make sure that people are satisfied with the customer service they receive and their overall perception of Encores North. The last thing I expected to be accused of was being dishonest and a thief. Do I make mistakes? Yes. Absolutely. You Betcha. BUT I am more than willing to admit our mistakes and make them right. I guess that's why this email came as such a shock especially when in this instance, we didn't make a mistake.

So, I'll leave it at that. I learned some valuable lessons today:

1. THINK and PRAY about what I type before I type it and certainly before I send it.
2. Put myself in the other person's shoes before I send something that could be read as ugly.
3. Consider that I might have made a mistake before automatically assuming that it is another person's fault.
4. Treat others the way I want to be treated. I hope I never make someone feel the way I felt while reading that email today. From now on, I hope to remember that moment when I am ready to rip someone else a new one.
5. Don't read email while I have a migraine.

Sarah

When we first started the process of adopting, we knew we would be open to race and some medical issues. For us, it was a non issue and although we knew it would make our family a little "different", well, let's face it....we've always been a tad on the weird side.

In true Brea fashion, I began devouring anything I could get my hands on to read about transracial adoption. I searched the internet and joined sites about adopting transracially, african american culture and traditions, etc. That's when I met Sarah. Come to find out, she lives here in Nashville and adopted a beautiful little girl Bella. She was so great to me, answering any and all questions I had about Bethany Christian Services and what it was like to be a transracial family in Nashville. Her smile is contagious and her willingness to be an open book to our family made me feel more confident about the journey we were embarking on.

After we adopted Mary Elizabeth, Bethany has a huge fundraiser each year called the new friends dinner. I was so excited to see Sarah and tell her our news and sure enough, as I walked into the hotel lobby she was the first person I saw. She was so excited for us and it was so neat to tell my "adoption mentor" our exciting news.

The reason I am typing this all out is because Sarah has breast cancer that has now spread into stage 4 cancer in her lungs. She is scared and yet her attitude through her sickness has been amazing. You can't help but listen to her and hear God speak through her. One of her latest updates on facebook said "I'm not scared of dying. I'm scared of how much of Bella's life I may miss....." She finds out this Friday, September 19 if the cancer has spread to other parts of her body including her brain and I am asking all of you that read this to lift her family up. Her husband's name is Dave and I can't imagine how hard all of this is on him as well.

So, if you don't mind, join me in praying for this beautiful family. Our God is a God that can move mountains and if he wants to heal Sarah, he can do it. Her webite is HERE and I'm sure she would love some positive encouragement there as well (you can leave messages on this board)

A Weekend Getaway

Tomorrow will be a very emotional day for me. Tomorrow morning, my mom and dad are taking Joshua and I to the airport where we will board a plane for Houston. We are going to visit his birthmom and this will be the first time she has seen him since he was 4 days old.

As I type, he is WIDE awake at 10pm at night. It's like he knows he has a big day ahead tomorrow. I would by lying if I didn't admit that I am a nervous wreck. I remember she and I sitting in the hospital guessing how big he would be at this visit. We both decided he would be 13 lbs. We were both wrong. He's about 16 lbs with a head full of hair and a personality to boot! He goes from completely happy to completely insane when he gets hungry. He laughs out loud, is trying so hard to roll his big booty over, and loves his toes.

I wonder what his mom will think when she sees him. Will she regret her decision to place Joshua with us? Will she feel like she made the right decision? I personally can't wait to see her beautiful face.

Jonathan flies down tomorrow night and we will drive to Dallas where we will meet up with our friends for a leadership conference for RLC. I'm excited to see our friends Russ, Angel, Sam and Wendy and to meet all the other faces that make up the inner workings of RLC. We are there until Monday while the troops watch the rest of our children here at our home. I am so thankful to our family and our babysitters who are helping us make this trip possible.

I'm sure I'll do an update from Houston with details of our visit, but in the mean time, say a prayer for Joshua and I tomorrow during our travels and our visit. I'm sure it will be an emotional day for all!

Why Me?

The consignment sale is officially over, checks have been mailed and Jonathan is doing the final walk through with the leasing company as I type. I'm exhausted. I'm drained. I'm over emotional. I'm thankful to be home with my kids, even though they are already trying my patience :)

I've struggled the last 5 years through the 10, yes 10, consignment sales we have had. We started in March of 2005 simply because God wouldn't leave me alone about starting a consignment sale on the North side of Nashville that offered a clean, heated/cooled environment where the workers were friendly and honest. I wondered if it would be a complete waste of time and a waste of our money as, trust me, starting a consignment sale is not cheap.

Our first sale was held in an empty Family Dollar store in Greenbrier, TN. I am very familiar with this area as this is where I was raised, but most of TN is not that familiar with the location of this first sale. I'd have to pull my paperwork, but I think we had about 45 consignors, less than 10 workers, and lots of sleepless nights. We didn't make a dime, but we did pay ourselves back and I don't think we lost much. There were many times during that first sale where I would ask God, "why me? why did you want ME to do this?" You see, I had a 5 year old and 2 year old twins. I didn't have time to do this, we certainly didn't have the money, and when it's comes to patience, well I'm definitely not the poster child.

It went well enough that we decided to try our hand at the sale again, but this time we moved to a new area, Rivergate, and leased a space next to Chuck E. Cheese. Boy did we grow. The walk in traffic was amazing and we found ourselves selling out of items instantly. Again, we didn't make anything, but we were able to break even and we had a lot of people say how thankful they were to have something like this on our side of town. Most importantly, we were able to donate money and items. We found out about a family who had lost everything and were able to tell them to come shop for free (with us paying for it). We donated all the items at the end of the sale to local charities with an emphasis on charities in dire need of items. We wanted places that would give needy families items, not charge them outrageous amounts for items that we had just given them. We felt God telling us to direct our giving to crisis pregnancy centers, local good samaritan centers and schools. For the first time, I began to see this small seed growing into something bigger and blessing people far beyond what my two hands could reach. In happiness and awe, I asked God "why me?"

I have continued to ask that question to God multiple times over the last four years. Times when consignors were upset with me because we made mistakes and I would cry out "WHY ME?" Times when consignors were upset with me for no fault of our own and again I would say "WHY ME?" Times when a family that Encores North helped came back to us and said "your donation changed our life" and with tears of joy I asked God "why me?"

It was this sale that I got some answers in a way I didn't expect.

I can tell you that this sale was by far the most challenging sale we have had to date. Not only did we grow by over 100 consignors, but our traffic from those shopping the sale was insane. We were never slow, many times I was so exhausted I physically ached and at one point a few days in, I was convinced that if you cut me, I would physically bleed money. You see, my mission for the sale had not changed, but finding a way to accomplish that mission had. I tried to maintain composure as I had various issues pop up along the way. On top of that, I missed my children more than ever, especially knowing my oldest was starting middle school and my youngest daughter would turn 2 during the sale and my sweet baby, Joshua, was only 3 months old and didn't realize why mommy was gone during the sale. All of these together left me again asking God, "why me?" I just want to be at home with my kids, I just want a normal life where I get to sleep a few hours a night, I just want my household back to normal.

And this is what he showed me.

God knew there would be a need for this sale long before I answered the call. He knew that a small little sale that started in a small little town would one day meet the needs of those that were homeless, out of a job, orphans in Ethiopia, and the family nearby who just wanted to save a few bucks on their kid's stroller. He knew that the Brea who started the sale with little money, patience and time would be molded into the Brea who still has little money (hey, we have five kids), lots of learned patience, and that I would learn this reality: Our world is lost. People need God. They need hope, they need fellowship and they need love. I hope our sale provides some of that for those people. I hope people who visit Encores North will find a sea of smiling faces and realize that something is a little different about our crew. Not because our space is clean and big. Not because we have a ton of consignors, but because we truly want to fill a void.

Yes, our sale has issues. We are not perfect and I feel like every sale is another chance for us to get constructive criticism and fix things for the next sale. I am always learning and Lord knows I make enough mistakes to write a book. BUT my mission and my heart remain the same.

So, that's my answer. That's why me. Yes, there are days (like yesterday) that I wished I had never even answered that call, but I also know that is Satan attacking the fire out of me. I am so glad to be back home in my "normal" life and a huge thanks to all the workers, consignors, and shoppers that made our 10th sale our best yet!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Two years ago today, we had been officially home study approved and waiting for 10 days. I was already growing impatient and wondering what in the world God had planned for our family.

4 hours away at midnight, Mary Elizabeth's mom was rushed into the hospital with placenta previa and in full labor. She was only 26 weeks pregnant and within 5 minutes, sweet Mary Elizabeth was born. She weighed only 1 lb. 4 oz. but was able to breath on her own until they got her to a hospital with a NICU. Amazing huh?



Fast forward two months later, to the day I got THE call. "Brea, there's a little girl in a NICU that needs a home" I heard my social worker say. As she listed the mountain of special needs this baby girl would have, I already knew she was our daughter even though I wasn't sure we could handle a child that would bring so many health issues to our family. I'll never forget calling Jonathan and telling him about her, knowing he wouldn't be open to it, but praying God would change his heart. Most importantly, I prayed that God would allow me to be submissive and not be mad at my husband when he said no. Sure enough, God did change his heart and on October 13 we brought our sweet Mary Elizabeth home. She weighed 4 lbs. 10 oz at 2 1/2 months old.

As I sit here today, I can't help but testify to the miracle that has been performed in her little body. Mary Elizabeth had a very severe brain bleed as a baby (very common in micro-preemies). The bleed caused fluid to build up in her brain and they had to do surgery to put in a shunt to drain the fluid. She will have that shunt the rest of her life. Because of the area where the bleed occurred, doctors assured us that M.E. would have have cerebral palsy. She also had a scar in her eye and doctors told us she was blind in that eye. She was at risk for infections and was exposed to many horrible things the first two months of her life in that NICU. Today I am proud to say that if M.E. has CP, it is a VERY MILD case only on her left side. She walks, talks, runs, jumps, dances and loves on her siblings. She is NOT blind in her eye...the scar moved as she grew and although she will probably need glasses at some point, she sees 20/20 right now. We've had one scare with a bug bite about a year ago, but other than that our baby girl is as healthy as a horse. Doctors are amazed that a baby born so early is so perfect in every way.

Her personality is contagious. She loves to tell everyone HI! that she comes into contact with. Her favorite activity is eating and although she is petite (22 lbs., 31 inches) she eats my other children under the table. She gets so excited at meal times that she claps her hands and yells "THANK YOU!" as you bring the food towards her in her high chair. She has the most amazing eyes, eyelashes and smile. Her best friend is her thumb and her blankee. When you ask her how old she is, she proudly says TWO but when I hold up two fingers, she believes that a sign that I want a high five and slaps my hand while saying "OH YEAH!"

If you can't tell, I love this little girl to pieces. She has changed me. She allowed me to let go and truly trust in God. I've watched Mary Elizabeth break down racial barriers, jump through physical hoops, and melt people's hearts. I am a better person because I am her mother.

Happy Birthday Mare Bear!

Clothes for me!!

With all the fuss over the kids' clothing, sometimes I forget about myself. I have found that with 5 children, it is very difficult to shop and spend quality time really putting together outfits. That's why I am so excited about this!

Save the Date!

CAbi Fall '09 Fashion Presentation

Join us at the Encores and More North Consignment Sale site to view the collection of nationally recognized fashion designer, Carol Anderson. You will love the 82 great casual and dress options offered this Fall! We have 7 jeans, 3 belts, 3 scarfs and even a beanie for those of you who love accessories!

Tuesday, August 11th, 6:30pm

Bring a friend and come let Tracy (the consultant) show you how to create the perfect wardrobe for you!! Visit HERE to view the full Fall line before the Trunk Show.

Let me know if you plan to come and again, remember to take some time out to shop for yourself during this crazy back to school season!