Doesn't get much better....

than fishing with your daddy at Center Hill Lake at dusk. He caught croppy, I didn't catch crap. It was still awesome tonight!

Who Am I?

I was relaxing in a hot bath this morning with bubbles, candles burning and a nice glass of freshly squeezed juice......who am I kidding? Actually, I was taking my three minutes of peace bath this morning and it hit me full force that God created ME. We all know that, we're taught that from an early age, but do we ever stop to thank him for our body, our mind, our soul, our heart? I am bad about constantly complaining about my weight, my hair, my cankles (not a calf, not an ankle...it's a cankle), my boobs, my headaches, my funky spot on my nose, my stomach, etc. when in fact, GOD MADE ME!!!!!!!! Although I have sinned about a million times since he created me, he loves me the way I am and I am forgiven. So why shouldn't I love myself the way I am?

James 1: 18 "In his goodness he chose to make us his own children by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his choice possession."

James was writing this to the Jewish Christians that were spread out among the different nations. If you get a chance today, read James 1: 1-18....it really spoke to me today. My goal today is to try not to be so hard on myself.

This should tell you about my day so far....

A few things to consider before going to a walk in facility or the ER:

1* if you need a dentist, please go to the dentist. Do not go to the walk in doctor's office and/or ER wanting pain meds for your teeth. Chances are you won't get it. Go to a dentist.

2*if you can't afford your pain medicine, I can't help you. I've given you all my samples and more than likely you are the person that calls me 40 times a day complaining about the fact that you don't have the money to get your scripts filled and you drive us nuts anyway....so save the breath, save the phone call....this is not the bank. I can't help you.

3*if you have any type of venereal disease and it's confirm that after testing your blood for it, PLEASE save yourself the trouble and don't act like you don't know where you got it. If you do know where you got it, we don't need to know. We just need you to know you have it and we really hope that for the sake of the population at large that you will treat it.

4*if you have dental pain, please read line 1.

5*if you want us to fill out 32 forms for you to take a leave of abscence for your "back pain", please consider being nice when you ask us to do this for you. We are a walk in facility, not your primary care doctor. We would love for you to go to a primary care doctor since we are an walk in clinic and usually "back pain" is not that urgent.

6*if you show up at 8:15am and can see the BIG sign on the door that says we open at 8:30am, please don't act upset that I opened the door at 8:30am. It's not my fault that you were early. I was on time.

7*if you have dental pain, I have a great dentist in the Rivergate area that I would be happy to refer you to. I am sorry you don't have dental insurance, but guess what, today that is not my problem.

8*if you don't want to wait to see the doctor, I am really sorry, but that is a decision you are making, not me. Trust me when I say I am working my tail off to get you back to the see the doctor as soon as possible, but when I have a person on line one yelling at me about her worker comp papers, line two wants to know why they should have to pay their bill, and you are in my face about the fact that you have waited in your chair for four minutes, you really aren't helping to speed things up. I have been going to doctors for almost 30 years and trust me when I say, if you can find a doctor where you don't wait, I want his/her phone number.

I am working hard on not judging today....I am definitely being tempted.

Adoption Talk

One of the things I have learned in our adoption process so far is how to use the correct terms for adoption. I was used to saying "she gave her baby up for adoption" when I should be saying "she formed an adoption plan for her child." Sounds silly, but it really is important that adoption be viewed in a positive light because it is. What do you think of when you think of a birthmom? I was guilty of thinking that most birthmoms were 13 year olds that got knocked up. The reality is that the average birthmom that chose an adoption plan for her child last year at Bethany Christian Services was 24! If you think about our culture today and how easy it is to just take the morning after pill (trust me, it is easy to do and most health departments don't think much about it anymore b/c it is so common) or go have an abortion, we should truly be putting these women in the spotlight. Yes, they have had pre-marital sex....but they are choosing LIFE for their child. How many people do you know that have had an abortion because they didn't want the baby, didn't want their family to know they were pregnant, etc? I personally know three people and although the decision they made was years ago, it greatly affects them just as much today. Birthmothers are just that...they are no less of a mother because they were selfless enough to give their child a better life. They still get swollen ankles, back pain, indigestion, crave weird foods, wear maternity clothes....the only difference is that they don't go home with a baby. They go home with swollen boobs, post-delivery belly, daily reminders of the fact that they don't have a baby at home with them. Think of how many times you see a pregnant woman and ask them when they are due? what they are having? picked out names yet? Birthmothers deal with the same questions and trying to decide how much info to share. They deal with questions from ignorant, nosy people like "why would you just give your baby up?" or "why didn't you just have an abortion?" Think of what they deal with day in and day out.

I guess I just feel that whether or not God gives us another child, we have already learned so much. My eyes have been opened to another world that many of us don't think about b/c we aren't faced with it. I hope that I have helped open your eyes too....our adoption experience is not just ours, it is yours as well....it will affect everyone we know. My prayer today is to try not to judge...it is still very difficult for me especially in my work environment, but I try to remind myself that it is not our place to judge and that helps.

YARD SALE RESULTS

I have had a ton of emails wanting to know about the yard sale so I thought I would post it here. We had so many wonderful families donate to the cause and I wanted to take a minute to say a special thanks to the Russell family, Andrews family, Horton family, Carman family, Jonathan's parents, my parents, all the awesome craigslist people who donated stuff to help raise funds. My dear mom, Angie, Jonathan and I started about 6am on Saturday morning and finally packed up around 2pm Saturday afternoon. Final count? $850!!! We are very excited and immediately stuck the money in our adoption savings account.

On top of that, we received an email from our agency this morning stating that they had "several" african american babies due in the next few weeks and not enough families, so we are really trying to speed things up! The director even told me today that they would start showing our profile as soon as all reference letters are received which is a huge blessing! They usually won't show a profile until all interviews and training is completed so we are really excited. I am going to start working on our "PROFILE" tomorrow night and have gotten lots of great ideas from Bethany's web forums. I can't wait to put together the book that the birthmom will read. Isn't that exciting!

Isn't it amazing that God created another child for us? Aren't we blessed that he loves Jonathan, Anna, Isaac, Luke and I so much that he wants to give us another child! Even though I am really getting excited, the peace that is within me is amazing. You would think I would be completely stressed out with everything that is going on but instead I feel like I am just as cool as a cucumber.

I have mentioned the following verse a few times before when it comes to our adoption journey. I continue to come back to this verse over and over again. I hope it will give you all peace today!

John 14:27

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Best Birthday Present Ever....PART 2

Yeah, I know...I promised this several days ago, but give me a break people. I am adopting a kid, moving in three weeks and it's a holiday weekend. Glad to know you are reading though and truly, I am just kidding, my lazy butt should have posted sooner!

Ok, so best birthday present ever....part dos. My dear, wonderful hubby is an amazing man...great dad, great laundry doer (yes, he does the laundry-another post on another day), awesome Christian leader, etc. One of the things he lacks is a good gift giver. Now, I don't mean to sound harsh...but if a TLC crew stopped him on the street one day and said, "name one thing you suck at?" he would immediately answer "giving my wife gifts." I am not kidding.

One mother's day he gave me a book on how to be a better wife and mother. He didn't do this on purpose. He was running late and just grabbed a book. Note to self, check the theme of the book before wrapping. At any rate, with the big 30 rapidly approaching as well as our 10th anniversary (yes, I have put up with sucky gifts for 10+ years but hey, I still love ya baby), he wanted to really prove that a great gift could be done. So let's set the stage.

Three or four years ago, we went on a cruise with my mom and dad, their best friends Patti and Ronnie and our friends, Walt and Lisa. After getting one of the worst sunburns of my life on day one, we headed indoors on day two. Now, this is a little embarressing, but hey, I shoot for the 100% honesty so here goes. We went to an art auction. Not because we liked art (heck, we knew NOTHING about it) but because there was free champagne. Sad but true.

So we go to the art auction, sunburned and thirsty with Walt and Lisa and the art director on board was amazing. I learned so much in the next two hours and believe it or not, I only took one sip of the SUCKY champagne. I learned about Picasso, Monet, abstract, but most importantly, I fell in love with an artist named Carrie Graber. Her work was amazing (she mainly paints women, CLOTHED women) but what struct me so much was her shading and the fact that she was my age. Her talent is AMAZING and you can't help but just sit and stare at her work (at least I couldn't) I was dying to buy a print, but the PRINTS were $1400 so alas, I loved her work from afar.

When we got home, I immediatly bought a book about her work and dropped hints about how much I would love to have a Graber. We tried to find galleries here in Nashville that showcased her work (there are none) and I watched ebay trying to find some sucker needing money and selling a piece cheaper than normal (didn't happen)

A year later, we went on the same cruise again with the promise that if they had the work I loved, we would buy it. We found out it was sold out. I was super sad but happy to have saved $1400 for the PRINT.

Fast forward to the gift. My husband (ON HIS OWN) contacted the gallery that represents Carrie and had her commission an original oil on canvas of my favorite piece. Since it was sold out, she couldn't replicate it, but I actually like my version better. It is called Finishing Touches and the biggest difference in the one on my wall and the one in the link is that mine has a lamp and a hanger on the bed. It arrived a few months ago with a note from Carrie to me. The best part is that she threw in a PRINT of one of her new works....which is hanging in my dining room.

Now, you might not love Graber's work like I do, but I think anyone can appreciate the amount of time and effort my hubby put into the best gift I ever got. I love you Jonathan and thank you!

The Best Birthday Present Ever....

The big 30 for me is June 23rd and we found out last night we are closing on our new house June 22nd and moving the 23rd!!! So I get my sister in the neighborhood on my 30th birthday. How awesome is that? Oh, and Jonathan, you really did give me the best birthday present ever. I will put the "story" on here later today so you get all the credit and all the ladies swooning over you!