Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday! Here is just a small glimpse into the past 4 days of my life, in no particular order mind you...
I am sure I have forgotten a few things. These are just the ones I happen to have time to post about. I hope your life is as blessed and full as mine :) Never a dull moment that is for sure!
Well of course let's start with the good....CJ HAS A JOB!! Yes, he was offered one of the positions that is available at the Norcross branch of Averitt. The commute will stink, but the job is good!! (See I told you to never underestimate the power of a praying woman ;)
Ok, the bad is that I received a 15% paycut the same day we originally found out about CJ's office closing. Oh well, times are tough, but I still have a job and a paycheck and a good job at that :)
Quick updates for everyone:
13 years ago today I was walking down the aisle with my sweetie! Yes, today is our anniversary of 13 years of marriage. I can't imagine my life without having CJ in it. He makes me happy and even puts up with me on a daily basis! As they say he completes me! (I know pretty cheesy, but true ;)
I tried to find some old pics on my computer from loonnggg ago when we 
first got married. But this one from 2001 was the oldest one I could find. I really thought the ones on top were a better way to describe our marriage...Just Hang on for the Ride of Your Life! What a wild ride it has been and I wouldn't trade it for the world. Happy Anniversary Sweetie!!
I don't know about all of you, but certain songs remind me of certain times in my life. Since this blog is for my kids, I wanted to post this to remind me and them of their "special song" that I had the whole time I waited for them in China. Shelby's was East to West, appropriate for sure. Everytime I heard this song during my wait, I was moved to tears. I just always felt that God placed this song in my life at that time to just get me "through the wait." It is still special to me and brings a smile to face every time I hear it. This was Shelby's song:
I finally got a chance to attend one of these "Gold Parties" you hear everyone talking about. My sister co-hosted one the other night and it was fabulous. It is kind of like a Tupperware party in reverse. You don't spend money at this party, you GET money!
The deal is that you dig through your own jewelry boxes and find all of that broken and old gold jewelry that you have been collecting throughout the years. You know all that Herringbone stuff we all bought in the 80's. You put it in a ziplock bag and you bring it to the party to sell.
Now here is the crazy thing, they pay you a ridiculous amount of money for your old broken jewelry. I made $240 from my small amount, and CJ made $140 from his-that's $380 folks!! $380 for stuff that was just sitting around in the bottom of a box isn't too shabby if you ask me.
What makes this even better is that you get to do this at a party mingling with friends. Each person takes their own little "private time" with the jeweler that is offering you the cash for your jewelry. You don't have to sell your stuff if you don't want to or don't like the offer. No big deal, but it is certainly interesting to see how much money you can get for selling back your old gold.
Oh and to top it off, at the end of the party the jeweler will make a nice size additional contribution to the charity of your choice-sweet! So yes, I will be hosting my own party soon. Stay tuned for your invitation :)
That's right, my daddy is 70 years old today! Happy Birthday to the best dad ever :) My dad has taught me a LOT throughout my lifetime. Everything from how to change my oil, change a tire, change a light bulb, to how to work hard at everything I do, not to be lazy, and definitely how to be frugal! Some of my dad's most frequent lessons are really helping right now in our current situation:
going, soft spoken, keep your mouth shut kind of guy. And on several occasions, I have been "accused" of being just like my father. Well thank you very much, I will have to personally take that as a compliment ;)
Faith has finally started to eat more variety in her diet-yeah! This is a big deal for us since she had really only been bottle fed the first 16 months of her life. She just started eating fruit this week and she likes bananas and grapes. She is so stinkin cute!
easy, and I think it is probably harder for men than women (being the bread winner and all that protector man stuff). I have no doubts that CJ will find another job in good time. Fortunately for us, we don't live beyond our means and I work outside the home. We will be just fine as long as we keep remembering who is ultimately in control!
boy's class while Shelby is doing a half ballet/half gymnastics class. The best part is that they all do this at the SAME TIME :) Only one hour of my week is dedicated to getting 3 of my children their organized sport fix-YEAH! Yes, I still have to attend the occassional Saturday meet, but that is only once in a while and not every Saturday. So all the kids get really excited now when Thursdays roll around. As they say when mom is happy, everyone else is happy too! or something like that ;)Last night was great! I attended my first Triad meeting and my friend Chris was able to go with me. She has adopted 3 kids through the foster care system. One might ask what this meeting is. Here is the definition on their website:
Adoption Triad: A term used to describe the three-sided relationship that exists
in an adoption between birth parents, adoptive parents and the adoptee,
each of which is interrelated and inter-dependent on the others.- http://glossary.adoption.com/
So as you can see there were people from all sides of the adoption world at the meeting. There were birth moms and even a birth dad, adoptees, and a few of us adoptive moms in attendance. It was a great meeting and I hope to be able to attend every first Tuesday of the month. I expect to learn alot from the various walks of life that attend.
I think it is great that everyone there is able to relate to others in their same situation. Fortunately for them, they are all able to at least "search" for their birth parents here in the US in one form or another. They may not all like what they find, but they are able to search.
Unfortunately my girls will not have that ability to search for their birth parents. I hope to learn more and more to be able to help them understand how to live their life to the fullest without them being able to "complete the triangle" by finding their birth parents. I also can't wait for my mom to join us at the meeting so she can start to heal some of the pain she has held onto her whole life surrounding the birth of my brother so many years ago. Thanks goes to Denise for reaching out to me and letting me know about this wonderful group!
I am looking forward to finally being able to attend a Triad meeting with Denise tonight. This is an adult meeting that includes birth moms and adult adoptees. I am looking forward to meeting new friends and learning more and more about how to be a better birth-sister and a better mom to my girls (and boys)!
Knowledge is power, and everyone knows how much I like to have the power ;)
Are you in the mood for a tear-jerker? Grab a box of kleenexes and tune in to Extreme Makeover: Home Edition Sunday night at 8:00 pm EST. Ty and the gang will travel to Tallahassee, Florida to fulfill the dying wish of a father by providing a happy and safe home for his wife and 6 special needs children adopted from China. This episode will run for 2 hours. Here is a quick post about the family when they were chosen.
