Just wanted to share this picture

More pictures from our Thanksgiving

My sweet friend Valerie got the pictures from when I was in Georgia for Thanksgiving. I think that sometimes you need to have some great pictures taken of you and the one that you love. Sometimes it is easy to forget how cute your love can look!

Merry Christmas friends!

Baby Ticker

I decided to put up a baby ticker so we could keep track as to what the development of the baby is. Also so I can see where the birthmom is in her process. I can't believe that she is almost into her 3rd trimester! That makes it seem like the baby will be here in no time!

Wow Life has been busy!

Sorry I haven't had the chance to sit down and blog, because at the moment I am a mommy of two little ones! I have in my care a two year old little boy as well as an 8 month old little girl. I will post pictures but will not be able to talk a lot about this cuties. (Security reasons)
But I would have to say that the hardest part of my instant family has to be the lack of schedule. I don't know the napping schedule, or what they like to eat!
I am already attached to these little ones but need some sleep!

When I get another moment I will try to get some pictures up for you

Pictures of the Nativity family

Look at how precious "Baby Jesus" is. Isn't she a doll.
Here are my wonderful husband and my friend Jen. (Jesus is her little girl)
I can't wait until Erick is a dad. He is going to be wonderful and his children are going to love him!

Living Christmas Tree . . . Opening night is tomorrow!

This year Erick and I are doing the Living Christmas Tree again. I really enjoy being apart of this ministry. I never thought that I would be involved in a Christmas play. Granted I am an understudy this year filing in for an angel and maybe Mary. But my favorite part of the tree is the friends that I get to hang out with, as well as the new friends I meet! (Jen P ;) ) So I am sure that I will be posting some pictures soon with the fun times that I am having back stage. I can't wait to show you the Jesus that we have this year she is a precious little sweetheart. It is funny, though, how baby Jesus is normally played by a baby girl.

Night you all! Busy day tomorrow.

Jen

Valerie's Photo Shoot in Downtown Lawrenceville

I have an inner flower child!

I love the old buildings and the FALL! Georgia is really one of the most beautiful places on Earth
I love this picture! But I think that I am finally looking older . . . which I am not sure I like :(
This is my buddy from college Valerie . . . I love this crazy sister in Christ.
We thought that this was so interesting. We wanted to sign up for the snowflake tea as well!
We have been keeping in touch for the last 9 years!
Me and my love enjoying a little piece of fall.

Talked with the bitrhmom!

It was funny I felt like I was talking to myself, similar voice and same awkward laugh. Strange but I felt better knowing she was just as nervous as I was. But everything is still on schedule, which also makes me feel better!

Something cool though, she is going to get a 4-D ultrasound done and is going to have the sex of the baby found out for us, then she is going to have it taped and me and my family are going to have a little party and all find out together! I can't wait.

So all is good and we are so excited!!'

Jen

Hopefully tonight is the night!!

At 7pm there is a scheduled phone call to talk to the birthmom. I just hope that my larygitis/sniffling/coughing won't be a hindrance. I better start drinking my hot green tea to sooth out the vocal chords. But I am not nervous at the moment, I think that after 2 fake out calls I am ready to really talk to her tonight!

But to update a little bit, Erick and I returned from Georgia last night after spending a lovely week with our friends. It was perfect weather, the friends were amazing, and the scenery was oh so breath-taking. I will download some picures when I can find where my camera is hiding.

So be ready! My friend Valerie conducted a photo shoot and the pictures are sure to be awesome!

Jen
(sorry if this is all over the place Iam a little congested and medicated :) )

We met with the birthmom's mom

We still have not gotten the chance to communicate with the birthmom, but Erick and I were able to meet her mom. After the meeting we felt very reassured that God is still in control and that God still has a plan for us.


We also found out last night that God decided that it was time for out friend Avery to go home to be with Him. We are all shocked because he was a young guy. It really goes to show you that we do not know the time or day when we will leave this Earth. You also can not put off spending time with people you haven't seen in a long time. You don't want to have any regrets. So we need to live a life every day that shows Jesus Christ to the people we are around. Avery did that, when you were in his presence you left knowing that this man knows the Lord and loves the Lord. We need to uplift his family, his wife Joy. I am ready to see how the Lord works in all of this confusion. We don't know the Lords plan, but He has one.


Jen

So what happened?

The agency forgot to call us. I guess they had a high risk birthmom that they had to find new housing for, and the phone call was forgotten. So tonight... will be the call.
I am glad to know that it wasn't the birthmom calling off the call. So now I have to wait again until 9pm.

Gives some of you more time to lift us up in prayer.

Jennifer

Trying to pass some time

As I am writing this post I am awaiting a three way call from the adoption agency and the birth mom. It is thirty minutes past the time that they were supposed to call. I have never had butterflies like the ones that I have had all day. I keep thinking, whoa I am about to talk to the mom that is willing to give me her baby for the rest of my life. Isn't that unreal. Then I think "oh crap what am I going to say to her?" I mean I hate talking on the phone anyways. It just has always been something that I have never gotten into. I mean I hate to even order pizza.

How am I going to react? Is there going to be an overflow of emotions? Am I going to start crying? Is she going to start crying? If she did I would definitely lose it, I would probably try to talk her into keeping her baby just so that she wouldn't be sad anymore.

The thing is, if they don't call I can understand that. I won't be mad, I just really don't want to go through another day of waiting to talk to her, and imagining what to say to her, and what she is going to say to me.

Sooo... I was hoping that as I was typing this the phone would ring, I would freak out and then type phone is ringing and leave you hanging. But no the phone has not rang. So if you read this pray for a good conversation, and pray that I can make it through the plague of butterflies that entangle my intestines in anticipation!

Jen

I told the faculty today!

Mr Rider allowed me to share with the group how the Lord is working in my life (and Erick).

I told them that for the last 3 1/2 year I have been limiting God. Telling him that I only wanted my own biological child, and that nothing else would be good enough for me! Ahh what was I thinking having this mind set?? I was telling God "Please don't bless me in ways that are better than my own measly thoughts. Please God let me sit and wallow in my self pity and my self worthlessness, constantly getting frustrated with my own desires that I can not fulfill on my own."
I kick myself to have gone through this for soooo long. At least it feels like so long. I pray that you are not limiting God in some avenue in your life. What you need to do is start to pray, Lord you know better than me, so please do your thing!
It may not happen right away but BAM when it happens you know that it is only from God, because no one could work the plans and put the right people together at the same time, place, and all have the same mindset!

GOD IS AMAZING! Don't forget that!

Our birthmother letter

We were asked by our agency to write a letter to our birthmother and I thought that some of you would like to read it,


Dear Jennifer,

My husband Erick and I wanted to quickly introduce ourselves, and get a couple pictures out to you before we have our first phone call. First of all, we can not truly express how thankful we are for this gift you are giving to our family. Since we are going to have the opportunity to talk, I wanted to tell you our story as to how we got to this point in our lives. I'll start with when Erick and I got married. Erick and I met in a church college and career group, and when Erick said that he first saw me he knew that he wasn't going to like me because I was wearing an Ohio State shirt (ironic :)). But actually 3 months after we met we were engaged, and 7 months later we were married! Erick and I have been married for 3 1/2 years, and since day one we have been trying to get pregnant. I actually did not work our first year of marriage because I thought that we would be pregnant right away. We understand that God often times has different plans for our life, and He doesn't always share these plans with us.

Believing that God is in control and that He must have something better for us, we felt it was time that I looked for a job. He opened the door to a great Christian Academy where I became the main science teacher, and I have been doing this for the last 2 1/2 years. If it was not for this job I would not have met my friend Sue. Sue and I started a group at our church called "Holding onto HOPE." This is a group for women who are infertile, where they can come together and learn to trust in God during this situation instead of turning from Him. We know how easy it is to feel that God is not there during infertility, and times of discomfort. During the year that we have had this group we have had many ladies come in and give their testimony about how God either opened their womb, or they adopted through Foster care, or just adopted through an agency.

During this time Erick and I had begun our process of going to an infertility doctor and we found out that unless we have an IVF (in-vitro fertilization - baby made in the lab and then placed in my belly) we would never get pregnant on our own. Having trust in God was the only thing that did not send me into a depression after finding out about that news. Knowing that there are children in the world that are already born, or about to be born that need a mom or dad, we started to look into adoption. Our search stopped abruptly because the financial aspect of it would not work for us. We then, seeing the need and understanding that there are millions of children in the foster care system that need a mom or dad to love on them until their parents can amend some of the mistakes that they made, we decided to sign up for our licensees. We are actually still in the process in which we are waiting for them (because our government believes that since my husband and I are young (27), we will skip town with the babies we watch?? Isn't that crazy) but we have decided that until we are blessed with our adopted baby we wanted to still help with the foster program.

In the time that we have been going through the foster drama, as I think of it :) , my friend Sue had been telling some people in the church about our group and how God is working through different scenarios like the hope of adopting through foster care. This is the part that began to rock our world! Sue met this couple, whom she told about Erick and I, wanting to adopt through foster care, and they asked why we were not adopting through an agency. She explained that it was because of finances, and they said that that should not be a hinderance, and they offered to PAY for the entire adoption for us! Wow thank you GOD. So a couple days after Sue talked to this family, Sue told me that I needed to start looking for an agency. I started looking at agencies that had the word Hope in them, and came across Hope for Families. Two days later Lynn and Ken Brown were at our house doing the home-study! The next day we learned about you! God's hand has been guiding us to this moment since the beginning of time, and it blows my mind to see how His plan is nothing that we could have orchestrated. So literally with in a week, I found out about this family and their financial contribution, found Hope for families, and then found out about you! Isn't God awesome!

We feel that the timing can not be any better either, the baby will be born near the end of the school year, which I will be able to take the rest of it off, and then I will have the whole summer off as well! The joy of being a teacher!. We know that this has got to be one of the hardest decisions you have ever had to make. . . EVER! And we are not taking that lightly. We just wanted to give you the HOPE that your baby will be entering into a family that has been waiting and praying for a miracle to happen. Not to mention all of our parents who have been eagerly waiting for a grandchild. So thank you Jennifer, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Know that we are praying for you and hope that your current situation with your job and health will improve. We are also lifting your children and family up in prayer as well. I enclosed some pictures so you can put a face with a name, and when we talk you will be able to put a face with a voice.

Lastly, I wanted to leave you with a verse, actually our Holding onto Hope verse. Psalms 71:14 "But as for me, I will hope continually, and will praise you more and more."

Sincerely,
Jennifer and Erick

Big decisions

Today I went and had a talk with my Head Administrator, and told him that Erick and I would not be able to go on the Senior trip to Greece and Turkey. I didn't put the dates of the trip together with the birth of the baby. The baby is due on the 1st of April, the trip starts on March 25 and goes through the 7th of April. I do not want to miss the birth of the baby or the first week of the baby! You can't get those days back, you know!
The birthmom's mother is in town, and I will be meeting with her in the next week or so.
I am still waiting to learn the sex of the baby!!! Ahh I can't wait.

Jen

Update

So the biological father has told his parents that they are putting the baby up for adoption, and they think that it is a good idea. I have been told that the grandparents can be one of the hardest obstacles when trying to adopt a baby. But both sets in this case are on board with the adoption, as well as the biological father! And the last thing that I heard was that the mother is still planning on the adoption. So things are slow but still working out . . . what should I expect God is in control. No worries. Keep praying for us!

Still waiting on some "bigger" news

What I have heard as of late, is that everything is still in the works. We are also still waiting to hear what the birth-mother is having. I am really praying for a girl... only because I have enough girl clothes to last until age 5, and I have just always wanted a girl first. But anyways just wanted to update with what I know.

Thank you all for your encouragement, God knows this is a time where a sweet positive word will go a long long way!

No news

I haven't heard any new news yet... so that is why I have not posted yet.


Well I actually did find out some news, but not about the adoption. I found out this week that I will more than likely be on birth control for the rest of my life, to suppress my endometrisis, and I was also told that the only way that I will be able to get pregnant, is if I have IVF done, which I won't. So I will never get pregnant.
My doctor actually said that I am doomed fertility wise. I don't like him right now.

Adoption update

We know that the birthmother's name is Jennifer, she is due the 1st of April. As far as I know she plans on having the baby down here. Wouldn't that be AMAZING! Pray that it would work out. This week she will be getting a call from my agency and they are going to "counsel her". Which is a great idea. They want to find out from her why she wants to do this and then she will begin to fill out the paperwork. So this time is a little bit uneasy because I am only hearing hearsay. BUT GOD IS AWESOME AND HE IS IN CONTROL!! And everything has already been so mind blowing, and I had nothing to do with it.

But when I find anything else out I will update again.

Jen

Wow God is at work and He is so faithful!

First of all we found an adoption agency! They are called Hope for Families. We found them last weekend, and they are a great Christian couple who are eager to help us. So we had our adoption homestudy this last week, and we are now approved to adopt. So the next step was to find a birthmother. Well the Lord totally took care of that, the birthmother pretty much found Erick and I! She knew my name before I knew hers. Her name is Jennifer...which is crazy! She is due in April. Which is going to be the perfect time, because I will then be able to have the whole summer to bond with the precious child that God has chosen for Erick and I. Wow blows my mind...All of this still has not sunk in.

Another blessing is that because the agency didn't have to find the birthmother for us, we are saving about 7500 dollars! God thank you!

Update on the foster care - we are still waiting for our paperwork to finish going through the state. I guess because we are younger than the normal foster parents, they are looking at every little detail... blahhh I am running out of patience with all of this. I just want to bring in a little baby to love and take care of for a while! So it may be a couple more weeks :(

I know have a lot of prayer requests:
-Pray that the birthmother will be healthy and that the baby will be safe in her womb.
-Pray that Erick and I will remember to daily be thankful for what the Lord is providing for us...there is a lot right now!
-Pray that our foster care papers will go through and that we will get our foster child soon to take care of.

Thank you friends,
Jen

The Journey Starts Now!

I am sure you all know the verse "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean no on your own understanding, but acknowledge Him in all your ways, and HE will direct your paths." This verse has been made real in my life this last week. As many of you know, Erick and I have been led to seek adoption through foster care. But the Lord has decided to open another door at this time and we feel that we are being led to begin the adoption process for a domestic adoption. We are still going to be foster parents.

The reason we didn't first seek the adoption route was because of financial reasons, but like I said God has opened a door and we are going to walk through it. We are going to be having our first homestudy this Wednesday! The agency that we are going with says that this process may take 6-10 months!

So I will fill you in on when we get our Foster babies, and as the process of adopting our own baby comes as well!

Pray for us,
Jen and Erick

Some pictures of our place

Kitchen

Living room

Dining/living and front door.

The rest of the rooms have not been "perfected" like the baby room won't be shown until after the shower and I have the necessities. And the bedrooms were a mess...so later on those as well.

:)

We are still waiting on our baby

We submitted our information into the government and now we are waiting.... who knows how long this will take. They think it will be two to three weeks until we get a call. I am excited though, we have the baby room ready. We have the big things, like our crib, stroller, pack and play, high chair, car seats. We only need the necessities, like bottles, diapers, crib sheets, etc. But my shower is this weekend and I can't wait to experience it! Thanks to all my friends who will be sharing this exciting time with me, and for those who can't make it, I love you too!

Jen

Creation/ Evolution

The first week of school I always teach the students about the on going debate of Creation and Evolution. I find this to be the most important part of the school year. What the students believe about the origin of the universe is going to determine what they believe the rest of their lives about: Abortion, cloning, homosexuality, euthanasia, divorce, and many other topics. These students are the next generation and they are going to be making choices that could effect me when I am an old lady living in a nursing home. If the students do not learn the truth now, they may never understand what is the Christian way to believe.

I pray that the Lord uses me to speak truth into the lives of these lucky students who get the chance to have me as their science teacher!

Finally I am up and going again!

After being in our new place for 2 weeks, comcast finally came out!
School starts on the 19th, I am not sure what to think of this year. I pray that it is awesome and that it is the best one yet!

Erick and I finished our Fostering classes! So hopefully in 6 weeks we will have a little one in our house! Ahh I am getting nervous though...I mean I am going to be a mom. Pray for us. Also here is a little disclaimer...we found out that we are not able to talk about or tell the child's story, they have confidentiality. So I will post pictures, but I don't think I can say anything about them :(

I will take some pictures of our new place as soon as we get everything in its place.

Jen

Erick and I are moved in, but I do not have internet at my place yet...once I do I will post some pictures and update better.

But somethings that have happened :(

My laptop that i have ALLLLLLL of my pictures on (like from college to now...like 8 years of pictures) decided to crash...hard. And no I did not have anything backed up, so anyone who has not backed up their computer...do it, you never know when this is going to happen.

Second, I start school on Monday and I am really sad. My summer was not as creative or exciting as I wanted it to be, and I turned out working on my masters the whole time...not how I anticipated my days.

Third, I only have 2 weeks left of my foster classes, we will hopefully get a baby in September sometime!! Can't wait to write and post pictures of these little ones.

Fourth, did I mention my summer is over :(

Jen

Babies R Us Registry and other thoughts

Erick and I registered at Babies R Us! It is so exciting...but it was hard for me.
I always imagined that I would be going into the store to register...pregnant. Well as many of you know that that is not how it is working out, but Erick and I are hoping to have a Foster baby in a month, and we don't have anything. So register we must and baby show we will!
But anyhow I felt like every other woman who was in there, that was pregnant, was looking at me and was probably thinking "Well she sure is jumping the gun...she isn't even showing!" or "Why is she registering she isn't pregnant!" Also I assumed that I would know what I was having and have a cute themed room all picked out, but instead I am registering for neutral gender and age.
Don't get me wrong I am so excited, but these were not my plans. I didn't plan on suffering from infertility, I didn't plan on any of this. Which makes this an adventure because I don't know what to expect! And God has opened up doors to friendships that I would have never of had unless I did go through this. Like Steph and Jeff our MAPP buddies, and Heather and Dario...they are foster parents we met, we bought a stroller and a crib from them off craigslist.
So many of you will be getting a shower invitation in the mail in a couple weeks...I feel weird about this as well, which I wrote about a few weeks ago. But this may be the only chance for me to have a shower and I want to experience it!

Thanks friends for being supportive through this exciting adventure Erick and I are embarking on!

Jen

Cool things are happening!

First of all Erick and I were shown an open door and it didn't close on us! Thank you Lord! We found a nice condo to rent! It allows dogs. It has plenty of space for a couple of Foster kids, and it is in perfect location for our jobs and family.
Second, I decided to look on Craigslist for different baby items and I have a cool story. As you know I found this Carseat on the side of the road, and now I am on a Chicco kick. So I was looking for a Chicco Stroller system and found a nice used one (stroller, carseat, and base) for 100 bucks! (Erin I would still LOVE to borrow your base) And the couple that I bought it from are ,get this, Foster parents! We are actually gonna meet for coffee sometime so we can hear the good, bad, and ugly side of Fostering. We are also getting a crib w/ mattress and a drawer underneath for 75, and possibly many other items, but his wife needs to get into town to let him know what he can sell.


So that is really cool! I am excited, the only bad thing is that I don't have anywhere to put this stuff until August 1. But hey I am ready to wait a couple more weeks.

Praise the Lord!
I can't wait to post pictures.

New background

I Feel that since school will be starting shortly...I actually make sure that I do not know how many days of freedom I have left...that would depress me. Anyways I wanted a new background, and depending on what gender child we could be fostering in less then 3 months :) I wanted to have a cute background to post pictures and things.

Jen

Closed doors or Open doors? Sad Job or happy Job?

There comes a time when we pray and we ask the Lord to show us His path by opening and closing doors. But sometimes it seems that all of the doors are open and we don't know which way to go, or it seems all the doors are closed and we are stuck in a hallway. I feel that way right now. It seems there are a ton of possibilities and then SLAM all the doors close. Then one seems to eek open again and SLAM. So I am so confused. I know that God has a purpose and place for me and Erick, but it just seems that everything lately doesn't want to work out, and it really is disheartening.
Examples being Erick's job...every other day seems like it is his last day...door getting ready to close, but then wait a huge sale was made we are okay for another couple days...then it gets super slow again, can't pay payroll...then another sale. It is an emotional roller coaster.
Our housing situation...find a great Short sale that should work out for us faster than normal....door opening...find out that the bank and the seller are still trying to figure something out...could take 3 months...door closing...Our friends find this cute nice condo for us to rent...door seems to open...everything seems great...until our friend tries to contact the other realtor and he is a nutcase and can't find the owners and says that we can have pets, but who really knows...door closing.
Sorry this is a depressing post, it is just that I was hoping to be settled before the school year started, and could have a place to take pictures of for my home study for my foster kids.

Lord...what are you trying to show/teach us? I hope it is not patience.

My friend Michele's little girl Nicole came to mind when I wrote this, a good while back she (nicole) was showing me the stories of Job, and she got really excited and did this cute sad face and showed me Job sad, but then you turn the page and Wham Happy Job and she gets all excited and even has a squeak in her voice when she says it. I feel like sad Jen right now and can't wait for the page in my life to turn so I can be happy Jen.

Thanks for reading.... :]

Trash Pickin'

The other day I was driving into my neighborhood, and noticed a lot of "trash" by this one neighbors house. Not really thinking much of it I kind of glanced over to see what was there. A second after I drove by I thought "Did I just see a carseat?" Well after a little internal war with myself I turned around and went back to the house. Now I was feeling very proud at the moment hoping no one would drive by seeing me take "trash" from the garbage. But after getting out of my car, and a quick glance at the carseat I grabbed it and threw it into my car. What a rush...I stole some "trash".
So I get home and do a little bit of research and find out that this carseat is worth 190$ brand new, it is in great shape (No unidentified stains or anything), and I would only need to buy a base for it. So here is the beginning of baby collection.

For my coupon clipping friends
Carseat= 190 (ok maybe 140 without base)
Trash pickin'= Free!!

Summers are fleeting

Especially when you are taking 4 graduate classes :( But two of them are done! Praise the Lord. I really anticipated having a great wonderful creative summer, but it has turned out being busy, boring, and not very eventful. (except for the multiple visits to see little Andrew Jack in the hospital, and my crazy Fostering classes!) Ahh I need to do something fun fun fun! Oh well I do have candle-light yoga to look forward to this Friday, and OH Yea Erick and I are going to see Cirque du soleil on Wednesday! I will try to get some picture of those events.

Pray for Erick and I we are actually in a deciding place right now. Erick is losing his job, and we don't know when the store will actually close. But he has an application into our church, and it would be great if he got that job. But we are also tettering between two places to live...we have an offer on a short sale...we are in the waiting process. But when Erick loses his job, we may not be able to get a loan. so then we are thinking about renting our place in Bonita again...we just don't know which way God is calling us. Please pray for us.

Thanks friends
Jen

Sorry I have been busy

I am so busy which shouldn't be happening in the summer! I should be relaxing it to the max. Should be sleeping in until 12 everyday...why is this not happening! Instead I am super busy with grad work. All this week I was shadowing at an elementary school. Very interesting group of kids that I met.

Also every Tuesday I have a lovely 3 hour Foster parent meeting. Ok I lied it isn't lovely except for the fact that Erick's parents are there with us, and I am making a great new set of friends Steph and her hubby. The last two classes have actually been pretty boring. I feel like people just want to talk about themselves. Like this last week we actually spent 2 hours doing a skit that should have only taken 30 minutes. But there were some people who wanted to share their life story in the middle of the skit, and this lasted seriously about 25-30 minutes...just this one lady. I mean thanks lady, but can we stay on topic and get through the skit. Please! Some people in the class are great and funny, but some...I really think they are only in it for a paycheck. Sad really. :(

Besides that I just feel like the days slip by and I don't get a chance to relax. I think that the summers as one gets older go by a lot faster than when I was a kids. Responsibility takes up to much of my time...I wish I could give some of it back or away.

Jen

If you want to improve your falanges

I saw this on Amanda's sight and thought some of you would like to play this fun game! http://www.vml.com/handbellhero

Let me know what you think...my husband is a natural

Thoughts about baby shower

Second of all Erick and are making two huge leaps in our lives. We put an offer on our first house...lets pray that they take it and secondly we are beginning fostering classes next week (June 16). We will be taking 10 weeks of classes 1 a week for 3 hours each. We are excited it is almost like we are somewhat pregnant but I don't gain weight and the baby will be here is 3 months and not 9!
So I have begun to buy baby things for the "baby room". Like some cute room decals and stuff animals. I was talking to my step mom and she wants to throw me a baby shower...is this weird? I actually don't know what to think about it. I mean I don't have any of the necessities to take care of a baby, but then again these may not be my children. We do plan on adopting through Fostering, so I will be needing stuff. Anyways should I make a baby registry or something? Should I ask people to donate? I am really uncertain as to what to do?

Raw and Real

This morning I was drinking a cup of Orange Blossom green tea, and started to feel blah. I don't know about you ladies, but unless I have make-up on or my hair done I don't want to look at myself. Well then I started to think that is a shame that I don't feel good enough about myself when I am, lets say raw and undone. I know that time shows on our faces and our skin becomes irregularly colored and dry, we get dark circles. Anyways being bored and not wanting to get busy on my Master's work, I decided to take some self portraits, yes without make-up, lotion, and I don't think I even took my make-up off from last night...and this is what I found...





I found that your eyes say a lot, if you are unhappy it shows, if you are happy it will light your face up. I also found out that I need to get my eyebrows done and re highlight my hair. :D But isn't it sad that we live in a society that first of all makes us tired and then wants us to look our best because they judge us on our appearance, not by how hard we work at our job or how we raise our family the best we can. But it is all about the shallow and fading characteristics.
I was watching TV the other day and wow there are SSSOOOOO many commercials about "you need to look like your 20, at any age" so get vein removal, botox, facelift...you know what I am talking about. And then the women who we can tell are trying to look young we can point them out and say "poor woman had 10 too many facelifts!" There really is no pleasing them.

So my challenge today...love your skin, love what God gave you, embrace it take care of it, but don't invest your life savings into it. Don't get caught up in the beauty wagon, we all know the soul is where true beauty shines! I am not saying don't wear make-up, but make up your mind, that beauty is only skin deep and your relationship with Jesus is where your time and energy needs to go!

P. s. I dare any of you to share a raw and real picture of your self, I bet you are beautiful!

I need some fun ideas of what to do during my summer break

I need ideas that are cheap, don't really need to be far away, and can benefit others. I do well when I have a certain goal that I need to obtain. If you all could give me ideas of things to knit, paint, or take pictures of I would appreciate it. I want to be creative but the jar is a little low at the moment. I think my graduate classes are draining me.

BIG DECISONS

So I am asking you all to pray for Erick and I. We are about to take a big step in our marriage together, by becoming Foster parents. There is a lot that we need to do before we can do this...like get our own place. I really feel that God is telling us that this is the way that our "family" will grow. You see Erick and I just want a child to love and cuddle and pour our lives into. For a long time I was selfish and was thinking I only wanted this to be a biological child, but wow there are so many children that need a mom and a dad to love them. You know maybe God has it so that Erick and I will never get pregnant, but will be able to adopt a child that we foster.

So if you would pray that Erick and I will follow God's leading and that we would do what we need to, to be Foster parents.
I will keep you all updated with any changes.

“Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.” James 1:27

What the summer holds....laughter and more laughter

Well fellow bloggers I have officially finished my second year of teaching! I am now a lightly seasoned teacher. I can't wait until I am to the point where I have done my lesson plans a year in advance and know exactly what I am teaching each day, and could teaching it backwards forwards, and maybe throw a monkey in there somewhere.

Anyways so now that I am free from "work school", that leaves me with only my "school school". I am taking 2 graduate classes at the moment, Gifted and Inclusion. I realize that I never am or will be in a gifted program. But I actually feel sorry for those who are gifted and are in regular schooling. Because their teachers may not be on board and are squelching their education without even knowing it. And if students are not challenged and given opportunities to use this "giftedness" they will become mediocre and find themselves settling in a job or life that they could have been leaps and bounds better than....okay soapbox over.

Alright now that I have the summer I promise I am going to let myself eeek and ooze creative things, like cool knits, maybe some painting, and most definitely pictures. This is a new season in my life and I want to allow the exciting stuff happen to me and not just watch it happen to everyone else. I want to have joy and happiness in my life...EVERYDAY! I want to laugh and smile more than I ever have!

Alright I am going to go and be diligent and get the rest of my master's work done for this week, because this weekend I will be having fun fun fun at Disney. What other way could I start a fun packed summer!!

Some of my knits

Sorry the pictures are not very creative, and the lighting is not great...but I wanted to show you somethings.

Can you guess what is on the yellow washcloth

New hair- What do you think?

Before....


























And After...
I think this is my favorite haircut ever! It only takes me about 15 minutes from wet to dry!

School year is coming to an end...Thank you Lord

It is this time of the year that I both Love and Despise being a teacher. I love it because I get the whole summer off! I despise it becuase there are 10001 things that have to be done before the summer can begin. Like making exams, grading exams, tearing down my room, getting all of the appropriate forms filled out, the proper meetings, and everything else that needs to be done.

But it is ok, because...I can sleep in for 2 months straight! I actually have a busy summer, I am taking 4 Masters classes this summer, (2 every 6 weeks)so I will have many projects and papers that I will be working from the comfort of my house!

I got my hair cut, and I am loving it, I think that I actually look older and more mature, which is a huge plus. I will post some picture later for those who want to see.

Hopefully there will not be as much time in between this post and the next.


OH and I am a knitter know, I will have to show you all what I have done!

My Dad's Wedding

Here are a few pictures from my Dad's wedding on April 25th. It was a beautiful wedding! And I loved my dress!