Thursday, March 31, 2011

Just the Same

Have you read the April Ensign yet?  It's got some good stuff.  Like this beauty: 

Just the Same
by Diana Lynn Lacey

Sometimes—
God sends rain
Straight from the sky
To nourish the young flower
and it grows.
Sometimes—
God sends rain from the sky
To the mountaintops,
Then over hills and through valleys
Until it reaches the flower
and it grows, just the same.
Sometimes—
God sends a child
Straight from His realm
Into a mother’s arms
and love grows.
Sometimes—
God sends a child
From heaven to another’s arms,
Then over hills and through valleys
Until he reaches the arms of his mother
and love grows, just the same.


Friday, March 25, 2011

Starting fresh...

...in the hopes of something new. 

We are changing adoption agencies.  Yep, you heard me right. We're hitching our destiny to another star...or casting our line in another stream...or something like that. 

The agency we're currently with just hasn't worked out like we'd hoped.  When we started the process we were told that 2 years was the average wait time frame.  Two years from initial application to the day you bring home your baby.  Now I realize that's an AVERAGE...I've had friends wait much longer than 2 years.  But we're at 17 months and our situation is getting urgent.  We can't afford to sit around and wait  to be placed.  (Although truthfully we haven't been sitting around...I think we have done a pretty good job about getting our names out there...we just haven't met the right person yet.)  Nathan is up for transfer next year (seriously...is it that time AGAIN?!?) so we need to have an adoption wrapped up here before then.  When you allow for the six month finalization timeframe it means we need to find our baby by August(The state requires you to have 3-6 post-placement visits with a social worker and file a new mountain of paperwork and wait at least 6 months until they will legally finalize the adoption.  Just one of the many joys adoptive parents get to experience.)   That's not much more than 4 months ladies and gents.  As I lay in bed a few weeks ago pondering life in general and adoption in specific my mind started doing the math and I freaked out a bit.  Ok, not a bit...full on OCD mode kicked in.  I made another adoption binder...I created a filing system so that as I investigated each agency I could remember who had told me what.  Over the next couple weeks I emailed like crazy, filled out forms, spend HOURS on the phone, prayed, cried, ate, prayed some more...and we finally narrowed it down.  Hallelujia!
 
The agency we picked (A Guardian Angel) is busy.  But that's good...it means they know what they're doing.  My goal is to have the mounds of new paperwork completed and our printable profile created, printed and bound and in the mail Monday.  Boy oh boy it's going to be a B.U.S.Y. weekend!  But we both have a really good feeling about this agency.  I'm hoping this is it!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

32 things

Funny Story:  Nathan and I were talking the other day and he said something about turning 31 this year.  Wrong, I said.  Uh huh, he said.  Um, nope...try that again.  Several moments of silence and counting he determined that he was turning 32 not 31.

In honor of the 32nd birthday of my dear hubby I'm going to list 32 things I love about this guy.  If you want to leave a comment and say something you love about him, that would be awesome.  He'll love to read them.

Without further adieu...

32 reasons I love my Nathan
(There are more than 32...but it would spoil the theme if I posted them all...and you'd likely get bored after 2,439.)
  1. He is kind
  2. He makes me laugh everyday
  3. He lets me be me
  4. His freaky Neal heel
  5. The way he loves Winston
  6. They way I know he'll love our children
  7. He is an active participant in our adoption journey
  8. The crazy Nathan type dancing he does when Funk music is being played
  9. When he is in Billy mode
  10. He lets me snuggle to him even though it makes him hot
  11. He says some things with the cutest hick accent
  12. His hitched smile
  13. He likes chick flicks
  14. He gets teary watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition
  15. He's generous 
  16. That vein that pops out on his head when he's playing his French Horn
  17. ...or when he's really worked up about something
  18. He loves working in the Temple together
  19. He will brush my hair if I ask him
  20. He drives his truck all over tarnation helping people...and expects nothing in return
  21. How attached he is to his rusted Jasper (that's his truck's name)
  22. He does dishes
  23. He does laundry
  24. He vacuums
  25. He scoops the litterbox!
  26. He is extremely ticklish
  27. He is a wonderful musician
  28. He loves running sound and puts so much time and effort into it
  29. ...which provides a living for our family
  30. He never complains about what I cook for him (except the Lemon rice...)
  31. He's tech saavy
  32. He is my best friend

Monday, March 21, 2011

Stunned

I went online today to check out reviews of an adoption agency that we are thinking of using.  One of the comments on the review site dropped my jaw to the floor.  It was directed to a woman who had recently adopted, so while it wasn't said specifically to me the sting I felt was though it had been.  I can't believe that there are people out there who honestly feel this way about women who cannot get pregnant. 

If it is too small to read, click on it and it will get bigger. 

Mixing Bowls & Stilettos

Ok, so I know it is totally normal (and maybe expected in some circles) in the bloggy world to have multiple blogs.  I used to think those people were narcissistic, self-grandizing know-it-all's.  Now I'm one of them.  Seriously.  (And who knows, maybe we are narcissistic, self-grandizing know-it-all's...it wouldn't be the first time someone has called me any of those)  I've always had this blog and for a while the Unseen Readers was active.  I have my photography blog, but that's just because I like being able to look back at my photos.  Now I've started a cooking blog...but not to convert the world to the way of Holly cooking.  It is more for my mom. :)  We talk on the phone almost everyday and so she frequently gets the run-down of what I'm making for dinner.  She'll ask for a recipe, which I know she writes on the back of an envelope, receipt or other slip of paper and then loses within a day or so...because I do the same thing.   So I decided to put some of the things I make on a blog.  And it gives me something to do...being a stay at home mom to a kitty doesn't require that much time and effort.  Well, except for the daily snuggle hour, which I love.  And the required quiet time before each of Winson's naps...seriously...that cat is like a human child.  I'll have to tell you about it some time. 

Ok, I got sidetracked.  If you want to check out what's been cooking at our house, you can check me out HERE

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

New mantra

I've seen this quote floating around the interwebs the last few weeks and I loved it...but it just wasn't purple enough.  So I made me a "holly" version.  


I just may print it big and put it on my bathroom mirror so I can see it everyday. 

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Dear Uterus:

We have had our disagreements in the past.  Truth be told, we don't actually get along all that well...kind of like Democrats and Republicans.  I blame it on your incessant need to tantrum every month or so despite the fact that you won't live up to your purpose and do your part (along with your hyperactive ovary cousins) to help me be a carrier of life.  And while I've come to accept that you'll never function properly, I will not stand for this abuse.  Spending days wasted on hard core pain killers might sound like fun to Charlie Sheen...but the druggy haze makes it hard for me to walk in heels.    Knock it off or so help me you and your ugly cousins will find yourselves at the bottom of a hazardous waste bin faster than Ryan Seacrest goes through a bottle of hair gel.

The end.

Wednesday, March 09, 2011

DSW Haul

Remember back when I told you about winning the gift card to DSW on Shuesday?  Well I got my sweet little gift card in the mail along with a coupon for a free bag (seriously!) so I promptly skipped on over to DSW to spend my free money.  Wanna see my loot?


Madden Girl Black 4" heels
Guess satin wedges
diba snakeskin stilettos
Poppy Jones snakeskin purse
DSW Stardust tote (the free one...if you were a Rewards member you could've got that one free too)

I was so excited...new shoes make me so happy. :)  I can't wait for it to warm up so I can wear those sandals!

I'm a Gleek

Nathan and I have recently started watching Glee.  I have to admit I was hesitant at first, the thought of high school kids breaking out into song seemed a bit cheesy to me.  But I caught a glimpse of an episode one night and loved it.  So we put the first two seasons on our Netflix que and have been catching up on the episodes we've missed.  Today we watched an episode where a Glee club from a school for the deaf sang John Lennon's Imagine...which just happens to be my favorite song.  It brought me to tears and I just had to share it. 

Here you go:

Monday, March 07, 2011

Reunited...

...and it feels so good!

A week ago Friday we came home from the Temple (which we are LOVING btw) and I logged onto my beloved laptop to check my email.  Instead of bringing up my cute desktop photo of Nathan and Winnie, I got this:


This is bad.  Bad, sad, bad.  I used my iTouch and made an appointment for the following morning with the Genius Bar at the local Apple Store.  They gave me the bad news: my hard drive had crashed, taking everything with it.  Sad, sad day indeed.  I actually teared up at the Apple Store...the guy must have thought I was crazy.  Luckily most of my pictures and music were backed up on an external hard drive, so in the grand scheme of things I didn't lose as much as I could have lost, and for that I am grateful.  

Today was the happy day...the day I got the call from Apple telling me to come pick up my baby...er... macbook.  I did happy dances all the way to the car...and all the way through the mall...and all the way back out to the car.  Pretty sure most of the people who saw me thought I was on drugs. 


I'm just happy to have my buddy back.  Boy did I miss you.