Life Unexpected

I had wanted to post this yesterday, but wasn't home long enough to do so. Yesterday was Nate's 32nd Birthday, and I thought that everyone should know just how amazing my husband is. He is already the best husband I could ask for, and I know without a doubt, he is going to be the most amazing Dad ever! So, I thought I'd share with you a "20 Things I Love About Nate" list with you in honor of his birthday... I love that Nate is crazy...he always keeps the rest of us on our toes I love that Nate can make friends with anyone...including the guy at Sam's club! I love that Nate is amazing with kids...just be in his classroom for 2 min and you will know exactly what I am talking about I love that Nate makes everyone feel like they are worth something I love when Nate laughs...like the deep kind of laughing where he can't stop I love his eyes... I love that he loves to surf I love that he is my best friend I love that he tells it how it is I love how his hand ...

I stumbled across this video on someone else's blog...so I totally can't take credit, and you'll notice their "personal touch" at the end of the video. A lot of people have asked why we are adopting from Ethiopia. We wanted to adopt from a third world country where we knew there was a lot of need. This video puts "need" in a totally different perspective. We can listen to the statistics and say they are too overwhelming, or we can trust that we serve a God that is bigger than statistics. I was sharing with my youth group last night that we expect God to just fix poverty and hunger, because he is God and he can! The crazy thing is, God doesn't work that way. He actually invites us to be a part of his work. That's pretty amazing...to think that the Creator God wants us to work alongside of him, helping to restore a broken world. So, my hope and prayer is, as each of us watch this video and listen to the lyrics of this powerful song, we wou...

All I have to say is, "Our kids better love cupcakes!" Well, in case you hadn't heard, we officially survived the cupcake weekend extravaganza. My mom and I made and delivered 1146 cupcakes this weekend and it was a blast. I admit, I had my reservations, but the cupcakes were so stinking good (all because of my mom), and the weekend was incredibly fun. We definitely got slap happy several times, visited the chinese restaurant 3 times for take out in the course of 48 hours because we had to keep working, and we got a serious lack of sleep throughout the weekend. I think we stayed up until about 1:30am the first night and 2:30am the second night and finally finished around 3pm on Saturday. My mom was actually late to work and still had to frost a few cupcakes after she got off from work. The cupcakes were delivered in the cutest boxes, and everyone that received them were so appreciative and supportive. We have had many people ask when we are doing them again. I th...

A few months ago, my mom and I became obsessed with cupcakes. I guess because it's the latest fad and they are so stinking good! When I say "we" became obsessed, I really should say my mom became "obsessed!" She had been talking awhile about wanting to do a cupcake fundraiser for our adoption, but while in Honduras, the idea seriously took off. She began trying out a gazillion different recipes and her imagination ran wild. A month later, here we are, making...1070 cupcakes! It is unreal!!! We have had incredible outpouring of support. If you know my mom, she never does anything half-heartedly. She has been baking for the past 7 days, about 7 dozen a day. When she arrived at my house, she quickly made a system (she loves having a system), where we would get each flavor from the car and begin to work on them. She moved the van several times, because she didn't want the cupcakes to thaw in the sun. I tried to help her understand that it was 14 degre...

Well, we have officially been waiting for...drum roll...ONE WEEK! While that doesn't sound like a lot of time, it's one week closer to getting good news. It actually was an interesting week. After Nate and I submitted our Dossier last Monday, a piece of us went into panic mode. I say "us," but I think it was mostly me. We came to the realization that we could technically get a call about kids any day (although we know it will take more than a few days!). We came to the realization that we have A LOT to do in our house to accommodate two children (which was overwhelming to think about). And we came to the realization that our dream of starting a family is seriously in motion! I wondered a lot of things this week. I wondered if I will be a good mom...I think I wonder about that every day. I wondered what our kids will think about us when they meet us...I hope they like us! I wondered how this whole process will pan out, when it will pan out, and what the deta...