I've been tagged

Maybe this will help me get out of my blogging rut 0f 2011.....

I've been tagged by Kelly so I thought I'd at least answer the questions....

11 Fun Facts about ME:

1. The first conversation I had with my husband he jokingly said we would never date. :) Never say never.

2. One of my favorite books is Randy Alcorn's Safely Home.

3. I have had my two best friends for almost 20 years.

4. I lived in the same state or 30 years then moved 8 hours away.

5. The movie Bella changed my life.

6. Daniel and I were on the cover of a magazine promoting True Love Waits after we were married. (We both signed the cards as youth and followed through with our commitment.)

7. I accepted Christ as a 20 year old and immediately read a book about Grace.

8. I love to journal and have kept all my journals since 5th grade. (Last time we were home Daniel found the ones where I was boy crazy and had a good laugh.)

9. We have been a part of two church plants and have seen them both grow to at least 500 people. Watching people's lives change because of Christ gives us purpose and fuels us.

10. I am terrible at going to bed early, and get mad at myself often for staying up too late.

11. I love early mornings, but due to #10 I don't get to enjoy them often enough.

OK, and now the questions for those of us who Kelly tagged:

1. Chocolate or Vanilla? Vanilla ice cream; Chocolate kids

2. What is your profession and is it what you always wanted to do? I'm a stay at home mom. I love it and am grateful to be able to do it, but it's not something I always dreamed I'd do.

3. Where is your dream vacation locale? Iceland- someone once told me Iceland was green and Greenland was icy. I think I need to go see for myself. :)

4. Favorite food/recipe...and feel free to share the recipe! I LOVE carbs and Italian food, but am trying to not eat quite so many of that variety.

5. Favorite Scripture or quote? Job 42:2 "I know that you can do all things, no plan of yours can be thwarted." & Acts 4:12 "Salvation is found in no one else, for their is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

6. First thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "diet." BLAH. :(

7. Do you have a bucket list? If so, what's 1 thing on it? not really, but I would love to go snorkeling again and would love to learn to snow ski...but I'm generally too chicken to try.

8. What is your favorite color? turquoise right now, my whole life it's been yellow. Yellow and turquoise make a good pair I guess. I just can't not say yellow since I'm such a loyal person I feel like I'm cheating on yellow. (My poor bridesmaids had to wear yellow dresses----sorry ladies.)

9. Last movie that you saw? Swordfish, it was actually pretty good.

10. One pet peeve you have is...? Fabrics/blankets that are so soft they catch on any rough skin on your hands or feet....oh and mildewy smelling clothes. yuck.

11. One thing that makes you smile is...? My husband bringing home flowers randomly.

11 Questions if you want to answer questions.

1. What's your favorite book?

2. If you could have dinner with 6 people who would they be?

3. If you were given $200 on top of your regular budget what would you spend it on?

4. If you were given $200 that you had to give away who would you give it to and why?

5. What was your favorite Bible story or children's book when you were growing up?

6. What's your favorite blog or website?

7. What's your favorite restaurant and item off the menu?

8. What is your favorite day of the year?

9. What was your favorite celebration of 2011? (think- wedding, party, shower, etc.)

10. What is your favorite sport to participate in or watch?

11. What is your dream car---that you would really have to drive around town?

Consider yourself tagged if you are reading this and aren't a spammer. :)

It would also be fun to hear from....

Brenda

Sunny

Haley

Deborah- ok Deb you haven't posted since Manny was born...that was 2 years ago. We need some updates!

Mom---you should totally start a blog. Answer these questions as your first post. That would be fun!

{The Rules}

1. You must post the rules.

2. Post eleven fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post, and then create eleven new questions to ask the people you've tagged.

4. Tag eleven people and link them on your post

5. Let them know you've tagged them!

Things I never want to forget

Manny is almost 2! I really can't believe it. He is mimicking lots of words and saying lots of fun things. I dropped the milk the other day while trying to carry the groceries in and said- oh shoot. Manny replied- oh shoot. (oops.) Glad it wasn't something worse coming out of my mouth. :)

I NEVER want to forget that when he first said banana he called it a ba-nagh-a-nah. That a pig and a drum are both called noises that he makes with his mouth closed...there's really no way to even spell it. It's like boom boom and oink oink but without any real word coming out and it sounds exactly the same.

He is so smart and so big and so awesome. He loves his magna-doodle and all of the musical instruments he got for Christmas. He will ask to watch "clue clue" and loves Blue.

He is an amazing boy and I am so blessed to be his mommy. He put on a concert for me today. Just like his daddy. He was holding his toy mic and playing the piano at the same time. I am so glad I married a wonderful man and it would be a fabulous thing if Manny turned out just like him. I never want to forget this season. This time when although Manny is starting to push limits and wonder if there are going to be any boundaries, he is exploring and enjoying life as well. We went to Ft. Worth this weekend and he loved being on the plane, riding the bus, and the tram to the airport. He is a great kiddo and I never want to forget these amazing moments.

Looking for Someone Like Me

Yesterday Manny & I went to an adoption picnic. It is an annual event hosted by the adoption agency that did our homestudy. We got an invite last year, but I think I was still in that fog of new baby world at that time, and it was a long way away to travel and hang out with people you don't know. This year however, I #1 know my way around here a little better, #2 have a much more active social little fella who needs time playing every day, & #3 was looking for someone that looked like me.

I had heard about the park and splash pad where the picnic was going to be held before, but it was still 45 minutes away. We don't do many extra things on Sundays. Daniel's day is completely committed and that is our priority. This week our church was also having a baptism service later that afternoon at Lake Michigan. So I took off on my own with Manny and we made an afternoon of it.

I'm not sure what I was looking for....maybe other white families raising black children. Maybe other moms who have one child through adoption, but long for more. Maybe someone who I don't have to explain the heartache to in waiting for your child to come home. Maybe someone who just knew what raising an adopted child was like. Maybe a success story of an older adopted child who is well adjusted and thriving. Maybe hair care tips. :) Maybe I was just looking for someone like me.

I did meet some other families & I look forward to getting to know them better. But none looked just like us. I was surprised that Manny was still the only African American at our picnic. I have been thinking about how many other families I know that have adopted and realized I do know lots of people like me. Thanks to Facebook & blogs I do have a network of adoptive moms that look like me. And for that I am very grateful.

Project Simplify

Hot Spot #5 was to do your own thing. So that was easy. This was the first time I'm joining in because I was busy reading Organized Simplicity By Tsh Oxenreider. So this was the first challenge I've actually done. I have done some of the de-cluttering/cleaning as laid out in the book so that has helped overall.

I tackled my laundry room, pictures for scrapbooking, and took a load to a local re-sale shop which seemed to take some organizational skills all in itself to get everything plus the 1 year old in the car. :)

So here's the proof:

Before (Above Washer/Dryer)



After (Above Washer/Dryer) - all my bathroom cleaners have to stay here because of a certain 1 year old. Under the sink is no longer a safe place, and on this particular cabinet under the sink there's no way to attach a lock like we have in the kitchen...



Adorable helper



Before - other side of laundry room



After - ahhhh so nice. :)




Photo Basket Before-




Photo Basket After-



Daniel asked for a specific photo and because they were nicely organized and already sorted I was able to quickly find it. Such a nice feeling. I just had to share my find. :)

The fine line between helping and being taken advantage of...

Disclaimer- If you don't know me in real life I'm not sure how this will come out. I hope it doesn't seem offensive.

When I think of my purpose in life this is what comes out- I want to be available to be used by God to help those in need. I love assisting. I do not love the lime light. I do not aspire to be on stage anywhere. :) I love behind the scenes. For example I love putting water bottles on stage for the guys before the Daniel Doss Band goes on to lead worship. Ask me to step onto the stage- no thanks. So yesterday was one of those days I got to help someone out from church and I was grateful for the free time and the opportunity.

Then today I got a phone call from the recipient of yesterday's help. She needs more help. She needs more assistance. I gladly was able to help yesterday, but I also felt the strong need to set up some healthy boundaries today so as not to get wrapped up in an endless cycle.

This is so hard for me, because unlike Jesus, we don't know people's hearts or intentions. She truly has a need. I wasn't able to offer her immediate help again, but was able to tell her when I would be able to help (it wasn't an emergency situation- so I didn't leave her out to dry by any means). I am so torn in this situation. I wanted to let her know that I care, and am able at times to help. But I also wanted to send a message that I will not be taken advantage of. This is such a fine line for me. I have a heart to serve and give, and I want to make a difference. I just struggle with how far is too far. I looked squarely at her situation (as best I could) and offered a compromise. We will see how it plays out.

Manny's Favorite Song

I'm trying to capture video proof, but have not been able to yet.
Manny has a favorite song. Amanda Boles made it up and it goes like this.

Man---ny, Man---ny, Manny Manny Doss is my name, it's my name.

We sing it occasionally, not an everyday song like Twinkle Twinkle or Jesus Loves Me. Just randomly when I think of it. It's cute and catchy. Amanda sang it with her girls and actually used their first and middle names. Poor Manny will be one of those kids in school that is called by a name that is not his first of middle name. Oh well.

Back to the song. He LOVES THIS SONG. He will smile really big when we sing it. And here lately he's started grunting the inflections to the rhythm. No real words are coming out, but you can tell EXACTLY what song he's singing.

Isn't that the way we are? All of us have a favorite song and it's generally all about us. I hope and pray that the song I sing reflects my love for Jesus and that He is my everything. I know so many times the tune that gets stuck in my head is me me me me me.

Couch to 5K is working for me.

I'm on week 3 as of today.
And I did it!!! I usually start the Couch to 5K program and then quit before getting this far.

Tonight I went and ran late. It took me back to the days when Amanda and I would take our dogs to Rossview and walk/jog late at night. :)

Now I have to schedule a time when Daniel can watch Manny so I can sneak out of the house. Usually that means first thing in the morning, but today I just couldn't get up. We had an amazing, but LONG day at church yesterday. After church there was a meal and then a membership class. Manny was DONE being there and would not take a nap there so we came on home. He was asleep by the time I got out of the parking lot.

So today after daylight savings time throwing of our schedule. (I always admire those people who put their kids to bed a few minutes early or later each night before the time change, but I'm not smart enough to figure out whether to keep him up later or put him to bed earlier so we just have to wing it.)

Anyway there was NO WAY I was getting up early this morning to jog. But I found out our gym stays open till 11pm so I went around 9:45pm. AND I DID IT!! I jogged the prescribed amount of 1:30 then walked 1:30 then jogged 3 minutes, then walked 3 minutes then repeated that whole thing. I only thought I was gonna die once, but I had like 7 seconds left on the last three minutes so I pulled through and kept jogging. Whew. I am so proud of myself and feeling like a wimp all at the same time. There are people out there running 1/2 marathons and marathons, but I have a goal of running a 5k and that is what I have to focus on. :)