I made a ticker

I usually look at all these cute little tickers and think...man I wish I had one of those. My friend Betsy said they had them for adoption. I still didn't think I'd find one that would fit my blog because we have no idea when a baby will join our family. Luckily they have these cute little tickers that count up- from the time we began the process, instead of counting down to the arrival of the baby! How cool is that. Every other day I get blown away thinking about the baby that God is going to place in our family. Is he/she growing in someone else's tummy right now? Is he/she causing strife, tears within a family? Are they struggling to decide what to do with this precious little one that God has predestined to live within our home? What will the holidays bring for our little one? Will it be their beginning? Will it be a turning point when the birth parents have to tell their family that they are expecting? Ahhhh. All the possibilities. This is absolutely the best surprise that God could ever give us and I can't wait to see all the details unfold.

Royal Treatment

We went to Valparaiso, IN for a concert on Thursday night at Valparaiso Church of Christ. We were thrilled about it because this is a church we've heard a lot about since one of Daniel's best friends, Ben Lamb, is on staff there. He's been there awhile so when the opportunity arose for us to go do a concert there we were pumped. This was Ben's first concert to oversee, but he did an amazing job!!! He had us set up when we arrived and his whole team was enthusiastic. His excitement was infectious. He was so well organized and even went ahead and checked us into our hotel rooms. When we went to the hotel we already had the key and just got to go straight to the room- that may not seem like a big deal, but many times we go to the hotel and say- we should have two/three rooms reserved, and they say nope we don't see that....or there is confusion and frustration, but not this time. We just went up to our rooms and then we found a special treat. They had left us a little gift basket of chocolate in the rooms. YUMM! We got ready and headed back up to the church for maybe the best pre-concert meal of all time. Remember we are up north...this is what they served us- the most amazing slow cooked fried chicken that just fell off the bone, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans w/ bacon, rolls and banana pudding for dessert. WOW! They went all out and I hope they know how grateful we were!!! The concert was amazing and we had so much fun. One of the hi-lights for me was getting to meet Therez. She's so cool and we worked the World Vision Table together. Another hi-light: we had 8 children's picture folders on the World Vision table AND WE GOT 9 SPONSORS!!!! One family chose to do a special request and will get their pic in the mail. So we had 9 total! I was so pumped. This is a Daniel Doss Band record and we are so excited to be making a difference in those children's lives. Overall it was a wonderful night. I'm so glad I get to tag along and work alongside these awesome guys. *Also this was my first time to meet Kenny who played drums. He's a great guy and I hope he sticks around with DDB for awhile. :)

Here are some pics:


Me and Therez. :)



Back Row: Brad (the Pastor), Daniel (lead singer), Kenny (new drummer), Ben (Youth Pastor and Daniel's friend) Front Row: Derek (guitar player), Bryan (bass player)



Friends (Cindy and Abby) that we met on tour when they came to see us w/ Avalon in the spring.




What a great crew and a killer merch stand?!?! Part of my job w/ DDB is to set up the merch and train the volunteers. :) Ben made the cool signs in the middle, that are hanging, with the prices on them. Awesome!

I've been tagged...

I usually just ignore these, but my sweet friend Laura tagged me and I just couldn't say no.

My instructions are that I am to post 6 facts about myself and the tag 6 other people. *I'll let that tag 6 other people go out to anyone who wants to take on the challenge.

1. I hate doing laundry- if there was a machine that would gather up all my dirty clothes and deliver them back to the right hanger/drawer I'd be so tempted to buy it. Don't worry Duke- I'm not going to get a robot. :) I just feel like there is nothing exciting about doing laundry and I can never complete the task- when I go to check it off the list I change clothes and suddenly it's back on my to do list.

2. I love lip gloss, chap stick, lip stick. I have to resist buying more because I already have so much. I love the different flavors, but hate it when I buy one that is sticky. It has to stay on a long time to win the approval test.

3. I love journals- I have tons of them from the past and like to go back and read them periodically. I'm in the market for a new one right now and am torn because I don't want to spend a lot of money on a journal, but still want it to be a nice one. :)

4. I love to make lasagna. It's very yummy- if I say so myself. I end up not making it very often, because there is soooo much of it and it's way too much for Daniel and I. I've made it for as many as 20+ people at the Grace Community Church Core Retreat and it was a hit! Now that I'm thinking about it maybe it would be fun to have some friends over for Lasagna night...hummm.

5. I love having a schedule. Even now with a sporadic job with the Daniel Doss Band- doing all of their merchandise- I love waking up early and getting started with my day. I love routines, but am learning to be more flexible and to go with the flow.


6. I love to go for a walk every morning simply because Suzy- our black lab mix dog- gets so super excited and jumps around. It's as if she knows that when I put my tennis shoes on it's time to go for a walk and she is so pumped. I hate it when I'm just getting ready to go and she starts getting excited and I have to tell her that we're not going on a walk. :(


So here are the rules if I tag you...
1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on the blog.
3. Write six random facts about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know they have been tagged.
6. Let the taggers know when your entry is up.
I am tagging...all of you!!!

Fingerprinting Fun

Wellll today we had to go to the Sherrif's Office to get fingerprinted....no worries we weren't in trouble, it's just a step in the adoption process. :)

We both had about a million things on our plate today and this was the first one so we were hoping it wouldn't take long. Caring Choices- who is doing our home study gave us some paperwork to take with us. I passed this paperwork over to the guy at the front desk of the area where you go to get fingerprinted.....thinking this was normal procedure.....I mean everyone who goes through adoption has to be fingerprinted, so surely they've seen this before. He looked at the paper then passed it off to another guy, then another. They were dumbfounded. They did not know how they were going to get my copy of the paper into their machine- which takes a smaller scale paper. We had two copies of this paperwork so I looked over the other one and at the bottom it said, "You may use fingerprint card provided by the fingerprinting agency." Problem solved.

I did mine first- quick and easy- it was pretty cool you put your finger pad on this scanner deal and instantly your fingerprint showed up on the computer screen. If it wasn't a good take they just clicked a button and did it again.

Then it was Daniel's turn. The first step is to put all 4 fingers on the scanner at one time, then to put each thumb, then to put each individual finger. As soon as Daniel put his four fingers on the scanner the man said, "If you were ever to commit a crime you need to be sure to wear gloves. You have great fingerprints."

:)
Have a great day!

Tidbits

We got to have dinner with Tony and Melanie on Friday night. So much fun- chatting, playing Blokus, eating a wonderful meal, ahhhh the joy of friendship.


I got to hold Baby Jayda on Saturday. PRECIOUS. She is so addicting. The more I spend time with her the more I fall in love with her. I'm so glad Duke and Amanda got to come to Clarksville for a brief visit.


Heard a quote from a movie trailer for Call and Response- "Justice is what love looks like in public." This reminds me of our Community Group study we've recently started called: Get Uncomfortable. I'm loving it- it's challenging us to look at world poverty and social injustice in a new light and to think about what actions need to be taken. One of my favorite parts was the book saying that some people keep their eyes closed to the situations around them, but it's challenging us to open our eyes and do something about it.

Daniel was gone this weekend- things I noticed- the toilet seat stayed down, the house was super quiet (no spontaneous singing), there were a lot less laughs, there were less dirty dishes. I do love my alone time, but I'm glad that he's home. Every time he's gone for a short little bit I am reminded of my friends whose husbands are in the military and how hard it must be to live without your man for a year at a time or longer. You ladies amaze me!

I had a great day at church on Sunday. I sat by myself and then spoke to the lady sitting closest to me on my way out- she was also by herself. This was only the 2nd time she's come and she loves it. She was very nice and said she has 4 kids. I totally could have left without speaking to her, but I'm so glad I did choose to speak up. I hope she comes again and maybe (since by default we tend to sit in the same general area) we'll sit alone together again.

I love our new Starting Point class. It meets in our home which I love and is a great way for us to meet new people from Grace Community. (And they are a lot of fun!) I can't wait until Tuesday night!


This week on Wednesday I'm going with the Daniel Doss Band guys to the Chicago area. We're playing at a church that we stopped at on the tour in Southern Illinois and we are then going to one of Daniel's high school friend's churches in Indiana- near Chicago. Should be fun!

Snacks for Starting Point

Starting Point went great tonight and we had some yummy snacks.
One couple brought some pizza rolls- Always a hit!
We also had salsa and Daniel made homemade Guacamole dip. YUMM. (we changed the recipe a little- leaving out the salsa and adding a fresh tomato, fresh cilantro, and leaving out the cream cheese.)
I made some stuffed mushrooms. My favorite recipe and oh so easy!!!
And of course something sweet- some slice and bake cookies and peanut M&M's.
I love appetizers and fun new recipes. Have any to share?

Starting Point

I am very excited about a group that will be meeting at our house tonight. We are beginning a "Starting Point" group at our house- this was advertised at Grace Community, and the curriculum/guide is from Northpoint Community Church. Daniel (mainly) and I will facilitate discussion and host the party!!! I'm very excited about meeting new people from our church and about having people over. I've gotten some fun snacks and can't wait till they get here. Of course there are a lot of last minute things that need to be done as far as straightening up and stuff, but I'm more excited about welcoming folks from Grace than I am nervous about what our house looks like. I loved how my good friend Christy said last night the perfectionist in her would make her get all worked up over having people over and now she has let that part go and is more laid back when people come over. I am wanting to let that part go. I am thrilled that Ben Reed asked us to lead this group. We will meet for 10 weeks and I am expecting big things from God.
***Also crazy to think that in 10 weeks it will be CHRISTMAS TIME!!!! The plan was for this group to meet right up until the new year! YIKES. Let the Christmas shopping begin!!!

:)