Cleaning Up a Bit

I realized the other day that I haven't updated the information on the right side of my page in a while. So, in the spirit of the Great Purge of 2010, I thought I'd give it a little update.

In case you don't already know, I have an obsession with Google Reader (if you don't have it already, you should totally check it out!). With that obsession comes the reading of TONS of blogs every day. Some of them are mindless reads, but many of them are filled with craft projects, home decor ideas and ways to take just about anything from drab to fab! And what kind of friend would I be if I didn't share this goodness with you?!?! So, I've added quite a few more links on the right of blogs that I frequently visit. Grab a cup of coffee and check them out. Tell 'em I sent ya!

Meet Kirsten!

Yeah, yeah, I know I've been a bit MIA this month, but it's December for crying out loud! For the first time in a long time, I feel like I've actually been able to enjoy the whole month without feeling too overwhelmed. There seems to be more time and less gifts...hmmm...we might be onto something here :)

Anyway, I'm taking a break from Christmas wrapping and baking to introduce you to one of my very best friends, Kirsten. She and her husband, Carlos, moved to NC a few years ago. We met them through our LifeGroup and she and I became instant soul sisters! We've enjoyed walking with them through a couple of moves (thankfully they're still only a short drive away!), a couple of kids and all kinds of good times! One of my favorite facts about them is that they share our anniversary...not from different years either. We were all married on the exact same day-August, 7th, 2004!! We've got a few more hours experience in the marriage department, but they are constant reminders of what commitment to one another looks like!

Kirsten, has joined the blogging world with an awesome blog called Magnificent Mom Moments. She's got great ideas for everyday life with wee ones running around and even has some good ideas for those of us who don't have little ones. So, go on over and check it out! Tell her I sent you!

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By the way, want a Christmas tour of our house? Head on over here for the full scoop!

She's Here!!

I'm finally an aunt!! Little Miss Reagan wasn't supposed to make an appearance until Thursday the 29th, but due to Staci's blood pressure we got to meet her a few days early! Thanks to the ever increasing drama surrounding flu season, I only got to see her for about 2 minutes while she was in recovery. Thankfully, they're headed home today and I'll get to spend tomorrow lovin' on her!
Here's a little about her:
Reagan Marie Ensley
born October 23, 2009
6:12pm
9lb. 9oz.
19 inches long
Blue eyes
Lots of dark brown hair
Chubby little cheeks
Cute as can be :)

Here she is with her Auntie Sarai. Proud aunt? Nah, not the least little bit :)

**I can't get my posts to show up in the correct order...so to get the full effect, you should start with the post below...**


*She's getting so big...just before her 4th birthday.



*Here are all 3 Hawkins kiddos right after Caleb (the baby) was born in January 2008.

*Bella rockin' her cute new haircut. She's such a big girl now!

June

June, oh June, where have you gone?!?! I just realized that June is half over, and it's no surprise, because we've been pretty busy and all the days seem to have run together! Here's a glimpse into what we've been up to so far this month:

*We started off the month by saying good-bye to some very dear friends of ours, the Helmlings. They felt led to pick up everything in NC and move across the country to serve in a church in South Dakota. Dirk was the college & singles pastor at our church and co-leader, with Marty, of the Refuge Ministry on Mars Hill's Campus. He and his wife, Julie, were the leaders of our LifeGroup and over the past 2 years had become some of our best friends. Last May, they welcomed Moses(5) & Nana(7), whom they adopted from an orphanage in Liberia, into their family, making their family of 5 a family of 7! Dawson, Cassie, Nana, Moses & Sydney lovingly referred to us as Auntie Sarai & Uncle Marty. They are amazing "family" and will be greatly missed!

*Last week, I was able to spend 3 days in Pigeon Forge, TN with my mom, 2 of her sisters and 1 of my cousins. It was such a nice time away, to talk about life and get caught up with one another. We relaxed in the Lazy River and spent some time pool-side, and even experience the Synchronous Fireflies of the Great Smoky Mountains! It was pretty cool! I'm so thankful that my schedule is flexible enough for me to be make little trips like that!

*Last Saturday, we celebrated Father's Day and my dad's 50th birthday with friends and family at his house in Robinsville. It was a nice time with them, and great to catch up.

*This week, we're cleaning and doing some organizing projects in our bedroom. Lots of painting and vacuuming and laundry and manual labor, which I am not really fond of :) Check back later for some pics of the finished product!

Meet the Edwards Family!

Since August, I've been working for a family that I met in our church, the Edwards'. I go to their home 2 days a week where I clean/cook/do laundry/babysit/help with schoolwork/run errands. This family has truly captured my heart. It's by far, the best job I've ever had. Even though I'm cleaning up after people and doing a lot of dirty work, I wouldn't trade it for anything! The Edwards family isn't your typical family of 2.5 kids, a dog, a little house in the suburbs with a white picket fence. Here's a shortened version of their story:

A few years ago, Dan & Jackie Edwards felt God leading them toward adoption. They already had 2 pre-teen daughters, Jessica & Hannah, but after much prayer, God led them to two little girls from an oprphanage in Liberia, Africa. These little girls, Sarah & Lucia (both 1 1/2 at the time) joined their family in August of 2006. While it was quite a challenge, they embraced Sarah & Luci with open arms. Luci was very sick and it was certainly an adjustment having to 2 little ones in the house, but they made it work! Soon after the girls arrived at home, God began speaking to them again about adopting a little boy, Yannick (who is about 6 months older than the little girls). Then, in May of 2007, he joined the Edwards clan!

Having 3 little ones who were new to the country and 2 older daughters who were home schooled was taking its toll on Jackie. She enlisted my help in August and it's been such a joyful experience! Dan & Jackie have such huge hearts, and it's been so cool to see God working out a much bigger plan than either of them expected! Jessica (13) and Hannah (12) are truly amazing girls, and it's been so much fun getting to see a different side of them. And of course, there are the little ones, Yannick (3), Sarah (2) and Luci (2). They melt my heart everytime I walk through the front door as they run to me screaming "Ms. Sarai's home! Ms. Sarai's home!"

Here's the entire Edwards Clan from front to back..Yannick, Sarah, Luci, Dan, Jackie, Jessica & Hannah.


Here's little Yannick and his GQ self!

This is Lucia (or Luci) with the most beautiful little smile!

And here's Sarah whose personality is as big as anything I've ever seen!

The bottom line is that I love this family, and am so grateful for their presence in my life!

Only In My Family...

My super fabulous and very brave sister-in-law, Lori teaches 5th grade. The other day, she sent me an IM that simply stated "Your uncle is pissing me off." I immediately BURST into laughter at this, what might seem strange to others, comment.

Now for a moment of clarification: This uncle of mine that she is referring to is a student in her class. No, he's not an old man who never made it out of the 5th grade. He's 10. And apparently, a little annoying.

And now for a moment where pen, paper and the drawing of dysfunctional family trees should be considered for understanding: My dad's dad (Papaw) used to live in GA, where common law is recognized as a legal form of marriage. He met Linda, who has 3 sons. They lived together for many years and were considered married by common law standards in the state of GA. Upon moving to NC, a state that doesn't recognize common law marriages, they continued to live together, but obviously according to the government, were just 2 people who wanted to shack up.

Move forward several years... Linda's youngest son met a girl. Girl already had one small baby. Youngest Son and Girl get pregnant. New Baby arrives. Youngest Son and Girl decide that they can't properly care for Baby and New Baby. Linda decides she will care for them...and adopt them as her own.

So, even though, according to the government, Linda is not, by law, married to my Papaw, and therefore, not my step-grandmother, making Baby (Callen) and New Baby (Junior, yes, Junior) not my legal "uncles" it's still pretty stinkin' funny to think that my 10 year old "uncle" is the one in the 5th grade classroom making Lori's day.

Montel, anyone?

Family Ties

I'm aware that I've only posted once in the past 6 months...and I say it's time to hop back on the blogging train.

You mightremember, from late last summer, when I posted about my family. At the time, my dad and my step-mom had split up and, needless to say, I was devestated. I didn't want to be forced into the pain of divorce again and I certainly didn't want to have to say good bye to "family" members I had grown to love while my dad and step-mom were married.

Well, here we are a year later. The divorce was final on Tuesday. My step-mom is getting married on Saturday. My dad is getting married July 14th. And sometimes I just don't understand it. As a person who in her first and last marriage, maybe I'm not supposed to. I can't grasp how in 365 days, a person can move on completely to the point of committing to another person in marriage. I don't know how that happens...especially when, as the child (and not the person who is getting ready to make a covenant with another human being), I'm often not sure that I'm ready for another "mom", "sister" and "brother" so soon. Oh, I'll accept them with open arms and treat them with the respect that they deserve. But it won't mean that there's little to no work involved in forming relationships with these people. And I guess those are family ties that I'm just going to have to get used to.

Parenting 101

The first weekend in November, Marty and I kept Bella (almost 3 at the time) and Eden (almost 7 months at the time) for an entire weekend.

Reasons we did it:
1-Their mom and dad (Aaron and Eli) went to DC for the weekend for Aaron's birthday, and thought the girls might need a little help to make it through the weekend.
2-They are probably the most well behaved children in all the world.
3-They are both on really good schedules...both in bed by 7:30 each night and awake at 6:30-7 each morning...and no, they don't get up in the middle of the night 10 times.
4-WE LOVE THEM!!!!

Overall, it was a positive experience. We had a few moments where screaming and pulling hair out might have been the approriate reaction, but we expected that. It was difficult getting used to sleeping with 2 baby monitors in the room. Little coos and whimpers from a teething Eden were cause for loss of a little sleep. I have the UTMOST respect for all stay at home moms!! I always knew that it was a difficult job, but now, I know first hand what to expect when we have kids. Granted, we won't get them at those ages all at one time. But the bottom line is, that it's hard, and most people don't get that hands on practice like we did!

Funny Bella story:
When she's 16 she probably won't appreciate the fact that I once shared this with the entire world, but it's just too funny to keep all to ourselves! Bella has always made sure someone was told "excuse me" when they passed gas...even if it was just a funny noise made on a leather chair. Now, she makes sure to say "excuse me" when she passes gas, which can sometimes be rather lengthy and loud. One day, she and Marty were watching a little Noggin. Bella was sitting on the couch all covered up, looking like the little cutie that she is. All of a sudden, a very loud and approximately 10 second long noise was heard by all in a mile radius...and it came from under Bella's blanket. Her response as she very intently watched her episode of the Backyardigans was "Thank You"....(5 second pause)..." I mean excuse me." She knew that she was supposed to say a polite phrase...

Here are some snapshots from the weekend:


**Bella and Lady (one of a few toys that Bella will sleep with, because Lady has hair)

**Bella being sneaky.

**Can you tell that we fed her sweet potatoes for lunch????

*And this would be Eden's "I'm making a fun diaper for someone to change" look. Good times.

It's been a long time

I knew it had been a long time since I posted, but I really didn't know that it had been a month!

CRAZINESS...that defines my life these days.

Here's what's been going on:

I was on a team for a Women's Emmaus Walk last weekend. That involved an overnight team meeting, extensive music preparation, gathering sound and media equipment, stressful setup and tear down, and being gone from hom Thursday through Sunday of last week. It was a great deal of fun and MUCH different than the Chrysalis teams I had served on in the past.

I got a call from my cousin's wife asking me to help her organize her kitchen. I had decided a while back that I was going to give up my organization business, but we need the money and I had the time...so I did it! It was great to hang out with her and have a little fun organizing too. It's such fun seeing the finished product! It's also a little inspirational...in other words it makes me want to organize more things in my house...and yes, there are things in my house that need to be organized!

We started using s new entry way at our church. This new entry way would be in the middle of 2 storage rooms which meant: either clean out the storage rooms or put curtains up so people can't see it. Curtains it was. MANY hours and MANY days were spent at church overcoming MANY obstacles to hanging these curtains. There was LOTS of black fabric, velcro (that didn't always cut it!), stitch witchery, ironing and sewing involved. In the end it all worked out...not real sure how long those curtains will hold, but I just can't think about that right now!

I hadn't had a Tupperware party since the beginning of June and that was just a catalog party. I was at a dead end and decided that I would give it one last shot. If I ran out of people to have parties again, then I was ok with cashing it in and getting rid of all this Tupperware that I have no room for. So, I did a part at my house at the end of August. There were only about 6 people here, but we had fun and I had 2 wonderful friends book parties with me. It's great to get the fun free/almost free stuff by being a consultant, but I've decided that if this last go round doesn't prove to be as successful as I would like, I'm ok with that. I'll have to hang up my Tupperware hat and just be satisified with being the #1 consultant in the region for like 5 months straight!

My nephew, Jordan, turned 2 on September 1st and what a little cutie he is! His little party was complete with LOTS of Elmo stuff. He's learning to talk more and I love walking into the room and hearing him call me "Wassi" (don't know where it came from but it sure is cute!).

I decided to become a D-Group leader for the Refuge (a coffee house/bible study at Mars Hill) and am excited to get to know my group of girls. It will be a challenge, but also a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to it!

I got to visit with Eli and Eden (Bella was napping) a week ago while they were in town. It was great to catch up with them and Eden has the biggest smile ever. She is developing such a little personality and I am so excited to watch her grow up! Marty and I are going to Raleigh in November on keep Eden and Bella for a weekend and I can't wait to have some more binding time with them!

My friend Nina, from WCU, had her first baby (Andrew Luke Chadwick) on September 2nd. I've only seen pictures of him, but is a sweet little thing and I can't wait to meet him tonight! Mommy and baby are doing fine. :)

On August 31st, Marty's PawPaw passed away. He was 94 and his health had been failing for quite some time. He lived a long and wonderful life but had been ready to go "home" for a while. Lori, Marty and I packed the car and headed south for 15 hours (both ways) to Jennings, Louisiana for the funeral. It was nice to meet some of Marty's mom's family that I hadn't met before and put faces with names that I had heard many times. However, it was really sad to have to say good-bye to one of the most kind hearted, gentle men I have ever met. He had such a wonderful personality that I wish I had gotten to see more of. He and his wife, Loretta, had been married for 66 years (together for 71) and it was very sad to her without him. She has recently had a heart attack, but is home from the hospital and on oxygen. Please help us pray that God's will woulr be done in that situation and that we would be prepared for whatever that is.

And now it's here: Railfest 2006. Railfest is a 2 day festival in Bryson City. As you might remember, my last festival was a big fat FLOP, but I am really excited about this one. They are expecting 10,000 people to come through that little town this weekend and with the Fireman's BBQ dinner and train rides and lots of music and crafts, I am hoping it is a big weekend for my business. I haven't had a lot to do in preparation for this festival, as I brought home almost everything I took with me to that last festival. I am just ready to change out my stock and get some fresh stuff for fall. I have 2 more festival coming up in the next month, but I'm ready to be busy making stuff for those if this one sells out. Pray for a sell out!!!

Hopefully, things are getting to be more routine around here and I'll be able to write more. It seems that elementary schools think blogs are the devil and are keeping my friends from keeping up with this trend with me. Hopefully we will all find time to keep up with each other soon!

Over and Over and Over Again

Recently, my life has been a little crazy. Most of you know that I had my first craft festival at the beginning of the month. Most of you may not know that it was not the best day of my life. The tent that was supposed to be provided was not. (Thank you, Brooke and your early morning Wal-Mart run!) The festival people charged a TWELVE DOLLAR ADMISSION for guests who wanted to come in and shop, eat, listen to music, whatever. People had to park 2 miles away and ride a stinky school bus to the festival site. Only half of the vendors showed up. I was there from 8am until 7:30pm and only sold SEVEN. ITEMS. Not only was that barely enough to cover the cost of my booth, it made for a VERY LONG DAY. Thankfully, I had my mom and Brooke there to keep me company and Lori even came out to join us in getting some really cool tan lines. So, the moral of the story is that it was a horrible financial experience, but I learned a lot! More festivals to come later in the summer. As for now, I am focusing my energy on selling to more retailers in Asheville. Anybody want a bag? I've only got EIGHTY of them! :)

As for life beyond the craft festival venture, things haven't been the best in the world. I will spare you all the boring details that my closest friends have spent hours listening to me talk about. I will say this: the life of my family seems to be on repeat. When I was 11 years old, my family was torn apart by divorce. My dad remarried, and I had a new step-sister. I remember that as an 11 year old, I was thinking to myself I am not happy about this. I don't like my new family. I want my old family back. The end. Then by the time I was 18, all the anger and hurt and rejection I felt as an 11 year old decided to surface. I was not a happy person. I was angry at my family. I was angry at myself. I was angry at people I didn't even know. After some VERY intense family conversations in which I was FINALLY able to speak my mind, I thought to myself If I can move past the past, we can all get on with our lives together, and maybe even learn to be happy with the situation. For the last 7 years I feel like my relationships with my dad and step-mom have improved and have actually become more fruitful than I ever thought they could. I felt that I was to the point where I could call my step-mom my friend. It was a good feeling to know that things were good; that I had learned to like these people in life that I hadn't always been fond of; that our family was ok...a little dysfunctional...ok a lot dysfunctional, but we were ok with each other, and that was all that mattered.
Then it happened. For the past couple of months, I knew something was up, but thought There is NO WAY that I am going to have to deal with all the crap that I had to deal with as a kid again. I'm too old for that. Adults shouldn't have to worry about that kind of stuff. Things are good here. Why are they being messed up? But it was true. My dad is moving on with his life. Our family, once again, will be destroyed by divorce. I'd rather not spill the whole story here, as I am not sure I want the whole world to know my pain and suffering. However, I'll say this: granted these people I call family have no blood relation to me, but they have been my "family" for 13+ years. I don't plan to look at this situation and say "Oh they are just my STEP-family. Sorry about our loss. Let's move on. It's been nice knowing ya." I CAN'T look at it that way. I have relationships with them. I WANT to call my step-mom and talk to her about things that are going on in our lives. I WANT to meet up with my step-sister and her husband and solve the world's problems and play with their sweet little boy, Jordan. I DON'T WANT our family to end. And maybe it hasn't . I mean, really, anything can happen. God doesn't want or like divorce. He doesn't want our family to be torn apart like this. I just have to keep praying (and hope that you will help me!) that hearts will be turned toward what GOD wants and not what SELF wants. This marriage CAN be restored, but only with love, time and God's help. I don't know the end of my family's story. All I know is that I don't like it happening over and over and over again.

A Week Of Craziness

As you all know, Marty and I kept our 2 year old god-daughter last week (9 days to be exact). I planned to update you all on the good and interesting times we had with her throughout the week. I quickly learned, as demonstrated through my lack of blogging since days 1 & 2 of the parents experience, that it was REALLY hard to throw a 2 year old into the mix of an already stinkin' crazy life...and find time to blog in the process. Here are some highlights/things I learned through a week with Bella:
1-Monitors are a MUST!! (thanks, Lo!) I REALLY like to sleep with the bedroom door closed and some sort of fan/white noise going in the background. The first few nights we had Bella, we didn't have monitors, and I didn't sleep well at all. The door had to be left open so we could hear her and the fan had to be turned off so we could hear her. This was fine until 6am when the sun decided to shine brighter than ever before through the living room window...which lit up the whole bedroom. Not a happy girl.
2-Monitors are also good for hearing what goes on during naptimes. One day, it was time for Bella to wake up from her nap and I heard her singing and talking to her bears (which was a normal, and VERY cute, thing), then I heard her say "I pooped." Well, this was no surprise to me as she usually did poop during her nap. Finally, she called for me to come get her, and whenI opened the door, I see this little girl...lying in the bed...poop-covered fingers in the air...and she says to me "I poop in my nap and put my hand in my diaper and look, it's on the pillow by me." I didn't know whether to laugh my hiney off or sit in the floor and cry. Needless to say, it was one of those moments I will NEVER forget!!
3-A Mitsubishi Eclipse is NOT a baby friendly car. Not for an infant...or a toddler...or even more then 2 grown adults. It's just not easy climbing in and out of a back seat that barely exists to squeeze a child in and out of her car seat.
4-VeggieTales are fun...the first 276 times you hear the CD.
5-My new favorite story is "The Three Little Pigs". Bella is SO cute when she tells this story. It makes me laugh just to think about it. I would try to type it how she says it, but it certainly wouldn't do the story justice. I don't know if the "not by the hair of my tinny tin tins" part or the "I will puff...and I will puff...and I will BALOW your house down (insert the cutest little blowing motion in the world here)" part is my favorite. TOO CUTE!
6-I don't like the new show "Pinky Dinky Doo" on the Noggin channel.
7-It will be much easier to work a child into my schedule from day one of their lives.
Overall, the parenting experience was full of learning. We learned so many things that we would have never even thought of before we have kids. And I love that little girl more now than I ever thought I would!

Lessons In Parenting (Days 1& 2)

Marty and I are keeping our 2 1/2 year old god-daughter, Bella, this week, and it's only fair that I share our experiences in parenting with you all. Here's what we've learned so far:
*Always ask if she needs to use the bathroom BEFORE she goes down for a nap...if not, be prepared to clean up ONE HECK OF A MESS and open all windows in the house for hours so that gagging isn't a part of walking down the hall past the rancid smell constantly emerging from her room.
*When getting ready to eat food that is too hot, you should "blow under it", or so Bella says.
* There aren't many more precious things in the world than when she lays down in bed at night and says "The Lords Prayer" and "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" from memory by herself. TOO CUTE!!
*Just because she talks about someone all morning long and even suggests sharing her raisins with that person, doesn't mean that she will engage in a conversation or even be able to look him in the face when the time to meet for lunch comes!
*My brother, Joseph (or Jyo-Jyo as Bella says), is her new boyfriend.
*Today we were going to stop a friend's office in Asheville, and I just so happened to say "I don't really know where I am or where I'm going." Then, Bella, who is SO wise for her 2.5 years says to me "I have an idea...we should call her." Brilliant, I say.
*When she was scared (because a dog was barking at her in a dream) I told her that everything would be ok because as long as she was at our house, we would protect and take care of her. She then looked me in the eye and said "And God will protect me at your house and at my house and everywhere." What an amazing reminder!
*Last night after dinner, she was still hungry so I offered peaches. She pulled the little bowl over to her and said "Peaches. I love them."
And I am sure the list could go on and on, but there are so many things that happen with her in one day, I can't even begin to remember them all!! She'll be here all week, folks, so I am SURE there is more to come!

Love this girl, too!

Little Eden is quite the little cuddlebug, and I soaked up every minute that I got hold her. She is absolutely precious, and looks JUST LIKE Bella at one week old, except with dark hair. Check out all her cuteness below:

**Here she is sleeping like a little angel. Awww, she takes after her Uncle Marty! :)
**Here she is striking her model pose. Her little nose...her little mouth...her pretty little eyes...I could just eat her up!

Love this girl!

Last Friday-Wednesday Mom, Marvin, Staci & I were waiting in Fayetteville for Joseph to come home (more stories related to that to come later). The first day we drug poor little Marvin around the every store in the town as we shopped 'til we dropped. Then, we spent a day at the pool. Finally on Monday, I realized we were only an hour and a half (or 2 1/2 hours if you try to follow the directions and leadership of a seemingly nice & helpful military man) from Raleigh which just so happens to be the home of brand new Eden Riley Hawkins and the rest of her family, Bella, Eli & Aaron. So, we hoped in the car and headed that way. Our visit was filled with LOTS of entertainment by Miss Bella herself, and lots of oohing and aahing over little Eden. Here are some highlights of Bella's silliness. More of Eden to come later.

**Even at 2, Bella still fits nicely into her Lego bucket!

**Bella provided our after-lunch entertainment. She showed off her skills on the ever so wonderful Little Tykes piano, put a new twist on the VeggieTales theme song and even introduced us to some Bella orginals. What a hoot!

Please Note

Note to all Saraig blog readers...I will not be blogging for the next few days because I AM GOING TO FORT BRAGG TO SEE MY BROTHER, JOSEPH!!! (And I am a little excited, in case you couldn't tell!!!) However, I will be back to the blogging world next week and my blog will be filled with fun stories and pics of homecoming fun, life on a military base, the thriving metropolis of Fayetteville, and many hours in a car. Be sure to check back soon to read about all this fun! I can't wait to share pics of my brother back in the states with you all!!!! :)

Things I Love Thursdays 4.20.06

Thing I Love: Eden Riley Hawkins

Little baby Eden was born on Tuesday, April 18th at 4:07pm in Raleigh, NC. She was 8lbs, and although disguised by her hat, she has LOTS of dark hair. Eden and mom, Eli, are doing just fine and are hoping to go home soon. Big sister, Bella is VERY exctied to have a little sister, and is already planning their adventures!

It's amazing to me that even though I have never met this little one, I already love her so much and can't wait to watch her grow up and develop her own little personality and discover her own little things in life. We are blessed to have Eden in our "family"!

Check out some pics of this precious little one:


**Here is Dad, Aaron, Bella & little Eden. (PS...if I am ever in the same room with Eden and Bella at the same time, I am not sure I will be able to stand all the cuteness!!!! Ahhh...aren't they adorable?!?!?!?!)
**Here is the proud Daddy and new baby girl. She looks SO much like Bella did when she was born...and even though you can't see it, I bet she has more hair than her dad!!! :)

Welcome to the world, Eden!

Randomness

There are some random things floating through my head today and since I am at home by myself all day with no one to talk to, why not share them with the entire world!?!?

**Weight Loss-It's one of those things that just gets on my nerves sometimes. It get on my nerves even more when it doesn't go at all like I think it should. Since the Spring of 2003, I have been trying to get rid of the 492 meals I ate at Chik-fil-A over the course of 4 years. For a year, I wasn't really getting rid of it, but I wasn't gaining any weight either. Then, in the Spring of 2004, I got engaged, and if that won't make you lose weight, I don't know what will!! We were only engaged for 10 weeks, but somehow between the wedding planning and summer camps and all the other crazy summer trips that happened, I lost about 10 lbs. And it was a good thing too, because I had no time to get my dress altered! After we got married, I stayed the same weight for about 6 months, then I realized that the newlywed eating-out-because-we-don't-want-to-cook syndrome was having an effect on me. I had no money to join a gym or Curves or anything like that, so I went out and bought a Tae-Bo Cardio DVD. I thought what the heck. It's $15. I started with the Tae-Bo, and I was doing it religiously. I was so out of shape that I couldn't get past the warm-ups, but I was getting there! Then, I got the chicken pox. 3 weeks of feeling like I had the flu of all flus accompanied by itching and discomfort was not good for my die hard workouts. After the chicken pox had FINALLY gone away, it was really hard to get back into the routine....and until January of this year, weighing more than I had ever weighed before, I never got back into the routine. Isn't it funny how the month of January causes people to do crazy things? Well, my crazy thing was to lose weight (along with 90% of Americans). I started eating Special K with Red Berries for 2 meals a day with a meat & veggie filled meal at night. I'm still kinda on that plan...just branching out to other foods in place of cereal every once and a while. I only eat 1200-1300 calories a day. I do Tae-Bo Cardio 3 days a week(I am finally up to 30 minutes, and way past the warm ups now!) and stretching/sit ups/push ups, etc, 2 days a week. I had a week with no weight loss and a week where I gained 2 pounds-not good. BUT, I have been working hard for about 6 weeks and I've lost 6 pounds. I would like to lose 20 more (that would put me back down at what I was when I finished my freshman year in college, and also in the range for my healthy body weight) and if I can lose 1 pound a week, I'm happy with that. If I lose more, I am WAY happy with that-who wouldn't be! So, I will keep you posted on my progress, and let you know when I can get into those stinkin' cute shorts I bought at Old Navy (for $10 a pair even!) 2 years ago and haven't been able to wear comfortably.

**JoJo-For those of you who don't know, my brother, Joseph, is serving with the Army Reserves in Afghanistan. He left a year ago and after 2 months at Fort Bragg, he left for Afghanistan. So, he's less than 2 months away from coming home after a year of service overseas. Last Saturday I went to the Family Readiness Group (FRG) meeting with my mom (this is the support group for the families who have loved ones serving overseas with the 391st) and their focus was on Homecoming. I was only there for the last part of the meeting, but I got so excited that I couldn't hardly stand it! To think that, in mid-April, we will get to meet them at the Fort Bragg Airport makes me happy! The FRG is planning all kinds of things to show thank yous and support to these guys who have been serving our country. They haven't been on the front lines like people normally think about when they think "war". They are an engineering battalion and have been building roads for the Afghan people. They gathered clothes and toys from the states during the winter and gave them to the Afghan children. Those pictures were precious! They have done a lot of work since April, and they have all bonded with each other like we can't even imagine. But I know they are ready to come home, and I am ready for them to be here!

**American Idol-I will begin by saying that I did not vote for anyone on AI this week because I had to watch the day late TiVoed American Idol. I was confident that 3 of the contestants who left last night (Becky O'Donahue, Stevie Scott-what were they thinking? and that Copacobana dude) were really going to leave. Patrick Hall, I feel, should have been in the competition a little longer. I realize that he is a little older, but the vocal control he has is AMAZING(note the correct use of this word, Lo). The song he sang during Hollywood week was unbelievable. While his 1st night song choice wasn't the greatest, he's still really good, and it wouldn't surprise me if we see him again!
My next week picks to leave: Kinnik Sky, Heather Cox (or Brenna Gethers-girl has an attitude that has GOT TO GO...she reminds me TOO much of Mikayla Gordon, and I am not sure I can put up with that again, and she's not good!), Kevin Covais & Bucky Covington ( I am not sure that at the start of AI they ever thought they would sign anyone named "Bucky"...but he's not good, you can't understand a word he says or sings, and seriously, people are you kidding me?!?!?!)
It's still too early to choose the top 12, because anything can happen. However, it really wouldn't surprise me if Katharine McPhee or Chris Daughtry win this thing!

**We had a malfunctioning tub stopper for awhile and about a month ago Marty installed a new one (that's my little Mr. Fix-it!). I LOVE BATHS!! Bubbles...no bubbles...it doesn't matter to me. I am usually really cold, and sometimes a good hot bath is all that will get me warm from head to toe again. One thing I don't like is a cold shower. There were many times during Chrysalis weekends where Brooke and I would head down to the showers and have to very carefully wash our hair and body with ice cold (and friends, this is no exaggeration) water. It was water that was so cold that when I stuck my head under the stream I had to prepare myself because I knew I would lose my breath for at least 30 seconds. It was rough, but at least I was clean! And I guess it makes me appreciate working hot water heaters even more.

OK, that's all the randomness I feel like talking about today...so hope you enjoyed and have a WONDERFUL weekend!

Tell All Tuesdays 1.31.06

Tuesdays are the hardest days for me to stick with the theme. The people I know who read this already know most things about me...and if there are things people don't know about me, it's for a good reason!! So, just know that these days are probably not going to be the most interesting, but you just might learn something you didn't already know!

Today, I will choose to reminisce about my childhood. I have a younger brother...notice I said younger, not smaller. We are 2 years apart, and from the time he was 4, he was bigger than I was. Well, as siblings often do, we fought...like cats and dogs. We were so mean to each other! He had the strength to hold me down and I had the nails to draw blood from his arms.

When Joseph and I were about 8 and 10, he got a pair of boxing gloves for Christmas. My parents decided to put an end to this physical abuse between the two of us. Joseph is left handed and I am right handed. So, when we couldn't stop fighting, we would each be forced to take our designated boxing glove, of the pair, and fight each other. Picture for a moment...2 children...wearing one boxing glove each...fighting madly...Ahh, good times. I would like to thank our parents for this amusing Tuesday story!