Week 2

Week two on Weight Watchers went pretty well. I lost two pounds and dh lost three. I am hoping to increase my water intake this week. I was not drinking nearly enough last week. I also hope to exercise more. I only did it three times last week. So here goes another week...

Looking and Praying

Now that we've moved over an hour away from our former church, we have the unenviable task of looking for a new church home. We have been praying the Lord will lead us where He wants us to attend, where we can minister and be ministered to. We haven't attended any yet that instantly said "This is home" to us, but last Sunday's service was very good, especially the worship. It's called Warren Community Fellowship, and it's a medium-sized church. Both hubby and I loved the worship, but then we found out the worship pastor is only an interim pastor. Both kids seemed to enjoy Sunday School too.

When we got home we walked across the street to meet the new neighbors that moved in last week, and their little girl who just turned five said, "He was in my class," pointing to Ryan. It turns out they have been attending WCF for two years and really like it. There's also another family a couple houses down the block who attend. It was nice to find other Christians in our neighborhood, and it definitely makes us think harder about making WCF our church home. It would be wonderful to fellowship with neighbors! But until the Lord makes it more clear, we're still praying and looking.

Weight Loss

Well, here I am again at a weight I swore I would never get back to. Sigh. There's nothing else to do but to get back on the weight loss path again. My hubby and I started back on Weight Watchers last Monday. Last time I joined the online version, but money is pretty tight and I know how the program works, so we're just going it alone. Our first week went really well. I lost six pounds and hubby lost eight. Hopefully we can persevere long enough to get down to more healthy weights. I had made it a goal two years ago to get down to a "normal" weight for me (according to standardized weight charts) by the time I turned 40. That's not going to happen, but I can still get down to what I weighed when I got married, which is a big improvement on where I am now!

Cold and Windy Adventure

Last Friday I had to take our van in for some routine servicing, and I had several hours to kill before we could get it back. I thought instead of just waiting for hours in the waiting room (have done that before too), I'd take the kids on the bus and go to the library. So we crossed the street and stood waiting for the bus for about 15 minutes. It seemed like an eternity though. It was about 30 degrees outside and the wind was galing, bringing the wind chill temps down to the teens or lower. I told myself that it would be fine once we got to the library because we could just browse for hours, read books, and eat our lunch that we brought with us.

At last the bus arrived, and I paid my $1.95 fare for the very short ride up the street to our stop. The ride wasn't nearly long enough to warm us up, but off we went to walk three blocks to the library. It was incredibly cold, and I was glad Abby had mittens on. Ryan didn't have mittens, but his coat was long enough to cover his hands. Mine, though, were freezing! As we walked to the library, I had this horrid thought that maybe the library wouldn't be open. They have changed hours after the last election, blaming budget cuts for their shorter hours. Sure enough as we rounded the corner to the front door, I saw that they wouldn't be open until 1:00! It was now 10:30.

We walked two blocks back to a different bus stop we had passed, and we huddled in the shelter while I decided what to do. The busses on this route go to the transit center where we can catch the Max line (Portland's light rail). Since the kids love riding the Max, I decided to catch another bus to the transit center which isn't very far away. We waited about 10 minutes for the next bus, VERY grateful for the shelter this bus stop had.

We got on the bus for another short ride, and as we exited the bus I was hurrying the children along because the Max was at the stop and we could catch it if we hurried...or so I thought. As we got closer I realized that instead of the usual "Gresham" sign, it said "Not in Service." Ugh. Because of the high winds, a substation had lost power and they were bussing people downtown. We were freezing cold so I just hopped on the shuttle bus headed for downtown. It took me about five minutes to soothe Abigail and get her to stop crying because she was so disappointed that we didn't get on the Max.

The kids enjoyed looking out the window though, and while they looked I decided to call Eddie and see if he was available for lunch. We ended up catching the Max line downtown and meeting him for an impromptu lunch at the mall food court. It was nice to see him during the day, and the kids were having a swell time. After Daddy left to go back to work, we walked the cold, windy three blocks back to the Max. Actually we ran the last block so we wouldn't miss the train. Made it just in time!

They still hadn't gotten the train up and running, so we caught another bus downtown and then transferred once again at the transit center to the bus that took us back to the Kia dealership. Whew! I was never so happy to get into my gas-guzzling minivan and crank up the heat in all my life! Public transportation is great if you have no other way to get places, but I'll take my own vehicle over it any day, especially cold and windy days.

Just Thinking

I've been pondering a couple things the last couple of days. The first is very near and dear to my heart...adoption. A friend of mine just found out they will be adopting a 21-month-old little girl, and they will be getting her this weekend! It's been interesting to watch the process as an outsider this time instead of as the participant. The emotions and fears are often so intense, then, strangely, the next moment there's ambivilence, giving rise to the sensation of being on a roller coaster ride of unknown duration.

But the amazing and precious thing to me is how I heard the change in her voice the day she told me they were chosen to be her parents. Gone was the ambivalence, gone were the fears (for the moment, anyway), and all I heard in her voice was excitement and love for this new daughter whom they have never even met! How can people not believe in God when you see that kind of capacity for love? Surely, only the Lord is able to make love flow from hearts of mere men in such a powerful way.

I am so grateful to have been adopted into God's family and to have been blessed to adopt two beautiful children. I know my friend and her family will have their ups and downs with this little girl, but what a blessing she is to them...and them to her!

The second thing that's been rolling around in my thoughts lately is marriage. I've watched marriages come and go, I've witnessed couples pull their marriages back together after devastating actions by one or both spouses, and I've seen others who have frittered away their marriage giving it less thought than they give to their wardrobe.

What's the key to a successful marriage? I don't mean successful in the sense that a couple manages to tolerate each other enough to stay married, but successful in the sense that both husband and wife are growing and love each other's company and work through conflicts instead of ignoring them.

After over 12 years of marriage, I certainly know there's no formula, but I am becoming more and more convinced that next to an unwavering committment on the part of both spouses, selflessness is paramount to a healthy marriage. Duh. I'm as selfish as the next person, but starting today, my goal for this year is to learn to be as selfless as possible, particularly in regard to my hubby. I am grateful that I have a Lord who can enable me to do this as I trust Him to change me and mold me into His image! I love you, Eddie!

What Not To Do

My hubby and I have moved five times in our marriage (counting our first move to Tennessee right before we actually were married), and of all of those moves our last one had to have been the move unorganized and chaotic of all. In the spirit of wanting to spare others from the mistakes I've made, I've put together a list of the top five things NOT to do when you're moving:



1. Don't move during the rainiest winter in ten years. I guess there's no way to know when this is going to happen, but if you can avoid it, I recommend doing so. Living in the Pacific Northwest, rain is part of the equation, and usually we all take it in stride. A few weirdos (myself included) actually enjoy the rain. However, moving soggy boxes and tracking mud and water throughout old and new house is not ideal. "Can't you just pull the moving truck up to the garage door?" you say. Yeah, you could if they had poured the concrete more than a week before! But since our concrete driveway was so "green," and it had been raining ever since the day they poured it, it was recommended that we allow it to cure another couple of weeks before driving a vehicle on it.


2. Don't give boxes that you've been saving to a coworker to use for his move first. My dear hubby (dh to those of us who use cyber slang) saved boxes at work for use during our move. However, a savvy coworker took note of that and asked if he could use the boxes for his move which was a couple weeks earlier and then bring them back after he was done. Sure, dh said, if you promise to bring them back. Well, after prompting he did bring some back. Of course he didn't bother to flatten the few he brought back and they were all squashed and almost useless, but who's keeping track. Also dh's assistant decided to "help" and threw out a bunch of boxes Ed had been saving as well. Needless to say, when it came time to move, we were short on boxes and had to go on a desperate search for the increasingly rare commodity...the unwanted, unrecycled box!


3. Don't find out the day before you're going to move! Again, probably not always something you can predict, but it is usually best to have at least several days advance notice that you are going to be moving. Don't misunderstand, of course I knew we would be moving sometime soon, but we didn't actually know until the day before that indeed we would be able to move into our new house the next day. When we set our closing date back in September, our realtor and builder said January 1st would be allowing plenty of time. Well, rain delays and other issues pushed our closing out another two weeks, which really isn't too bad in the scheme of things. Of course our neighbor with the bright blue house (whom the builder said had a gazillion addendums to be done) got to move in weeks before the rest of us though his house was on the same time schedule as ours. Hmmmm...what's up with that?


4. Don't allow one family member to contract a highly contagious stomach flu the day before you move! As I reflect on this list, I can see that these things are largely out of one's control. Still, I have to earnestly advise you to avoid this one if at all possible. Thursday evening (we moved on Friday) my sweet little boy came into the kitchen and was acting strange, but couldn't tell me what was wrong. Just as I was about to panic thinking he was choking, out it came...his entire dinner, all over the floor, me, and him. I am ever so grateful he came into the kitchen and got off the carpet! After cleaning everything and everyone up, my poor baby spent the rest of the evening sitting on the toilet. So began our family flu epidemic. Friday evening, hubby said he didn't feel well, and sure enough, that night saw him running to the bathroom every half hour or so. My dad who graciously flew up to help us move (and ended up unloading the bulk of boxes on Friday due to Ed's illness), had to have the truck pull over to the side of the road so he could empty his stomach. I started fervently praying that I would escape this illness and sprayed Lysol and broke out the hand sanitizer, but Sunday night was my turn. We skipped Monday without further breakout, but Tuesday my mom (who also flew up to help) came down with it. My dear daughter never threw up but had horrible diarrhea for days. Though the illness only last about 48 hours, our unpacking came to all but a standstill.


5. Don't schedule a surgery if you have any idea you might even remotely think you're going to move! I have no one to blame but myself for this one. I thought for sure we'd be moved and settled in, but I should have known better and scheduled Ryan's surgery for the next month. With all the stress of buying a new house, trying to schedule flights for my dad to be here when we moved, packing and moving, none of it compared to the stress of knowing my little boy was going to have surgery. We moved on Friday, and Ryan had surgery the next Wednesday. Fortunately, he was fully recovered from the flu (can't say the same for Gramie), and his surgery went just fine. I'm so grateful we have a faithful Lord. I prayed for about 45 minutes the night before his surgery and at last I had peace that he would come through just fine, but adding this stress to all the others was almost too much. It took us weeks to physically recover from the sickness and just the stress, I think. Even the kiddies were sleeping much later than usual, and we all just seemed exhausted for the first couple of weeks.

As we were going through all these unpleasant things, I kept telling myself that this would all be a funny memory one day. Sure enough, now that we've lived in our new home for a month, I have almost forgotten how miserable we were. I'm blessed to have such a beautiful home and wonderful family! I thank God for his blessings both big and small, and I look forward to making our house a comfy retreat for all who enter!

We've Moved

Well, it finally happened. We closed on Thursday and moved on Friday. It was not a smooth move (more in a later post), but we're now residing in our beautiful new home!

Closing

Well, after much stress and confusion (mostly due to the way our builder deals with prepaids and upgrade costs), we finally signed the loan documents for our house yesterday. It was a long two-hour process, but thankfully, the kids were really well behaved (what a blessing!) so we were able to get done as fast as possible. Hopefully we will record and fund today, but most likely it will be tomorrow. So we will be taking possession in the next day or two, and we can actually move in!

We took a look at the house again yesterday, and they did all the interior touch-ups (well, almost all), and they are scheduled to finish them up today. We won't be able to get some of the exterior things done until this rain stops long enough for things to dry out, but that could be May for all we know, so we're going ahead and closing. Most of our neighbors are in the same situation, and I noticed yesterday that they don't have gutters painted and little exterior touch-ups done either. Fortunately, our builder is just starting on the last dozen or so houses in the subdivision and will be right up the street for months to come.

Thank God our furnace went out...

...after we sold our house! Our furnace was working great on Saturday morning, but then it never came on again. It's been a little chilly, but I am so grateful we don't have to pay to have it repaired! The new owner had me call a repairman, and the repairman said it's a bad sequencer. I don't know yet when they'll get the part to fix it, but at least we have a wood burning fireplace. We had to buy some kindling and some seasoned wood because our dwindled stash is soaking wet, but at least we can warm it up enough to get us through the next few days.

Walkthrough

Yesterday we had our inspection done on the house. The inspector was very pleased with the quality of construction of the house, and said it is very sound. He did find a few minor issues and two things a little more major that need to be fixed. The builder was aware of one of them already (and was not pleased with the concrete subs) and is working on getting is rectified. He also was already at work on the rest of the punch list before the inspection was even over!

This morning we're heading out for our walkthrough. They cleaned the house yesterday, and hopefully fixed some items that we have already pointed out. We are supposed to sign papers tomorrow, and hopefully the punch list will be complete by then and we can get our keys tomorrow or the next day. My dad is flying up Thursday evening to help us do the major move on Friday.

Hopefully everything will go as planned from here on out. Ryan's surgery is looming in the back of my mind, and both Ed and I are very stressed. I think the kids are stressed too...probably picking up on our stress. I can't wait for this move to be completed and we're enjoying our new house instead of just dreaming about it!

At Last

Whew! We had a brief break in the weather, and they poured our driveway, sidewalk, and walkway yesterday. That was the major obstacle we've had in finalizing our new house. It now looks like we may be able to move next week, hopefully Friday.

We are so ready to move! It's been a stressful couple of weeks. I don't do well with my house in chaos, especially through Christmas. There are boxes everywhere, half of the kids' toys are packed away (and of course those are the ones they keep asking to play with), part of the kitchen is packed, lots of books are packed, but now it's time to get down to packing in earnest! Maybe after I get some more stuff packed it will clear a spot for me to stack some of these boxes I keep tripping over! Anyway, I thank God He gave us a break in the rain for a day and a half.

Maybe Tomorrow

I just got a call from our Realtor letting us know that they're supposed to pour concrete first thing tomorrow morning! I am fervently praying for the forecast to stay the same...no rain till tomorrow evening. Just about everything else is ready. They hung the doors, installed the range, painted the trim, and did lots of little things here and there. Our loan docs should be ready on Friday, though we probably can't sign till Monday. Maybe we can get moved in next week.

On another note, I took the kids to the park today. It felt so good to be outside and see them running around and climbing to their hearts' content! Hopefully we can go for a long walk or do something else outside tomorrow also. I'm not really a big sunshine person, but having little ones cooped up in the house is a big downer!

Weather Woes

I just got off the phone with our Realtor who's been working all day to get things finished up on our house. It now comes down to the concrete. If we can get a break in the weather this weekend or the first couple days of next week, then they can pour and we can move in next weekend. Normally, I really don't mind rain, but I am going to be praying for a break! I prayed for no rain last Friday also since we were moving my mother-in-law with our two kiddies in tow. I think this will only be the second time I've ever prayed it won't rain!

End of the Spear

As some of you know, Elisabeth Elliot is one of my heroes of the faith. Her books and exhortation has helped me grow in my Christian faith and have helped me view suffering not as something to run from but to grow through. She is probably best known by her first husband Jim Elliot. He and four others were martyred while trying to bring the gospel to Eucadorian Indians.

There is now a movie telling the story of their courage and love for these unreached people called End of the Spear. The movie will be released January 20, and I'm hoping it will come to a theater near us. Maybe we can see it while my mom is here to watch the kids!

If you aren't familiar with the story, I'd highly recommend Elisabeth's book Through Gates of Splendor. I don't know if the movie goes into it or not, but the most astonishing and inspiring part of the story to me is that not long after her husband was murdered by these indians, Elisabeth Elliot put her infant daughter on her back walked back into that jungle, not willing to give up on these people for whom her husband had died trying to reach. What an amazing woman of God!

Two More Weeks

We drove out to see our new house yesterday. They hadn't progressed as much as we had hoped, but they did make some progress. They hung all the doors, installed the thermostat, bathroom mirrors and shower door, and they finished all the interior trim. They poured the back patio slab, but not the driveway or sidewalk.

They still need to intall the correct appliances, install an electrical outlet in garage for freezer, put in some extra cabinets we ordered in the utility room (and take out the shelf they mistakenly installed), install carpet in kids' rooms, do tile detail around fireplace, paint gutters, install thresholds and new front door, install all hardware (such as doorknobs), paint trim and do interior paint touchups, and, of course, pour the driveway and sidewalk. Then we still need to get an inspection, do our walkthrough, sign papers, etc.

It sounds like a lot to finish to me, but our Realtor said we're still on track to move in on the weekend of January 7th. I really hope and pray we can move that weekend. Ryan's surgery is scheduled for the 18th, and I really want to be mostly moved in and settled by then. Gramie comes on the 14th, and I really don't want to move the weekend she gets here either. We're praying we can get moved in before then, Lord willing!

Adoption Legislation

Would you really like to promote adoption and support adoptive families? Here's your chance! This year some adoption legislation was introduced that would make it financially easier to adopt. If you have adopted, are thinking of adopting, or are an adoption advocate, please write your representatives to urge them to vote for these bills! It's really easy. Just click on this link, locate your congressmen and senators (it's all automated and very easy), and then write your own letter or copy and paste the sample letter provided. The link also has a description of the legislation.

The current Adoption Tax Credit provides a tax credit (not a deduction!) to adoptive families of up $10,000 (actually it goes up slightly every year, but it's still less than $11,000) and allows you to carryover any unused portion for an additional five years. Our family has benefitted from the current tax credit, but only a little. As the law reads now, only adoptive families with a yearly tax liability of $1,667 or more will reap all the benefits from the credit. If your income is lower, hence your liability is lower, the carryover expires before you use up all the credit (seems counterintuitive to me), though every little bit helps. This new bill would not change anything for higher income earners, but would extend the same relief (maybe more) to those who need it most.

In our case we adopted two years in a row, so we in fact lose four years of our carryover since the five years run concurrently and not consecutively (we get six years instead of ten). We currently have $17,000+ of adoption tax credit to carryover for the next four tax years. I think our tax liability last year was less than $900, so unless my husband receives a substantial pay increase, there is no way we will even use up Ryan's tax credit and Abby's will remain wholly unused. If this new legislation is passed, we would be allowed to carryforward our tax credit until it is used up!

Also, they are proposing making it a refundable credit for people with lower incomes (I don't know if we would qualify or not), and that is the best possible fiscal news I can think of for people who are adopting! That means that at tax time adopting families would get an actual refund of up to $10,000 ($15,000 if the new bill is passed) of their adoption expenses instead of a credit against tax liability. Really fantastic!

One last note, this legislation is being proposed by Congressman Harold Ford Jr. of Tennessee. We lived in Memphis for six years, and he came into office while we were there (I didn't vote for him). I was frequently sending him emails to encourage him to vote pro-life only to be disappointed. I am so pleased to see he's doing something positive and pro-life! (For those of you who know my famous "Jesse Jackson Story," he was the congressman up on stage with Jesse who was running for his father's congress seat!)

Tentative Move-In Date

Oops, it looks like we left the exterior lights on!

We went to check on the progress of our new house last weekend. They have installed the laminate flooring (looks great!), finished the countertops, installed toilets and sinks including faucets, installed microwave and dishwasher (wrong ones), and put in all the light fixtures. They have framed up the driveway, patios and walkways, and they should pour those this week, weather permitting. Hopefully this week they will also install the correct appliances and our range, which is on-site, but not installed yet.

The microwave is supposed to be white.


I've always wanted a utility sink!

The remaining things to be done are hanging doors, installing carpet in Ryan's and Abby's rooms, interior trim, tile detail around fireplace, mirrors in bathrooms, and paint the gutters. It could all be done very quickly, but with Christmas and New Year's holidays coming up, our Realtor said it will probably not be ready to close and move in until the 7th of January. He said we would know more at the end of this week when we see what all they accomplished.

They had the flooring protected everywhere except this room.


Ryan had fun turning the lights on and off. This is the kids' bathroom.

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I changed my settings (just for my lurker Steven!) so my site now allows RSS Feeds. I didn't realize I had them turned off on this site. Hope that helps!

Perfect Day

Friday was one of those days you can't plan for and never seems to happen when you most want it too but is such a blessing when it does happen! We had a full day of driving and hiking and helping Daddy at his work, but the real blessing was that the kids were so well behaved! It was such a joy to enjoy them the entire day without having to correct or discipline them for something.

The Glory of His Name

Glory to God in the Highest

Roy Lessin

Co-Founder DaySpring Cards

The message of Christmas is not about the proclamation of a holiday or the declaration of a season. It is about the proclamation of a Person and the declaration of Salvation. The birth of the child in the manger was an event that prophets had written about, the people of Israel had spoken about, the patriarchs of old had wondered about, and the angels of God shouted about on that glorious night when Christ was born.

Turn back the clock 2000 years and you will hear no man or angel saying, “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.” What you will hear are the things that spoke of the wonders of His name, the glory of His presence, and the meaning of His birth. You will hear the voice of the angel of the Lord proclaiming to a small band of shepherds the following good news, * “Have I got something to say to you! It’s news that is too good not to be true. It’s news that will flood you with joy from your head to your toes. God has done it! He has sent the One that He has promised to send, the Jewish Messiah, from David’s very seed. Yes, it is Yeshua, God’s Salvation, who has come to save you from your sins.” The news was so exciting that a huge number of angels could no longer contain themselves. In one thunderous voice they shouted out, * “Glory, glory to God in heaven’s highest place. He has sent to earth’s lowly place His gift of perfect peace, and it is now available for all who will believe.”

Why did the angels have such excitement and celebration? We only need to know the names that belong to Him to understand.

Jesus—the One who saves you from your sins and who brings you forgiveness from the past.

Christ—the One sent by God for you; the Messiah, the fulfillment of every promise God has made to you in His word; the only One anointed by God to redeem you.

Immanuel—the One who came from heaven to earth to bring you from earth to heaven; God living in the midst of your life, being with you, and abiding in you.

The Word—the One who formed you in your mother’s womb, brought you into existence, and created you for His eternal purpose.

Dayspring—the One who brought light to your darkness—bringing you the hope of a new day, a new beginning, and a new life.

Wonderful—the One who does wondrous things for you, good things to you, and beautiful things within you.

Prince of Peace—the One who quiets your heart, calms your spirit, and brings rest to your soul.

Counselor—the One who guides your footsteps, leads you in the paths of righteousness, and speaks the love of the Father to your heart.

May all Jesus is, and all He gives, be your true celebration this Christmas and always!