Top 10 from 2010

Here's 10 of my favorite pictures from 2010!

 Playing in the snow!

 A random stop in Australia.  

 Loving my friends in New York City!

 A fun summer afternoon on Beaver Lake!

 My toes in the sand!

(and what beautiful toes they are!:)

  

My friend Mike and I batting at Miracle League!

Ma, myself, Mom and Hadleigh June on the front porch!

Two of the LOVES of my life!

Bryan and I at the Bellagio for our anniversary weekend!

Sweet time with my bestie.  It's hard being so far apart.  

 2010 has been a year of learning, seeing, and doing!  I'm learning how to be a wife, how to be a better friend, a better listener....and how to hold my tongue.  I fail miserably frequently.  I've also seen and experienced things this year that have changed my life.  I have held, hugged and loved on children....from my niece and nephew here in Arkansas, to children in orphanages half way around the world.  I have seen "need" and I have seen "excess" this year.  

I have bought a house, circled the globe, vacationed, visited friends, laughed...and cried along the way!  

I really, really love New Year's! It's such an exciting time to make plans for a fresh year.  And I love any holiday that involves champagne.  I also love a NEW planner (yes, the paper kind you use a pencil with....) and a new calendar hung on my wall!  So clean and new.  It's right up there with new school supplies, which also make me very happy.   

I can't wait to see what 2011 brings.  

Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should old acquaintance be forgot,
and old lang syne ?

For auld lang syne, my dear,

for auld lang syne,

we'll take a cup of kindness yet,

for auld lang syne.

Princess Shoes....

It was a great Christmas weekend.  Lots of family, eating, and relaxing.  And did I mention, eating? 

On another note...Santa knows me too well.  I was very excited about my new sparkly shoes.  Someone else also really liked them, and she got her own pair of princess shoes for Christmas from her Aunt Katie.  

And here she is showing Papa and Grandad the princess shoes.  I love Grandad and Papa's expressions.  Pretty priceless.

I told Had today, to make sure her foot grew to a size 9, because she was in line to inherit my shoe collection when I'm too old to wear them.... :)    

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Christmas fun in pictures!  More to come...

 Hadleigh and I in front of my crazy pile of glitter tree! :)  I've given up on her looking at the camera most of the time...she's too busy.  

 I LOVE having a house full of friends!  I'm blessed with lots of good ones!

 Bryan and I, and I am sporting my "carrot top" earrings, a special gift made for me by my friend Greg!

 Jami, Monica, Lindsey and Shawn!  

 My Carmen, myself and Kate-o!

My sweet friend Jarah!

 Myself, Kati and Whitney at the Bullington's...

TEAM party! 

I LOVE these ladies!

 Having fun and being silly at the TEAM party!  

Amanda, myself, Kelly, Whitney and Kati!

Cuddling on the couch at Mamaw's with the pups and my girls! :)

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas, and takes time to slow down and remember Jesus, and the miracle of his birth.  This Christmas season I have read and heard several things about the shepherds.  I have never really given them TOO much thought, they were just out in their fields, watching their flocks...and then an angel came and gave them the good news of the Savior's birth!  But I've really been thinking about what it must have been like for them, going to see Jesus, and then spreading the word about Jesus' birth.  They weren't religious leaders, or mighty influential people....they worked in the fields.  And God picked them to tell first.  I love that he picked the common, lowly people in society's eyes, to tell about the birth of Jesus.  A great reminder of no matter what your position or place in this world, you can do mighty things through Him.  

Approaching Christmas!

A good reminder from my devotional this morning as we go into this holiday season....


Dear Lord, give me Your eyes to see and Your ears to hear the needs of those around me; not just at Christmas, but always. I long to share Your passion for the poor and the needy. Help me remember true wealth is not measured by the size of my bank account, but by the size of my heart. 
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Reading Books!

Hadleigh and I read lots of books last night before bed.  She picked to read "A Christmas Story" and "Goodnight New York City" over and over again.  The Christmas story book was Joe and I's when we were little and I bought Hadleigh the Goodnight NYC book before she was even born!  I wanted her to learn to love NYC at an early age!  Both of these are good picks to read repeatedly in my opinion! :)

While we were reading A Christmas Story, every time we would get to the part about Joseph and Mary, she would say "Joseph, like my daddy!"  Since her daddy has the same name!  It was too cute.  Then we would get to the page with the wise men, and she would say "Wise men give baby Jesus presents!"  I loved every minute of reading with her!

We also practiced identifying the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building in the NYC book.  She'll be all ready for her first big apple trip with her Aunt Ahmi.  :)

A Ukraine post....

And a call to prayer.  Several of the children our group met while working in Ukraine in April are in the process of being adopted...and SO CLOSE to having a family.  It's SO exciting!  Everyone of them deserves a home.

The challenges that go along with this whole adoption process is how LONG it takes to complete the paperwork, raise the money, complete a home study, a dossier...etc.  I am sure I don't even know the half of what it takes, but I know plenty of people working hard, jumping through hoops to get their paperwork done, so THEIR child will be home with their family...and out of an orphanage crib.

Apparently Ukraine is voting this month sometime on whether or not to continue to allow adoptions to take place.  This would mean that the parents in the process of bringing their child home would no longer be allowed to complete their adoption (from my understanding).   And this....completely.... Breaks. My. Heart.

You can read more about it here and  here. 

Adoption seems like an emotional roller coaster as it is, so I can't imagine what they are all going through knowing this vote could stop this journey, and leave their child in a crib halfway around with world.

I don't understand the reasoning behind all of this...or the "ins and outs" of it for that matter.  I just know that I follow several blogs of adoptive parents, and lots of Ukrainian kids.  I've held many of these kids with my own two arms...and I can NOT imagine them losing their chance to have a mom and dad...a family....a home...and all that LOVE.


Pray that the God will soften the hearts of the people voting on this decision in Ukraine, and that Ukrainian adoptions stay open...so all of these kids will find their way home.  

ESFJ

I saw a link on a blog I read to a short version of the Myers-Briggs personality test.  I took the test it in college as part of a class, and I was the exact same as I was tonight.....ESFJ (Extraverted-Sensing-Feeling-Judging).  B took the test several years ago, I can't remember his exact results, but I am sure they would be opposite of mine.  And we laughed at his results, because a few of his personality descriptions were exact things I had said to him before.

It's interesting to look at the types of personalities people have, and how they perceive things/react to things.  Here's the link to the short version of the Myers-Briggs

Here's the short description of an ESFJ...it's a long description, and of course I only copied and pasted the first several paragraphs.  They were they said most of the good things, with all personality types, there are definite downfalls...I left those out!  I want to hear what my friends are....let me know! :)

The Caregiver

As an ESFJ, your primary mode of living is focused externally, where you deal with things according to how you feel about them, or how they fit in with your personal value system. Your secondary mode is internal, where you take things in via your five senses in a literal, concrete fashion.
ESFJs are people persons - they love people. They are warmly interested in others. They use their Sensing and Judging characteristics to gather specific, detailed information about others, and turn this information into supportive judgments. They want to like people, and have a special skill at bringing out the best in others. They are extremely good at reading others, and understanding their point of view. The ESFJ's strong desire to be liked and for everything to be pleasant makes them highly supportive of others. People like to be around ESFJs, because the ESFJ has a special gift of invariably making people feel good about themselves.
The ESFJ takes their responsibilities very seriously, and is very dependable. They value security and stability, and have a strong focus on the details of life. They see before others do what needs to be done, and do whatever it takes to make sure that it gets done. They enjoy these types of tasks, and are extremely good at them.

ESFJs are warm and energetic. They need approval from others to feel good about themselves. They are hurt by indifference and don't understand unkindness. They are very giving people, who get a lot of their personal satisfaction from the happiness of others.
They want to be appreciated for who they are, and what they give. They're very sensitive to others, and freely give practical care. ESFJs are such caring individuals, that they sometimes have a hard time seeing or accepting a difficult truth about someone they care about.
With Extraverted Feeling dominating their personality, ESFJs are focused on reading other people. They have a strong need to be liked, and to be in control. They are extremely good at reading others, and often change their own manner to be more pleasing to whoever they're with at the moment.
ESFJs respect and believe in the laws and rules of authority, and believe that others should do so as well. They're traditional, and prefer to do things in the established way, rather than venturing into unchartered territory. Their need for security drives their ready acceptance and adherence to the policies of the established system. This tendency may cause them to sometimes blindly accept rules without questioning or understanding them.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I found this recipe on another blog, and it looked so good....I had to try it.  I am the only pumpkin fan in my household of two, so I pawned some of them off on a friend and my mom.  I accidentally forgot the egg (oops) in the first batch...and they even turned out ok...so, I added the egg and finished baking the rest of them.  I can't decide if I'm forgetful...or distracted.

On another note, on Friday I was driving to see a kiddo at a local school and I somehow managed to swallow my gum...and then choke on it.  And then when I got to the school, I had to navigate 3 steps in the hallway, and one minute I was marching along...the next minute I was being helped up off the floor.  I called husband, and he didn't sound shocked at all that I had swallowed my gum, and then tripped and fell down all within 15 minutes.  I called my aunt, who shares my gracefulness and we had a good laugh.

If I had a cooking show, the title might be something like...."What will she forget today?" or "The forgetful cook who falls!"  It's a good thing I can laugh at myself...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/2 cp flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cp butter
1/4 cp butter flavored shortening
1/2 cp white sugar
1/2 cp brown sugar
1 can pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 pkg milk chocolate chips

Measure and combine dry ingredients, minus sugars. Cream butter, shortening and
sugars. Add pumpkin, vanilla, egg and mix. Add dry mixture and chocolate.
Bake for 11 mins @ 350.

"Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower."

I love this time of year, like really, really love it!  Pumpkins, mums, boots, fall leaves, kids in Halloween costumes, frost and football season all make me very, very happy!  

I always want it to last a little longer than it does.  

But it's easier to let go of knowing that the holidays are coming soon after!  We have enjoyed the weather, football, tailgating and being settled in our house.  We have lots of projects we want to do still, but nothing that can't wait a little longer.  Here's a few pictures from the past several weekends!

Our porch!  My mums aren't that great looking, but they have been through rounds of being watered, and then forgotten.  That's the kind of gardener I am...:)

A craft I did at work with some of my kiddos...we had fun picking the leaves...which ALL came from the same tree- using describing words, talking about seasons of the year, and parts of a tree!  I loved how colorful the leaves were...probably more than my kids did.  

 Hadleigh and I relaxing while tailgating!

Myself, Carmen and Kara wearing our matching Halloween shirts! :)

Uncle Bryan and Riley relaxing a couple of weekend ago when he was here!

Carmel apple that Riley and I made when he and Hadleigh were here!  Notice the snazzy Toy Story plate! :)

Haddie and Mamaw!

Sunrise this week as I was leaving for work.  

GIANT pumpkin at Bellagio!  I LOVED this.  

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an 

oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all."

One year!

Bryan and I celebrated our one year anniversary this past weekend.  We had a weekend in Little Rock planned, and at the last minute Bryan booked a trip to Vegas.  SURPRISE!  I'm not great with big surprises, but I recovered and we had such a fun weekend.  We ran into some of our friends in the parking lot of the airport (gotta love a small airport)...and found out they were going to Vegas as well.  So it was nice to have them to hang out with, especially during the almost 9 hours we waited on an airplane that worked.  (I really feel like I have met my quota for amount of time spent in an airport this year)  And, don't get me wrong, I'm glad we flew in one with all the equipment working properly...but sending a new plane a little earlier in the day would have been good.  Just in case you want to know, it was Allegiant airlines...not that I'm upset with them or anything.....


In a year, we have definitely both learned more about ourselves and each other.  Sharing a checking account with someone just adds a whole new element to a relationship! :)  And just when I think I am getting him figured out, he'll throw me for a loop.  But isn't that what marriage is all about, spending a lifetime figuring each other out?  


And now that we have been married a year, I am POSITIVE it won't be as easy to avoid the "when are you having kids?" question.  When you haven't even been married a year, there's not nearly as much pressure.  And my current answer is: we don't know yet.....when we feel led that it's the right time for us to add to our family, Lord willing, we will.  But, at this moment we are content with our foot loose and fancy free lifestyle.  It seems that every season in life, comes and goes so quickly, I want to enjoy this one while we can. 


We do have one pet, The Goldfish.  The Goldfish been around since my college days.  He had a sister, but she passed on.  Yes, he survived a month in my apartment on a 10 day feeder.  Yes, he survived a move across the state in a tupperware container. And yes, he's the most low maintenance/low cost pet you can possibly have!  

And speaking of pets, we have had a little stray pup running around our neighborhood....he's tiny and apparently spent the night on our porch behind my mums and pumpkins.  Sad stuff.  I am going to put a blanket out tonight and some food and see if he turns up in the morning.  We have discussed getting a dog, but we are gone SO much....we would either drive my mother nuts or have a GIANT bill at the dog boarders.  So we'll see what happens in the dog department this next year.  If one lands on our porch, I guess we'll know our answer.  We both love dogs, but Bryan is allergic...so it will have to be just the right dog for us. 

We can't wait to see what the next year brings!  I am so thankful to have such a good husband.  

I know a few of you are wondering if we survived! Good news.....

We did, and I lived to blog about it.  :)  Bryan and I kept Riley AND Hadleigh this weekend!  We had SO much fun!  We did have some help from my mom, Hadleigh stayed the night at her house...we thought she would sleep better that way.  So we dropped her off before bed, and picked her up the next morning.

We have been talking about getting Riley and Hadleigh on the same weekend for quite some time now.  Bryan had to work out of town this past week, and was going to be passing by Searcy on his way home on Friday afternoon...so it turned into the perfect opportunity to pick up Riley.  I went and picked my Haddie up from daycare Friday afternoon, and the fun began!

I will proudly say that everyone had fun, slept, ate pretty well, took a nap on Saturday afternoon...and had no major injuries!  That's all an Aunt and Uncle can hope for! :)  We managed to blow bubbles, go to Chuck E Cheese, Braum's, Miracle League, Pumpkin Patch, Chick-Fil-A, Shogun's and Orange Mango!  Yes, we had ice cream both Friday and Saturday night.  Riley likes orange ice cream, Hadleigh likes "mink" (pink) ice cream.  Her aunt Ahmi likes "mink ice cream" too so that worked out well.  Here are some picture from our weekend!

Bubbles in the driveway!  This is a great picture of Riley....running.  Because that's what he does best!

She loved the bubbles!

Slide at Chuck E. Cheese 

 She really liked the "moneys" you put into the machines!  Not really the game so much...

Renalli's pumpkin patch in Tontitown!  It was great, and we were the ONLY people there!  

 Funny face she is making.  

 He organized all the pumpkins for them into piles by size and color.  

 The quote for this picture is "I get three pumpkins because I'm three, and Hadleigh gets two pumpkins because she is two."  Well, of course! :)

Her two pumpkins! 

Ghosts! 

 They didn't really want pictures, they just wanted to run around.  

And pull the wagon!

Little Miss and her pumpkin, that she traded in for two small pumpkins!

Cuteness!

Going to pay for our pumpkins! 

Waiting while "Uncle By-an" paid.  

 Ahh, home snuggled in watching Toy Story before a good nap on Saturday afternoon!

Playing musical chopsticks at Shogun's!

 We liked the soup!  

And we had some hand holding!  :)

We sure love these two kids!  They are such sweet, funny, good kids!  So proud to be their Aunt and Uncle!