Reflection

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you." Psalm 37:4-5 (NIV)

Tonight I am thankful for my life experiences whether good or bad. I sometimes seem to get so caught up in my daily trials and tribulations that all of the blessings in my life are overshadowed. While I have been going through this adoption process, I have had to write down several feelings and memories from my past and had to do a profile of my life and what kind of life Sean and I could provide for a child. After doing all of this and looking at the finished products of all of my documenting and my profile, I have had two very strong feelings...guilt and joy. Guilt for the fact that I could ever complain about anything! I am so very blessed with the most wonderful family, friends, spouse and opportunities and yet so many times, all of those things are overshadowed by the "problems" I have with my life. I also feel joy that I have been given this opportunity to adopt, and within it have also been able to appreciate my life more now than ever by being forced to reflect on it and document all of the wonderful times and struggles I have had. In documenting my life, I found myself being able to go on and on about all of the joys I have had and found it hard to come up with many struggles in my life. I know that I will have many struggles to come, but I am so very thankful that I have the Lord to turn to in those times. A very wise woman tells me often, "something good always comes from something bad", and she is so right. She also says, "you may not always see the good that's coming from that bad at the time, but some day you will". It was so hard to see that there could be any good that would come from Sean and I not being able to have a biological child, but it has turned out to be a HUGE blessing! So many good things have come of this that I could go on and on. I have grown so much as a Christian by realizing now, more than ever, that I AM NOT IN CONTROL, and things will happen in His time, not mine! I have been given the opportunity to reflect on my life in a way that I don't know that I ever would have without having had this opportunity, and in doing this reflection, I have come to appreciate EVERYTHING and EVERYONE more than I ever knew possible. I know that there will be countless more blessings to come of this whole adoption process as we continue our journey through it and eventually have our precious baby in our arms. I never would have imagined during those days when all I wanted was to get pregant that one day I would find good in the fact that it wasn't happening. I know God has a plan for me and I know He is not done with me yet...I have so much more to learn and I am ready to "trust in Him" and his plan for me. I have learned that I need to fully "delight myself in Him" and let Him fill that God-sized hole in my heart that I thought was child-sized.

10 Things I Hate About Summer...

1. Having to be seen in a swimsuit...I avoid it as much as possible, but sometimes there is just no getting around it!
2. Mosquitos...enough said!
3. Sweating
4. Sunburns...OUCH, and I just can't seem to avoid them, no matter what I do!
5. Humidity...does a number on my afro.
6. Baseball...it bores me and keeps Sean in front of the TV for hours!
7. Shorts...I hate them so much, I avoid them completely, capris for me!
8. Reruns...I am so addicted to my shows that I miss them all summer...oh-well, it leaves more time for other things!
9. Blisters...I seem to always have blisters on my feet from shoes with no socks...maybe I should invest in better shoes, but I guess if I did, I would still have blisters anyway, from my perma-sunburn!
10. 100 degree weather...okay, I like the heat, but there's a limit, I prefer to be able to breath when I am outside!

10 Things I Love About Summer...

1. Tank tops
2. Flip flops
3. Boating...haven't done it yet this year, but hope to with Chris and Brenda soon!
4. Longer days...I love the sun!
5. Grilling for dinner...Sean does that, so it gives me a break!
6. Golfing...a new found love of mine, especially after woopin' up on Sean and Dad in Florida.
7. Having the windows open
8. Being able to hang out with our "teacher friends" more! (Well, except when they're too busy teaching Driver's Ed.) Ha.
9. Being less pasty white than I am the rest of the year...still pasty white, but less!
10.Green everywhere! I love seeing all of the trees with leaves and green grass...no leaves and brown grass are depressing, plus, green is one of my favorite colors! :)

The things I love about summer, EASILY out weigh the things I hate about it! I wish it was summer all year...I don't think I could even think of 10 things I love about winter! I'll try to post that one in 6 months or so...for now, I am happy it's summer!!!!!

Olivia and Delaney...ready for summer!

 
 
 
  
We went to our friends' Knutsons tonight and their daughters just got new swim suits. I thought these pictures were so adorable and just had to share them! :) The little one is Olivia and the older, Delaney. They are so adorable!

 
 
  

Summer BBQ at the Stewart's

 
 
 
  
We went to a BBQ at Chris and Brenda's on Saturday night. It was such a great time. There were several children there and I got many great pictures. The kids all had fun playing and the adults had fun having a Bag-O tournament. It was such a beautiful night! After all of the children were in bed, we just sat around and relaxed and later in the night sang some karaoke! :) It was a great night and as you can see in the pictures, there was plenty of great food (Landon sure enjoyed it!) that filled us all up! The little girl in the picture with Bode is Sydney, Chris and Brenda's friends' daughter. Her and Bode may have sparked a bit of a romance! It was too cute! The other little girl in the pictures is Bode's cousin, Becky...what a doll! It was a great kick off to summer!

Bode

 
 
  
Here are a few pics from when I was watching Bode on Monday! He is so ADORABLE! I missed him so much while we were in Florida! Mom, did you notice the ADORABLE Robeez and shirt he's wearing? So cute!

Florida

 
 
  

Florida

 
 
  
Well, we're back from Florida. :( We always hate leaving to come home, but we have another trip planned to go back in July with Knutsons, so at least we have that to look forward to. The weather was soooo beautiful and we did so many fun things! We rented a boat, and as you can see in the picture above, Moocher the dolphin made an appearance and gave a big smile for the camera! :) We had such a great time, from golfing, to boating to just swimming in the pool and going out to dinner, a great time was had by all! We always love every moment spent in Florida and can't wait to get back! Hope everyone had a great week! We sure did!

 
 
 
  

The Week...

Well, I thought it was about time that I update my blog...it's been a while. This week was crazy. Mom came and visited and then we drove to Logan to visit Grandpa and Kent. We just stayed for a few hours, but it was nice to be in Logan again. Kinda crazy, but it's been 6 years since I've been there!!!! Way too long! I promise it won't be another 6 years Grandpa and Kent! :) When we got back to Des Moines, Mom stayed over at our place and then on Thursday morning, we got to go and visit little Evan and Sawyer Mann. For twins, they are pretty good sized and ADORABLE! We probably would have stayed all day if we didn't have to get to Muscatine for Brigg's Fundraiser Carnival at his preschool. That was a good time and the kids had a blast playing games and getting their faces painted. Then on Friday, Chris, Brenda and Bode came to Muscatine and we all hung out and played games and had a TON of laughs as a family. Those are my favorite times...although Sean was unable to be there, so I missed him. Then on Saturday night, John and Melissa, Chris and Brenda, Sean and I all hung out at Chris and Brenda's and played Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture. The girls wooped up on the guys, I just have to mention! :) Then today was nice and relaxing...church, lunch, a nap, and an evening at Knutson's for a great dinner and our Sunday night TV shows. Overall, despite the rain, we had a great week and weekend. Sean passed his classes this semester with flying colors and now has a few weeks class free until his summer class starts at the end of May. We are heading to Florida with Mom and Dad on Saturday for 8 days and cannot wait!!!! Hope everyone had a great weekend!