Birthday Eve

I usually don't make a HUGE deal out of my birthday...well, maybe I do, but this year has been different. 30 has ALWAYS seemed OLD to me. And now I'm almost 30...still a few hours left to relish in my 29th year...I like to find reasons to celebrate life. And birthdays are a great reason! Thankfully I have a great family and friends to help me celebrate this year. Thanks!!!

Church was wonderful. My friend, Sarah & her hubby spoke in Sacrament meeting, the choir sang "The Majesty and Glory" - it was WONDERFUL! The Spirit was so strong - and I got to play the piano in primary. Our friends came over for dinner and we had some fun enjoying our new toy. :o)

Some great adoption fundraising news: we sold this!

My amazing friend donated it to us to raise money for our adoption (like I said, she's amazing!) My brother, Evan, was going to buy this but his job moved him to texas, so I listed it on craigslist yesterday. Within hours we had someone here paying us for the car - and even $200 more than we expected to sell it for! :o) We are truly blessed.

Dossier translated/will be submitted

So the dossier is in Ukraine, has been translated and will be submitted tomorrow! Hooray! So, I guess the REAL waiting will begin then...waiting for the appointment date. I'm such a planner and it's difficult to imagine what the next few months will be like...especially not knowing whether we'll be in ukraine in september, october, november...who knows? Of course, I'm hoping for as soon as possible! :o) Stay tuned!

Our new toy

We are the proud new owners of a 12 foot trampoline! Anna is ecstatic (naturally) and has already been jumping away since Tyler set it up this morning. I found it on craigslist for $160! Woo-hoo! We have a swimming pool that we put up during the summer - but we take it down once school starts. Now we'll have this fun toy throughout the fall. :o)

I finished my last traditional scrapbook. The next scrapbook that I'm going to make is a digital scrapbook. I'm interested to see if I will like it better - I think that I will, but I'm not going to throw out (or sell) all my supplies just yet. I want to make sure that I like the digital before I do anything too drastic.

I found a local latin dancing club which has merengue, salsa, & bachata music on friday nights. I'm planning to go this next friday - anyone care to come along?

A good salsa song: Refugio de amor by Chayanne & Vanessa Wiliams (movie Dance With Me)




A good merengue song but incredibly nerdy video: Suavemente by Elvis Crespo




A good bachata song - not really a video, just listen to the clip for a taste of bachata: Ni un minuto mas by EL GRINGO de la Bachata




The best lambada song - yes, it was made in the 80s, why do you ask?: Lambada by Kaoma...watch those 2 kids dance - amazing!

My name

HowManyOfMe.com

There is 1 person with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Zinnias and Cantaloupe

Last summer I decided that I was going to plant some cantaloupe seeds (about 300) in one spot near our flower garden. When 300 sprouts came up in a 6 inch diameter - they were doomed for failure. Since then I have learned that you have to space them out for them to grow (why don't they teach you these things in biology?). This spring, we decided to make a "butterfly garden" for Anna consisting of zinnias (a type of flower) near the flower garden. So Tyler dug up all the grass and raked the area smooth before we all planted the zinnia seeds. 3 weeks later we found the zinnia seedlings AND some cantaloupe seedlings. (HUH?!) So, now we have zinnias and cantaloupe growing side-by-side. I think this trend will catch on quickly in the gardening world, don't you?

Today my awesome friend treated me to a birthday pedicure and manicure! I am so spoiled! Then we went to Fashion Bug and I bought a cute shirt for only $10! Then we went out with our families to a fabulous chinese buffet. It was so good! :o)

Maggie is feeling better - with plenty of energy that she has been storing up!

Anna's quote of the day: "Remember, I'm in first grade and first graders know stuff!"

Poor little pup

Maggie was spayed on monday. Poor little thing! She's so pitiful right now, doesn't get up much and whimpers when she does. This is my first time being an adult having a pet and having to make decisions like whether or not she should be able to have puppies - but in the end, we decided that with our adoption of 2 children on the way - we're not going to add more "children" through Maggie. Here are some pictures of our sweet pup: I went shopping at a local second-hand store for Anna and found several dresses for Anna, including the following white one. It's completely white, so I thought if I could find a cardigan to go over it - she might be able to wear it in the temple for our family sealing. Anna's eyes are light sensitive which explains why her eyes are almost completely closed in her pictures with the white dress on - it was mid-day & very sunny!

I have been recently tagged by Steph and so here we go:

Favorite person outside of family: too many to name! :o)

Quirks about me: whenever I am around a very loud noise (hair blower, vacuum cleaner, lawn mower) I start singing - it's an quirky instinct that I can't explain.

How would the person who loves you the most describe you in 10 words: sensitive, talented, generous, intelligent, spiritual, "mama" (anna's response), organized, beautiful, warrior, affectionate.

Any regrets in life: not getting my degree in music

Favorite charity/cause: http://www.reecesrainbow.com/sponsorpierce.htm

Favorite blog recently: my sister, Rachel

Worst job I ever had: Dry cleaners - I was there a month. $5 didn't pay me enough for all of the work I did there.

Favorite Bible Verse: Amos 3:7

"Guilty Pleasure": homemade sweets

Got any confessions: I want sugar

If you HAD to spend $1000 on yourself, how would you spend it? I don't know - take my honey bunny on a cruise?

Favorite thing about your house: I love my house! It has a great layout and now that we've painted it - it's SO cozy!

Least favorite thing about your house: I wish our kitchen was bigger and we could use a 2 car garage instead of a 1 car garage...

One thing you are good at: organization!

One thing you could change about your circumstances: to be out of debt.

Who would you like to meet someday? Jesus Christ

Who is your real life hero: Esther from the Bible

What is the hardest part about your job? it never stops (housework)

When are you most relaxed? at the Temple

When are you most stressed? when my house is a mess

What can you not live without? the gospel, my husband, my daughter

Why do you blog? it's a great creative outlet which doubles as my journal ;o)

Who are you tagging?: well, i have to pick 8 friends so:

Sarah Sarah Melisa Tracey Rachel Cindy Stacey & Dana - of course, anyone is welcome to do this, the more the merrier! I'm excited to read your answers!! :o)

Rules:

1. Answer the questions

2. Link back to whoever tagged you

3. Tag eight bloggers to do the same

This is one way to develop patience

So our dossier is in Kiev now. I'm told that it is being translated today and should be done in 3 days or so. Then in early september our dossier will be presented to the SDA in Ukraine. Then they will take up to a month to determine our travel date - so it's looking more like we'll be in Ukraine in october, sometime. Of course I'm always hopeful for one day sooner! This experience reminds me of a prayer that I prayed a few years ago when I was lacking patience with my now 6 year-old daughter, Anna. I prayed that I would have patience with Anna and swift came the answer to my mind: she's here to teach you patience. So, this is another experience to teach me patience. You would think I would've learned by now, eh? ;o)

Forever Friends

My first friend that I made in Ohio is moving away...her husband's job is taking her & the family to CO. This is a cause of sadness for myself and also for my daughter, Anna. She has become best buds with Leia: Aren't they so cute? I've assured Anna that she can communicate with Leia via webcam and letters...but she says "It won't be the same." And she's right. :o( But I take comfort in our modern technology that will help us stay in touch as much as possible without living 8 miles apart. Sarah was my visiting teaching companion - we went almost every month and tried to be faithful in serving in the calling together. Sarah, Shannon, & I spent many nights together watching English films and enjoying our girl time. I won't forget the fun pronunications of Sarah saying "sure" & "butter". I will miss Sarah laughing at my incredibly sarcastic jokes (or lack thereof). I'll miss our time at the YMCA working out, finding excuses to eat ice cream, & dreaming of a trip to England. I will miss her hugs and concern for me & what I'm doing. Thanks for being my friend, Sarah. No matter where you go - we'll always be close. You can count on that. xx

A first

In Sacrament meeting today, there was a recently called high priest (Br. V) who was issuing a sustaining of a man in our ward in a particular calling. As is the custom - he asked for those who will sustain him and if there were any opposed...being on the stand (I'm the chorister), I saw something I've never seen before in my 29+ years in the church. I saw a man in the very back of the congregation who was waving his hand slowly in the air to let his family - who were out in the hallway - know where he was sitting. He just so happened to wave his arm once the high priest asked if there was anyone opposed. You should have seen this poor Br. V - his eyes got really big as he thought someone was opposed to the calling. Poor guy. Thankfully, once the family walked in the back of the room, all was rectified. But I got a good laugh out of it. :o)

Church was wonderful today. It was a farewell. An older couple is going on a mission to Olso, Norway. I have norweigan heritage and I'm happy that they will be going there to share the gospel with the descendents of those people who know doubt knew my ancestors. :o) I was able to play the piano in primary. I really enjoy doing that. My friend, Cherie, has the calling of primary pianist - but she is a nurse and sometimes is working or has worked all saturday night. I don't mind filling in for her - I think it's the best kept secret of all the callings in the ward. ;o)

This evening we had a scrumptious meal with this family, followed by a heated game of yahtzee. It's so nice to have friends to spend time with - wherever we are living. :o) Here is a nice video that Kathey emailed me - thanks Kathey! Enjoy.

Breaking Dawn

I have officially finished Breaking Dawn. It was phenomenal. I really enjoyed it. I'm glad that I read that series and look forward to the midnight showing of TWILIGHT that I'll be attending with several other ladies in the ward here. This is the first time in my life where I've read the book BEFORE the movie was released. I'm so excited - I feel part of the "in crowd"! ha ha!

Tyler went to the Stake Softball Tournament today - he just loves playing sports, and why should he not? He's so athletic! Tonight we're going to watch some Monkege - should be nice! :o)

How much fun can you fit in a day?

So on thursday I went visisting teaching all day. My new VT companion couldn't come with me - so I went alone. I really enjoyed visiting 2 of my sisters. I feel like I was able to get to know them better. I'm grateful for the VT program in the church. :o) Thursday night, Sarah came over and we watched MONK, which was so fun! Tyler finished his last final of this quarter! Woo-hoo! He only has one more quarter to do and then he'll have his MBA. I'm so proud of him and all that he's doing - he's overworked, underpaid, and completely loved by me! Love you, honey!

Yesterday, Sarah & I went on a neighborhood walk. This has been a great week for me in regards to eating/exercising - but I was struggling a bit yesterday to get out the door to walk and then Sarah called me to go walking! (Thanks girl!) The same thing happened on thursday morning - I was SO TIRED, but my sweet hubby went on a walk with me. (Thanks Honey Bunny!) I'm so grateful for those around me who encourage me to do healthy things - especially when I'm exhausted and struggle with them. :o)

Maggie got a haircut yesterday - she looks so different with her hair shorn like that. She's going to be having surgery on monday to be spayed. She is now "of age." I hope her surgery will go well - she's not feeling very well right now. :o(

Then yesterday afternoon I went to get a massage with Sarah which was followed by shoe shopping at DSW, lunch at chili's, dessert (low glycemic, even) at Graeter's! And if that wasn't enough - we got together around 9pm (her hubby was on-call ALL NIGHT at the hospital) and we stayed up until 3am playing Ticket To Ride, looking at scrapbooks, watching youtube videos and even latin dancing! It was LOTS of fun! Of course, it's noon now on saturday & I've only been up for an hour or so...but isn't that what saturdays are for? Sleeping in?!?! Thanks Sarah for a great day (week?)!

Fun-filled day

This morning kicked off with a breakfast with Sarah at Bob Evan's. We had a lovely time there (my first time at Bob Evan's) and then went to have a massage (hour-long swedish massage...nice). It was great fun! Sarah & my birthdays are one week apart and since she's abandoning me (read: moving out of state) before september, we decided to celebrate today! :o) I'll miss you Sarah! xx Around 11am, I met up with Sarah, Marie, & Keri to celebrate Marie's birthday (which is today!). We went to Dick's sporting goods (I bought some orange running shoes!), Chipotle for lunch, DSW for some shoe shopping, and finally Graeter's for dessert. Then we came back to Sarah's for a game of Ticket To Ride, and then this evening Marie, Keri & I watched the 5th Harry Potter movie. It's been a BUSY day - but a great one! :o) I feel so blessed to have such great friends - thanks, you guys! :o)

Voice lessons

I had my voice lessons this morning. It's fun to feel like I'm progressing in my voice - and even to be surprised by how good I sound on certain moments. Here are some songs I'm singing (it's not me singing them...); they are so beautiful! :o)




Rusalka: Song to the Moon by Dvořák, sung by Anna Netrebko.




La Wally: Ebben ne andro lontana by Catalani, sung by Renee Fleming




Rachmaninov: Zdes Khorosho (How Fair This Spot), sung by Hibla Gerzmava




Rachmaniov: Ne poy, krasavitsa (Don't sing to me, beautiful maiden), sung by Youngok Shin

Soon, I'll be starting on some Verdi & Puccini arias. I'm very happy to be focusing on my singing talent right now. My teacher, Tammi, is incredible and has informed me that my voice classification is Spinto soprano which is exciting - they aren't as common as other sopranos. I was labeled as a Mezzo soprano when I first went to college, but with the knowledge of being a spinto - it has helped me to spread my wings and move up higher in my vocal range. I can now warm up to a high C and am singing musical pieces that go up to a high B. Very, very exciting! I never thought I was able to do that before and I'm thrilled about it. My range is actually quite large - larger than a typical spinto, even. I can sing from a B3 to a C6 (I think that's right...it's been a while since theory 101 class, ha ha), so just over a 3 octave range. :o) Anyhow, I'm hoping to beef up my repetoire with the above pieces and move on to some more beautiful melodies. :o)

Waiting

Our dossier is ready to go - but the translator isn't in Kiev yet (vacation) and will arrive next week sometime. So we'll send the translation money ($600) and then we should hear back from the SDA about our travel date to Ukraine. We are eager to be there and to bring our children home with us. We are planning to adopt Keith (Nick) and to look for another girl in the same orphanage who is 2-3 years old (if possible) to adopt as well. Your prayers are appreciated as we go on this adventure to add to our happy family. :o)

I'm full of hands

Whenever Anna has too many things to carry, she says she's "full of hands". Like Anna, I have had too many things to DO and therefore, am full of hands. :o)

Warning: LONG POST AHEAD DUE TO INTERNET BEING DOWN FOR A COUPLE OF DAYS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

I color analyzed 3 people this week (on the same day). All three were winters and 2 were winters with an autumn blend. Wild, eh? Here are some photos:

Tyler was sustained and set apart as the Elder's Quorum (EQ) President. Here is a picture of him with his counselors (Jon & Scott), one of our family, and a random picture of Anna:

I've decided that I'm going to begin the SBD tomorrow. It's been a long time coming and I'm eager to be eating healthy again plus exercising, too. It seems that this time of year always motivates me to begin anew -just weeks before my birthday. So, we had an early birthday party tonight where I could have a homemade (read: high carb) meal of chicken enchiladas, homemade refried beans, corn, spanish rice and my birthday cake: warm homemade pineapple upside-down cake with vanilla ice cream. I even made some ebelskivers, just for the fun of it! To help me celebrate - Sarah and her family happily joined us for the meal and a fun game of Taboo. Here are the pictures:

No, I won't be 65 this year - these were the only candles we could find. However, if you multiply 5 times 6, that's how old I'll be on September 1st. Ugh. I'll be THIRTY. *heavy sigh* Thank goodness I have such great friends to help lessen the pain associated with this milestone.

In other news, I'm about 200 pages away from finishing BREAKING DAWN. As soon as I'm done, I'll want to discuss it with everyone - so get ready!

Tyler & I have been feeling lately how quickly Anna is growing up. We had decided to get rid of our bath towels (about 7 years old...needing to be replaced...) and when we talked about this - Tyler suggested doing Anna's bathroom in a PRINCESS style. He's such a sweet daddy to his little girl. Plus we bought a PRINCESS comforter set for the double bed which we're moving into her room soon (can't be soon enough!) and then everything will be so princess. It's fun doing things that make your child so happy. She didn't know we were going to buy these items - so it was fun seeing her reaction. I'm so blessed to have my sweet Anna. She is so precious.

Moving on

I have removed the picture of Nastya (Kayta) now on my blog(s). It was hard to do, because when her picture is no longer there - the reality sets in that she won't be mine. However, I'm coming to terms with this and am trying to be optimistic that very soon I will be in Ukraine and will be able to find another girl who is right for our family and who will be Nick's & Anna's sister. We have completely finished our dossier and it is going to be mailed to Ukraine once the facilitator is back in the capital, Kiev. Apparantly, things shut down in Ukraine during the month of August for country-wide vacations. (just my luck) So once everything is back and going - we should hear back from them what our appointment date will be. I'm still hoping for september, but it may be late september or even october. I'm trying to be optimistic, even though I have no ability to make the date happen earlier. ;o)

First Grade

I finished ECLIPSE today. It was great - and I'm ready for the finale. In some ways I'm not ready for the story to be over - but my hubby is wondering when his wife will return, so perhaps it's better that I finish Breaking Dawn quickly! I can't wait to (finally!) be able to discuss it with everyone! :o)

Today was Anna's first day of first grade! Can you believe it? She's getting SO BIG! Her teacher, Mrs. M. seems like a very nice person and Anna is very excited about being in her class. When I picked Anna up today, she said "Goodbye Mrs. M. - you're the best first grade teacher EVER!" I think this will be a good year for her. :o)

Since Anna began school today - I started (what I hope to become a habit) the day early. I was up at 7am (for those of you who are up earlier - I am not worthy) and helped Anna get breakfast, do her hair, etc. After Tyler took her to school, I went on a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood - the weather was perfect for a walk - then I showered, got ready for the day, did dishes, started some laundry, practiced the piano, and took some packages to the post office...all before 10am. Oh yeah, it felt AWESOME to be so productive! Then I went to my physical therapy session, picked up Anna after school, and went shopping for her school supplies on-base with a visit to the commissary for some groceries. Then Tyler had two of his work buddies come over to help move a piano into our garage (we're looking to sell it for our adoption - let me know if you're interested in buying it!) and they were here around dinner so I made dinner for everyone...at that point - I was on the couch, putting my feet up. WHEW! It's been a BUSY day and I hope that it will wear me out enough for me to get to bed earlier tonight. I hope.

New Calling

Not for me, but for Tyler. He's been called as the Elder's Quorum President. He's pretty overwhelmed but I'm certain he'll do well in his calling. He does well in most things he does and he takes seriously any calling extended to him. I'm excited to see his leadership abilities grow as he serves. He's a good man. :o)

Tomorrow Anna begins first grade. She had a blessing tonight by her daddy and is now bathed and in bed. I'm sure that 7am will come too quickly for her - as we've been sleeping in for most of the summer. So with the school year here I am eager to do some deep cleaning which I've managed to somehow avoid during the summer. The fridge really needs to be cleaned. I've almost gotten all the laundry put away - but it seems that by the time I put away everything - there's enough laundry to be doing another 2 loads...and there's only 3 people in the house!

My recent goal for my house is this: if I don't need it - then I don't want it in my house. In other words, "simplify simplify simplify". I can feel SUCH a difference already - I'm planning to attack Anna's room sometime soon while she's in school and go through her closet to get rid of things she doesn't use. Of course, I won't be doing much until I finish Eclipse tomorrow and also finish Breaking Dawn shortly thereafter. ;o)

And now I know

I wondered how people who read books could get anything done during the day. Today I read over 400 pages of Eclipse and didn't do much else. I'm truly AMAZED at how fast the time went by. How can time fly so quickly?

Anna had her last t-ball game today and apparantly she got 5 people out in an hour-long game. That's my girl. Last week Tyler bought some golf clubs for Anna (only $30 - it was an incredible deal) and he took her golfing today - they had a blast. It was nice to be able to sit and read on a saturday and not worry about anything else. I'm so spoiled.

T-ball girl

Here's my girl playing T-ball - I'm thrilled with her natural athletic abilities. The "season" ends tomorrow with her last game. She's already talking about next summer! Go Anna! I'm so proud of my girl!!! :o)

As for today - I began reading Eclipse and am about 80 pages into that...so good...and then I got to hang with Sarah and we went to Sonic and then took the kids to the park. Afterwards we played games at Sarah's house - it was a lot of fun. I'm blessed with such awesome friends here in OH. :o)

A great diet

I think that the Twilight series helps promote weight loss - because I'd rather read than eat and hours will go by without doing so...perhaps reading is the anti-eating drug?

I finished New Moon yesterday and will start the third book today. (thanks, Sarah!) I have physical therapy this afternoon so I can start on it then. Anna starts back to school on monday - can you believe it? August 11th - it seems so early, but she's excited so I'm not complaining. Having some free time will help me get my house cleaned and prepare for our trip to Ukraine - which is looking like it will be in september now.

Blog header: I'm wanting to do a blog header for my blog - but since I have a 3 column blog, I'm having difficulty in finding one WIDE enough. Plus I've seen some cute headers with text written in them...anyone want to guide me through it? I'll try to make it as painless as possible. :o)

Twilight Character

Which Twilight/New Moon Character are you most like? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Edward You are Edward Cullen, a very hot and amazing vampire who can play the piano amazingly well. Sometimes you care too much about those you love and your gallant intentions often get in your way, but it all works out in the end! (usually) Edward 50% Jacob 50% Isabella 50% Rosalie 40% Alice 30%

I've been busy...

reading this:


I'm over halfway through...and loving it. Who knew that reading could be so much fun?

There's no place like home

We're back home. We arrived last night and today was mainly spent in doing laundry (it still isn't done), cleaing up the house, and going grocery shopping - not to mention the 77 emails waiting in my inbox and the 89 recent blog posts that I had to catch up on via google reader. WHEW! Plus, I must mention that I read the book TWILIGHT. Yes, that's right. I read a novel. A 500 page novel in about 9 hours or so. To those of you who know me - I'm not a reader, but that doesn't mean I don't know HOW to read or that I can't read FAST. It was a nice read and I'm already on the sequel. So if you want to chat about it - I'm game.

It's nice to be home - but we already miss our family in OK. While in OK, we went to the Temple, did some shopping here, here, and here, stayed in some nice hotels, and ate out WAY too much. It was lots of fun. I'm having trouble uploading pictures from the trip - so I uploaded them via flickr on the left sidebar. Happy looking!

Random question: if you get a stain on 2 of your couch cushions - do you take off the covers and have them dry cleaned?