Counting our blessings 1. phoebe 2. phoebe 3. ph...

I had the **extreme pleasure** of overhearing my dear husband go on and on to his friend about our daughter, and how excited and proud he is, calling her "daddy's little girl", and beaming about her...saying she is beautiful, and saying that "the best thing is that this is from the Lord". <3 I am blessed beyond measure to have a husband who loves Jesus!

After the chat with his friend, he came to me and said "If you asked me 10 years ago if I thought I would be adopting a child from China, I would have said you're crazy, but here I am, and it's great." 

This is the man who at the start of this journey was very concerned about being a good dad, very worried about how this would all work out, and praying for the Lord's clear message to do this because he was just so unsure of what Jesus wanted in all of this.

{We've come along way baby!}

Blessings, Lynette

Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30

(links in this post are embedded in words; so hover)

ok, so my sister suggested this video to me, and if you read my comments for the post just before my last post her husband has been very motivational and supportive.

The issue here is that I am "jiggly jelly at 41", rather than "ripped in 30." (yes, comedic statements help me through my feelings of weight gain depression).

Despite recent attempts to lose weight I feel that I keep failing, and I have been up and down all my life.

I LIKE to workout. I mean, I am no Olympic athlete, but I enjoy a workout.

But I seem STUCK. Maybe it is the menopause, but I refuse to let it get me down any longer.

well, my dear blog readers, I am starting Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30; TODAY!

I don't expect to look like JM herself (Image from her website):

But...Check back with me in 30 days, when I suspect we will see a slim super model standing where I used to be...Or well, at least a smaller version of myself?

Those rascals at amazon got the video here in record time, four short days. Sigh. So, I begin NOW. 
Like it or not, today I start shaking what the good Lord gave me to lose what he did not. 

Phoebe, I vow for your mommy to be a healthy role model! I hope to be able to look and feel much better for the trip to China in about 2 months, when we go get her.

Here is a recent image of 5'4", 200-and-too-much, ME. I am in baggy sweats painting the nursery, but it is quite correct.

For you ladies out there, I am in about a size 16+, though I dream of 14 which I was a few years ago when I got married (and dare I say  would like to be a size 12?!).

My body has never been made for much smaller than that. I only saw 10's and 8's in college when I really was not healthy food wise!

So here we go... let me know if you are trying as well. I am happy to share some motivation, and the journey.

Blessings, Lynette

Adoption Quotes (youtube link)

Please click here for a lovely video about adoption quotes. Thank you to the person who originally made this clip, whoever and wherever you are. God bless you. .

Blessings, Lynette

While waiting for Article 5 and TA: Home and Body Renovations!

While we wait for this current stage in the game we are getting things done in the house.

I will take some photos along the way to share.

I call the house work during the wait "Operation China"

And my hopeful weight loss "China Boot Camp"

Let's all hope there are some marked results on BOTH fronts!

Blessings, Lynette

Donate to our yard sale, or have your own for Phoebe :)

To our local friends:
The Adoption Yard Sale is in planning phase.

It will be May or June (?).  I will update here and facebook with details.  :)

Please help us by saving items to donate the night before or morning of the yard sale. (because our home is not large, we cannot save them all here in advance...our drive way is not over-sized either, so this should be interesting.)

If you would like to donate to our adoption, you can do so by dropping off your in-GOOD-shape sale-able items that you would be getting rid of anyway.

When the sale is over the items will be passed along to freecycle or a charity.

To anyone, friends and family near and far:
You can help too by hosting your own yard sale, or other event, in Phoebe's honor, then gifting the money made to her fundraiser. This is a way that many families and friends help support adopting families, and we would certainly welcome this with much gratitude!

Will you commit to doing a fundraising to support one beloved orphan, our Phoebe, and to bring awareness to the plight of the 147 million orphans world wide? 

check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5Xigq_bBaQ

We in fact have paid for the huge majority of adoption related fees with our own hard work, with sweat and tears. I took many extra hours (until now) at work, and kev has been working over time.  So please know that we are not looking for mere hand outs!

We still work and spend as needed to live our daily lives, we still give to charity ourselves when we can and according to prayer, both now and in the future we will live our lives, we will go away for to do something special, we will move if it is in our future, etc, and these all cost money out of our own pockets.... But the reason why adoptive families do fundraising (and MANY of us do) is because adoption fees are extraordinary.

 {ex·traor·di·nar·y  (k-strôrdn-r, kstr-ôr-)

adj.

1. Beyond what is ordinary or usual: extraordinary authority.

2. Highly exceptional; remarkable: an extraordinary achievement.

3. Employed or used for a special service, function, or occasion: a minister extraordinary; an extraordinary professor.}

The fact remains that adoption is not covered by insurance like birth-labor is, the list goes on, and so if you choose to support our fundraising, then we thank you so much.

We only ask that the Lord bless us with fundraising as HE sees fit, so lead with your heart through prayer dear friends. 



Blessings, Lynette