This picture of Brad and Toni was taken at our wedding in May of '05.
Please log on to my sister-in-law's blog, link above, and read her comment on race.
Leah, I want to thank you for that beautiful post. Those of you who read this blog know that Leah and James adopted a baby boy from Ethiopia this past August. I can't tell you how many times I have heard people comment on his color. The comments, I hope, have been in pure ignorance, but still bother me. When I proudly told people I was getting a nephew from Ethiopia I recieved strange looks and comments such as "Will it be a black baby?" I'm sure, as stated before, many of these comments were in sheer ignorance. But one has to ponder just how far these thoughts of "race" have been engrained into our vocabulary and culture.
A child is a child, regardless of the country they come from and the color of their skin. I have always wanted a baby from Africa. As a child, and a history buff, I studied the history of slavery in our own country and around the world. I was fascinated by the struggles men and women were subject to because of their color. When I was nine I read a book that has stayed with me throughout my life. It was the history of the Underground Railroad. I read how Harriet Tubman risked life and limb to bring slaves to the free north. I have always been amazed by her story, and admired her for her bravery and devotion to God. Another story that has made such an impression on me is from the American Girl Collection. The story is about a yound slave girl, named Addy, and her mother. With the help of God and the Underground Railroad, Addy and her mother successfully escape to freedom and are eventually reunited with their liberated family after the Civil War. It was Addy's story that made want to adopt an African baby some day.
We are all humans with the same struggles, fears, and problems. I pray that people may someday look beyond the skin and see that we were all beautifully and wonderfully made by a Creator who loves us. Remember, this Creator loved us all so much he gave us Jesus, His son, to save us, regardless of our skin.
I will finish with this statement. I am so proud of Leah and James for adopting Zachary. This child was once a prayer, a hope, and a dream for Leah who longed for a child and the rest of us who wanted her to have a baby. I love you Zachary, and I'm so happy you have come into our family. I hope you will continue to know just how much you are loved as your grow older. You are our miracle, our answer to prayer, and our little bundle of joy, regardless of where you were born and your beautiful brown skin.
The Street and our Car at 4:30ish.
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As you can see Max enjoyed the day as usual, curled up on the couch with a pillow, snoring away!
I woke up this morning to a beautiful site, SNOW in Portland. This doesn't happen very often, and when it does happen the enitre town shuts down. It's actually pretty funny. People around here act as though they have never seen precipitation, even though it rains almost constantly for 5 or 6 months out of the year. When it rains, they tend to freak out and traffic on the freeway comes to a crawl. It's insane. I've been told by locals "Welcome to the Northwest!" Here are some pics.
We had a wonderful vacation in Arizona and I can't believe it's over. It went by so fast and before we knew it, we were back to work and school in full swing. Here are some pictures from our great trip!
My mom, Jenny, Christmas Eve on the Bill Williams River Trail in Parker, AZ!
Meeting Zachary, we hit it off right away and his mommy, Aaron's sister Leah, let me hold him while he slept. It was wonderful!
Uncle Aaron and Zachy
Zach surrounded by his Christmas booty.
Aaron's side of the family with little Zachary!
Driving from Flagstaff to Havasu. Look at the snow!
Rosco, the dog my parents got when I was 16 :-)
Shelby my Mom's Heiz 57 doggy :-)
Rudy, my 15 year old Cocker Spaniel, my doggy I grew up with :-)
Aaron at Mandalay Bay the day we flew home!
So, today has been absolutely dead boring. So far we've been open for an hour and not one soul has come in. I have a feeling it will be one of those days. To add to the boredom, it's a beautiful sunny day outside, and unusually warm for December. Chances are the beautiful weather and the fact that Christmas is a few days away will kill our traffic today.
As a result, I am trying to beat the boredom by writing. Unfortunately, also a result of the dead day, I'm blogging about my boredom. So as you can see it's a vicious cycle that may, or may not, be broken. The only way out is to get customers in here so I can sell them stuff! No people = no sales. Luckily for me this is only my 3rd week on the floor and I'm doing very well. I don't have to worry about money, just my boredom. I love selling stuff, it's fun and it feels pointless being here when I don't have people to sell stuff too.
Enough of my whinning. Tommorrow is my last day of work before heading to AZ. Finally we'll be flying out. I can't wait to see everyone again. It seems years since I've been home, even though it's only been 5 months. Plus I get to finally meet Zachary. I can't wait.
Ahah, that's it, I'm in count-down-mode. No matter how busy it may get, time will not go fast enough. It's just the way it works when one is about to leave on a trip, or have something else exciting happen.
Hey, it looks like a car may have just pulled in. One can only hope! It's hard to tell if it's in our lot or the lot next to us. Hopefully, it's for us, though no one has walked..... DOH, they just left. Oh well! So much for that one. Tis the Season they say!
Well, that's enough of my rantings for today. See you all later! :-)
It's only 5 days untill we fly out of Oregon to Vegas and head to Arizona. Finally, Christmas is almost here. I am so excited to finally meet little Zachary. I can't believe it's finally here, time sure has flown.
I remeber last Christmas when Leah and James decided to adopt a baby. I was praying that we'd have a new addition to our family this Christmas. Finally, after years of waiting, God answered our prayers and blessed Leah and James with a beautiful baby boy. I'm so excited and thankful that God has blessed us with Zachy.
I'm a very proud Auntie and I can't wait to see him. Love you all :-)
So, today was my Sat. and Aaron had his first final of the week. I dropped him off at school, with the dogs in the back seat, parked the car and hiked the hill around Aaron's school for an hour and a half. It was so much fun and the landscape was beautiful. Here are some pics! Enjoy!
They Can Drink from a Drinking Fountain! :-)
Pretty trees and a path in the woods!
Well, I've been so busy with my new job I haven't have time to add to my blog. So here's a quick update in a nut shell.
I decided to take the La-z-boy job and I've been working there since Nov. 1st. So far I love it, the people I work with, and what I do. It's a lot of fun. After a month of training, I'm finally on the floor selling things. So far I'm doing well, but I'm not sure if I want to stay in sales. I may have an opportunity in the next few months to move into an Interior Design position. Since that's what my degree is in, I think I want to take that position within the company. It sounds like a lot of fun, but I'll wait and see what God has planned for me. I don't want to do anything out of his will.
As for non work related life, Aaron is doing well in school and is almost finished with his first term of the first year. He has seven finals to go and then he gets two weeks off. As most of you know, during one of those two weeks we will be traveling to AZ to see our folks and meet Zachary. Finally it's almost here. I can't wait to hold the little kiddo and finally get to know him. I have only seen his pictures and I miss him.
We did have one slight tragedy, our computer crashed about a week and a half ago. It doesn't think it has a hard drive! YIKES! Well, we shipped it to my dad, computer genius man, and we're patiently waited for a diagnoses. I hope it will be ok.
Other than that, things have been pretty ordinary around here. Life continues as usual, and we're counting down the days until we get to go home. I work tomorrow, 11-7, kind of a weird shift. I hope we're busy so I can sell stuff!!! God Bless!
Well, after three interviews this week it looks like I might have my choice as to where I want to work. Strangely enough, the company I was determined I didn't want to work for, due to weekends, is the one that is offering the best money and schedule. I would be working 36-40 hours a week, usually 7-8 hour shifts per day and making quite a bit doing so. Plus the store is really close to our house so there isn't any commuting involved. I have a second interview with the store manager today to discuss the details of the position.
The other company is in Tualitin, about 22 mi. from our house. It's a 8-5 mon-fri job, however because of the distance I would be gone from 7a.m. - 6:30 p.m. at night. It's a cabinet job that doesn't sound like it will be offering good money. I am, however, the top candidate for the position out of 12 so far. They will be calling me to schedule a second interview at the end of this week.
The final company sounds overwhelming. It's a commercial furniture dealer who specializes in office design. It would also be a mon-fri 8-5 job. However, it's located in the middle of downtown which means I would have to take the bus or drive and park. Fortunately the company gives their employees bus passes for free, however the bus ride from our house would be over an hour one way. So, again I would leave at 6:30 or 7 and be home around the same time at night.
So far I have decided the first choice sounds best. It just seems like a much more relaxed envrionment and I would have the potential to make a lot of money. Much more than I have been making or would make with a standard salaried job. Basically I have to decided between traveling for hours or working weekends. As of now, the weekends seem to be the lesser of the two evils. I will let you know when I find out more about the jobs! God Bless!
So, Aaron and I spent a few weekends over the summer ripping out all of the periwinkle in our yard in hopes of planting veggies in the Spring. We then hand tilled the soil and added chicken manuer and hay. For the past couple of months we have just let it sit and do its thing. So far we have a grass-like plants growing all over the area. Plus, there are these two huge plants that have sprung up near the concrete. I think they just might be corn. Take a look!
Corn? Possibly? Time will tell!
Well, so much has happened since my last post. On Thursday of last week my boss told me he can no longer afford to keep me on at full time. Basically, the jobs are just not coming in. He explained that is has absolutely nothing to do with my abilities, there just isn't enough to keep me on. I was crushed. I suspected it was coming, but I didn't want to believe it would happen. I somehow, by the grace of God, managed to hold my tears until I was in my car and driving around the corner. I called my husband and started bawling. Even though I was told it was not a reflection of my abilities, it still felt like I had completely failed. Aaron, what an awesome Godly man, said he figured that's why I had called him and told me to go home and get into the Word. He also told me not to worry, God will provide. That I know in my heart. He has seen us through financial hardships before and has never let us down.
It's been four days since I was layed off and today I'm hitting the pavement to find a job. Over the weekend I posted my resume on Jobdango. I applied for 6 jobs and this morning I recieved a phone call from one of them. The company, who shall remain nameless, a large, nationwide chain of furniture stores, called me back this morning and gave me a phone interview. The woman I spoke with was very interesting in me and will call me back to set up a second interview. One major drawback is their employees have to work weekends, Sundays included. I am praying that God will bring me something that doesn't require weekends and holidays. But I know it is in His hands, if He wants me to work Sundays, then I'll work Sundays.
Right now Aaron and I are being tested. As hard as this is, I'm thanking God for the trial. I know this will build my faith and bring us closer to Him. God is in control and I have nothing to fear. Pray for us! God Bless!
Mom and Me
Dad and Me
The "Hollywood" Pic (as my mom calls it!)
One of the Docks in Astoria, OR
Jan. '05 Behind Aaron's Parents House in Flag.
Well, Aaron and I have been doing a lot of thinking lately, and it sounds like we may end up back in Flagstaff after he's through with school. He has a wonderful opportunity to possibly work into taking over an established dentist's practice in Flag. Plus we're both a bit home sick. We really miss the open spaces and lack of people there. In Portland, don't get me wrong we love it here for now, you have to drive for miles before you are out of the city. We miss driving five, ten, or fifteen minutes to get out of civilization. We also realized how much we miss our families and how much we have missed of Zach's life. Well, we still have 4 years before we leave. As for now we are taking each day at a time and trusting in God to guide us to the next step. God Bless!
Ever wandered what a five-month-old types? Here it is! Ladies and Gentlemen, the love note from my wonderful nephew Zachary to me!
"bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb b 8 iooo d dt rb 97udru ivcj7 uugkj o gv hhh
love,
zach "
I love you baby and I can't wait to see you kiddo!
Last night I went to our church's women's Bible study. It was awesome! We listened to a woman speak about Esther and how her life is a model of true worship and devotion to our God and King. She explained the ritual Esther went through to prepare herself to meet the king of Persia for the first time. 6 months of Myrrh oil was applied to her body and taken internally, followed by another 6 months of sweet spices and fragrances. Her body was clean inside and out; and her natural odor was replaced by the smell of sweet spices. She also wholly submitted herself to God's plan for her life. Though she was taken from her people and brought to the palace, most likely not by her choice, she accepted it. She left everything behind and became a completely devoted to finding favour with the king, which she indeed won as the story tells us.
One of the most touching words of the evening came from our pastor's wife, Betty. As the evening drew to a close she said something that struck a chord with me. "We may not have what the world calls 'beauty', and we may not look like models and movie stars, but we are the Brides of Christ. We are beautiful and pleasing in His eyes." What an amazing truth! How many times do we, mostly women, compare ourselves to the "women" we see on TV or in movies. "I'll never be that skinny," or "I have a 'ghetto booty," or "I'll never look like that in a million years," or "I can pinch an inch," and so many other things. It's something I struggle with on a daily basis. But, to be reminded that I am a Bride of Christ, that we are His brides, His beautiful creation, and He loves us more than we can comprehend makes this body seem, well, like the shell that it is. Not to be neglected, but to be made into a temple for our Savior to dwell. I praise you God for making me and loving me, all of me, for who I am. I am so thankful that I am a bride of Christ, my Jesus, and my Savior.
Ok, I admit it. I love history, as if it's news to anyone who knows me. I also love cooking historical food from various eras. I stumbled on this site about a month ago, and I must say, it's spectacular! Talk about complex, fun recipes. I've only tried one of them so far, the Venison in Callops. However I used Chicken instead of Venison, and I didn't lard the meat. It was, however, the tastiest chicken I think I've ever made. For those who are up for the challenge, and the fun of historical food, this site is for you! Check out the amazing sugar sculptures and pie moulds. It's quite amazing what one can do with food! All for now!
Their first experience with snow (when we lived in Flagstaff!)
No, this is not an edited photo! It took a month of training
to keep Max (the dog) from eating my birdies.
Now, he's see's them as part of the pack!
Look Ma! Our first swim (with us that is!)
You have to drag us out of the water!
Why can't Baldric play ball with me? (Baldric the cockatiel, that is!)
Well, that's all for now!
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