INTRODUCING>>>>>> Taylor James

On October 8th 2008, Taylor moved into our home and into our hearts. On May 10th 2010, he took our last name!!!!! There will be adoption pictures to come!!!!!!!

Bah~ Why Does Patience Have To Be A Fruit Of The Spirit?

My Grandma Ruthie used to say, "Patience is a virtue, catch it if you can, seldom in children, and never in a man." Well she had the kids down perfectly, but she was wrong when she said never in a man. I happen to be married to the most patient man in the world... NO REALLY IT'S TRUE! I on the other hand could stand to ask the Lord for some patience, but I'm afraid he'll give it to me.

The two big things that are working at me are my lack of perfection as a mom, and this constant waiting for Princess P's situation to stabilize. I am willing to offer myself some grace as I fall short of being the perfect mom (after all I have 3 small kids), but on the other matter it feels like an emotional roller coaster. The "powers that be" move so slowly and I find myself waiting less and less patiently. Now, the true POWER THAT IS already has things figured out, He just hasn't whispered His plan to me... hence my anxiety and impatience!!!! Do I trust Him????? Well Yes, but can't He fill me in and move a bit faster? All I know is that while I wait I find myself wanting to get in the mix... you know, there must be something I can do!!!!! I'm sure He needs my help... RIGHT! It would actually be an outward sign of my distrust in Almighty God, and an act of pure disobedience on my part to get involved. So, I must patiently wait and obey as He works knowing that He really does have it all under control and nothing I say or do will be of any worth. For now, and hopefully forever, we have Princess P and can love her with the heart Jesus has given us for her. We can pray for her future, and really that's a whole lot!!!!

House Projects And Mommy Guilt

We have been so busy lately doing house projects. We have remodeled our downstairs bathroom, and painted a large portion of our downstairs walls... yes, this would explain why I haven't exactly been current on my blogging. Now picture with me a 1,2, and 3 year old child in the room with a whole lot of paint... anyone but me feeling the tension creeping into your neck and shoulders? My remedy for this scenario was a whole lotta movies (against my better judgement- see prior post) and an itty-bitty living space (think genie on Aladdin) for over a week. My poor kids had to play in small confined areas for days and days. Don't get me wrong... my new bathroom and painted walls make me so happy, but we are only 1/2 way through the paint project and mommy guilt is keeping me from moving forward. I may have to compromise and allow 2 days a week for painting projects until the projects are done. I want to spend my summer outside with my kids rather than indoors painting, so I'd better busta move!!!!

Precious Moments

Let's start with a confession... I Love Magazines!!!! While laying in bed the other night I came across a little blurb about a family that tries to spend the occasional evening "unplugged". This means no computer or TV... you get the idea! They talked about how it promotes healthy interactions and all sorts of other benefits. Having a 1, 2, and 3 year old I rely on the TV for sanity even though we do not have cable. Putting in a movie = instant babysitter for when you have to make lunch/dinner or clean a bathroom really quick. I do not like or promote this idea, but it has become a necessary evil, UNFORTUNATELY! I decided to give the "unplugged" concept a short trial run last night and I am so glad I did!!!! Here's how it all went down... Jeff came home from work and the kids were still napping, so we seized the moment and hung out on the couch and chatted. The Princess was the first to wake up so I went and grabbed her and sat back on the couch with her and fed her some chips. Jeff and I continued chatting until "the Boyz" woke. This is typically when the TV goes on so I can make dinner... NOT TODAY!!!! I asked Jeff to bring down the portable CD player and got some VeggieTunes playing and the games began!!!! There was singing, dancing, and all sorts of general mayhem... FABULOUS!!!!! After dinner was done we brought out the Play-Dough and continued enjoying one another's company. Dessert was FF Cranberry-Orange Muffins (but the kids call them cupcakes). I had to run out for a meeting while they were in the oven, but I am satisfied knowing that for a few hours my kids and husband felt like the center of my universe. We only get these moments once we might as well cherish them!!!!!!!!

Princess P~ Positive Changes

I am going to take you all back a bit so that you can understand a small bit of this case. Be careful, I'm gonna talk about the Lord and might even sound a little crazy, but I assure you I am only moderately crazy! WINK!

The day I goth the call from Princess P's social worker telling me her tribe had found her a home out of state still seems a bit surreal for several reasons. The main reason is that when you get this little bundle and spend all day caring for it you begin to think of it as yours. This is not all bad, but when you hear they may be moving "your" baby you've had for 10 months to a different state it comes as quite a shock. Thank God for the subtle ways he worked to prepare my heart for "the phone call". For example, why had I developed such a passion for worship music that sparked me to create a worship play-list on my computer, and why did I just need to listen to it the morning I got the dreaded call? I literally answered the phone and had to tell her social worker to hold on while I turned down the music. You may say coincidence... I say DIVINE preparation for what was in store! I remember looking at Princess P and telling her "You were never ours, even if you had been born to us you would still belong to Jesus." At that moment a wave of peace came over me. God is so gentle and the grace and peace he provides in the midst of the storm are amazing. Jeff and I took her to church knowing we were going to surrender P to His will similar to Abraham and Isaac. This was no easy task, I struggled and my emotions were all over the place. I started to cry the moment I walked in the sanctuary doors knowing the Lord needed to have His way and yet I was struggling with my will at the same time. We went forward for prayer (something that still freaks me out and I grew up around it) and were immediately surrounded by friends and loved ones. Our Pastor's wife prayed with us and her prayer was so incredibly accurate it opened my eyes to some things. Once again I was so aware of a deep sense of peace. I'm not saying I don't still battle occasional fear, but deep inside I know God's perfect will will be done in this situation and that we will all be OK.

As things stand (based on today's conversation with the SW) both out of state homes have fallen through and we can't help but be a bit hopeful. P's tribe can still come in with a home placement, but I have the same comfortable confidence that the Lord will have His way no matter what.

The Blues

Jeff called me this morning and when I asked him how he was doing he admitted he was feeling a bit down. I wanted so badly to give him some good news like I'd found $100 under the bed, but I had nothing. So much for lifting up my husband when he was feeling down.

Shortly after talking with Jeff I got a call from "adoption support" for Tot's upcoming adoption. I've heard horror stories about this portion of the adoption process. The woman I spoke with was very kind and ultimately worked very hard to get us all she could. While it wasn't what I had hoped for it was at least something. The next step is working with the lawyer and getting our court date for the adoption. We are so close I can feel it! I thought this was exciting, but when I called Jeff to fill him in he didn't seem to cheer up... this was one tough case of the blues!

Princess P came home from a visit with her parents and I called her social worker to give her some information about the visit. During our conversation we began to talk about her case a bit. Now Princess P has been in our care 11 months today and her case is moving towards termination of parental rights quite rapidly. If she becomes free to adopt we would love to have the opportunity to adopt her, but it has seemed unlikely due to the fact she is 1/2 Native American and Jeff and I just aren't. Her tribe has been actively seeking native placement for her since they learned TPR was imminent. They found a home in Montana, but that fell through somehow, so they started looking at a home bio mom suggested in California. There are some "concerns" about this California placement, so they could potentially be back to seeing us as an available option. Things change so rapidly we aren't going to count our chickens before they hatch, but this was good enough news to pull my sweet hubby out of his battle with the blues. Please be praying with us that Princes P gets to stay with us. God is her "Divine Protector" but we would like to be part of the process as well.

Spud~ Full Up!

I've chosen to skip to current events. Between getting Princess P and now here are the highlights...

~We had some dear friends for an eight week stay during the months of May and June... the state was a hoot to deal with for this short adventure! Remember sometimes you just gotta be tough!!!!!!!!!

~Tot's bio-parents have lost their parental rights and we are weeks from adoption. HOORAY!!!!!

~Princess P turned 1, learned to crawl, walk, and now RUN!!!!

~The Holidaze were plagued by sickness... ear infections, and the croup! I get tired just thinking about it!!!!

~Princess P's case has taken a turn we are not at all excited about and it's likely she will be moving to Montana or California some time this year because she is native and we are not. We are praying hard against this move!!!!!

~We just got another little guy Spud (2 1/2)... he has a sweet smile, a gentle spirit, and a mo-hawk that gives Spud the title of "best haircut in the house"!

Jeff and I are still enjoying being foster parents even with 3 kids ages 3 and under. Today was check-up day for Tot and Princess P. Tot got 2 shots and enjoys showing me his "owies". He is in the 98th percentile for height and weight... BIG BOY!!! Princess P escaped shots today, but enjoyed the echo she found in the exam room! Try talking to your new pediatrician with a 1 year old shouting because it sounded cool... Thank God Jeff was there with me!!!! I LOVE YOU HONEY!!!!!! You pretty much ROCK!!!!!!

Princess P~ My 22 Pound Cake!

Here is the story that happens all too often. Kids are removed from their unsafe situation and they have no place to go, so they spend the day at the DSHS offices passed around to whatever social worker is available at that moment. They hang out either at the social worker's desk or in the visit rooms intended for when children are there visiting their bio-parents. Please understand I am not against this practice, in fact I am glad it's not against policy. This is not a line of work where you can predict what will happen, and sometimes you just have to do whatever works in order to keep at risk children safe.

On April 9, 2009 I got the call I had been hoping for... it was a call from Tot's social worker asking us to take a baby girl. Now, Jet was going to be moving any day to live with his 1/2 brother and his 1/2 brothers dad who loves Jet like his own son. We were just waiting for dad's fingerprint results to come back before the big move took place. That being said, when Tot's social worker called me and asked me if we could take a little 5 month old baby. I started asking questions and discovered that baby girl was at the office and J (Tot's social worker) was holding her just like the situation I described above. I of course said "yes" and waited patiently to meet this little girl. Jet had just arrived home from a visit with his bio-mom and I found out that Jet's visit supervisor had seen and held this little bundle. Both J and the visit supervisor mentioned this little girl's super chubby cheeks, but in my wildest dreams I could not have imagined these cheeks! Princess P arrived at my door and I was in shock! Now I had seen chunky babies with chubby cheeks, but wow, I had never seen them like this! That afternoon, after discovering the price of formula, I made Princess P a WIC appointment. It was at this appointment that I discovered that Princess P weighed 22 pounds. Now it's a bit alarming when one this age weighs this much. It can impact their ability to roll over, crawl and walk, not to mention put them at risk for diabetes, but you don't put one this young on a diet. You gave them their regular feedings and then wait for them to grow in to their weight. In the meantime, you kiss yourself some sweet little chubby cheeks!

Jet~ So Sick

Jet had not been with us very long when he got sick. We were eating dinner one evening and I was really watching his breathing. He was working too hard to breathe for a little boy. I took him in to the walk in clinic that evening and his oxygen level was low and he was doing lots of coughing. Now as a foster parent you are limited in what you can authorize medically. They were wanting to x-ray Jet's lungs to see if he had pneumonia. I called the after hours hot line to make sure that was ok for me to authorize an x-ray and they said yes. There was no sign of pneumonia in the x-rays so they gave poor little sick Jet a nebulizer treatment and some oral steroids to take right away. They sent us home with a nebulizer, prescriptions for albuterol, and strict instructions to give Jet a breathing treatment every 4 hours for the next few days. Jet and I spent the next couple of nights on the couch and love-seat getting very limited amounts of sleep. Well, he just slept through the treatments, but I had to get up and I love my sleep!

Because of Jet getting sick I wanted to know a bit about his medical history. His social worker told me to feel free to send mom a note to the visit letting her know about Jet's illness and getting any allergies he may have and so on. This was the best thing I could have done. Mom and I now had a way to discuss Jet and his care. I think mom was very thankful for this as well. While mom may have her issues and struggles she truly loved her little boy.

Jet~ Breakthrough At Last

As day 3 with Jet started to come towards the end of the business day I got a phone call. Things had fallen through with the family member that was going to take Jet and they wanted us to keep him until they could get things sorted out. A foster family always has the right of saying "no" when a situation is not a good fit for the family and I was so tempted to exercise that right. I expressed my concern over Jet's sleep habits and general emotional state. The state worker that I spoke with was very sympathetic and offered suggestions to help me out, but honestly I had tried them all and bedtime was approaching rapidly. I told them that Jet could stay and then I mentally and emotionally prepared myself for battle.

It was a Wednesday night (I remember it like it was yesterday) and typically that means church. I was exhausted and Jet was doing no better, so church was not going to happen for us. I decided we needed to try music in Jet's room but we didn't have a portable CD player, so I sent Jeff to Target for one. Like I said I was ready for battle! 8o'clock came and I set up the CD player and grabbed some worship CD's and my book. I put Tot to bed and then put Jet in his crib. I got the CD going and got comfortable on the queen sized bed that was in Jet's room and I started to read. Seeing me in the room Jet was more comfortable laying down, but he was still whimpering and restless. What happened next may make some of you uncomfortable, but I am committed to honesty here. I hadn't gotten more than a paragraph into my book and I got the strongest impression that I needed to pray for little Jet, and not just pray but do some spiritual battle for PEACE to come to this little boy's heart. Truly, I just wanted to read, but I chose to obey and God blessed my obedience. I prayed over Jet that in spite of the chaos surrounding his life God would grant him PEACE, PROTECTION, and a POWERFUL FUTURE. I claimed him for Jesus and declared that what the Devil meant for harm, God would use it to crush the Enemies back. I finished my prayer and began to read. I finished one page and noticed that Jet was fast asleep. I turned out his light and went downstairs totally in awe of what God had just done.

From that night on we experienced breakthrough. We never saw another 2 hour crying jag that broke our hearts. Oh, Jet woke up 2 or 3 times a night for the next week or so, but he always was calmed immediately and fell right back to sleep when I would quietly walk in the room and lay on the queen sized bed. He quickly became an amazing sleeper and eventually moved back into the room with Tot.

Jet~ The Non-Sleeper

That first night I remember sitting on the couch with Jet and running my fingers through his spiky hair until he fell asleep on my lap. We took both Tot and Jet upstairs and went to put them in their cribs and Jet woke up. Both cribs were set up in Tot's room and for this I was going to pay that first night. We said prayers with both the boys and tucked them in. I could see Jet tuning up to start to cry, but I assured him he was safe and told him that it was time to go to sleep. As soon as I walked out of the room and shut the door Jet started to cry. Now I had sympathy for his situation, but I also was tired, so I planned to wait 10 minutes before going back in there to see if he would just cry himself back to sleep. Little did I know this little boy had the ability to be persistent... really persistent. 2 hours later Tot is sleeping soundly in his crib and Jet is still screaming. I have exhausted every trick I know to help him. I had rocked him, sang to him, ribbed his back, and sat quietly next to him holding his hand each time I would go to leave the room the screaming began. After I realized there was nothing I could do I finally went to my bed just sat there telling myself I CAN DO ANYTHING FOR 2 DAYS. Jet woke up a couple more times that night and each time I tried to comfort him, but he just cried for a couple of hours. One thing was for certain, Jet's crib needed to be moved into the other bedroom.

Night 2 was much like the first, but at least Jet couldn't wake Tot with his screaming. Both Jet and I were exhausted! He had dark circles under his eyes, but he was still persistent... in fact he had learned a new trick. Jet realised that as long as he was laying down and screaming he had a greater chance of accidentally falling asleep so... little Jet stood in his crib linked his arms over the rail and this way when he fell asleep screaming he would wake up the second he relaxed enough for his knees to buckle. Let me just tell you by that following morning I was so tired and emotional I could hardly see straight, and I suspect Jet was too. He now had a permanent sad face to attach to the dark circles under his eyes. It was enough to break your heart.

Jet~ SURPRISE!!!!!!

With Tot we had the luxury of transition time, and now I know just what a blessing that is! Jeff and I had decided we wanted to go through the Holidays with just Tot, but we would take more kids after the first of the year. Within the first few days of the new year (the 2nd of January to be exact) we took a sibling group for 2 nights until they could go to grandmas and that was a piece of cake. This foster parent thing is easy I thought! Boy was I in for a rude awakening!!!!!!!!

On Monday morning the 12th of January 2009, I got a call asking me to take a 2 year old boy for a couple of nights. I said sure and they said they would call me when they knew more. I told them I had errands to run and for them to call my cell if I didn't answer at home. Well, they didn't call and confirm a thing. At 4:45pm I was at Target with Tot and my cell rang. All I heard was screaming in the background. Then an adult male voice identifies himself as a social worker and he asks when I'll be home. How does he know I'm not home you ask... 'CUZ HE'S WAITING IN MY DRIVEWAY... with a highly upset 2 year old. I tell him to give me 30 minutes, I made my purchase and flew home. We had just got in the door when I see Jeff's car pull up... CRAP!!!! I hadn't told him about this little guy because I had just found out myself, but I tend to do better with surprises. Thank God Jeff is a kind and patient man! He handled the surprise like a champ and we moved on to settling little Jet in for the next couple of days.

Tot~ The BIG Move

Here we are now it's the end of September '08. We are just waiting on my sister's fingerprints and then Tot can start to have overnight visits. Now my sister was frequently gone on the weekends, so Tot's social worker agreed to let him stay overnight if she was gone since they had print results for Jeff and I. We were so excited!!!!! He slept in a crib in our room and I swear I hardly slept. I kept waking up that first night and thinking our little boy is here and how am I going to send him back to grandma's house. Now at this point we were planning for there to be a bit of overlap time between Tot moving in and my sister and her kids moving out, but somewhere in here (it gets a bit hazy) we were informed that Tot could not have a crib in our room once we licensed. I made a phone call to my sister and we started discussing our options. My sister had actually come across a place to rent that would be perfect for her and the girls. She would just up her moving date to the following weekend (the first weekend in October) and Tot would move in all at the same time. It was all happening so fast. I was so sad to see my sister and the girls go. I wanted a little more transition for all of us, and I didn't want her and the girls to feel forced out. At the same time I was excited to become a mom. I remember the tears the last night the girls slept here (still makes me a bit weepy). Me and the girls sat on the floor and cried. I really didn't like that I felt I was pushing them out and that they could possibly feel replaced in my heart. They were too young to fully grasp the situation entirely, all they knew is they had to move out and Tot was taking their room at auntie's house.

Moving day was crazy! As the girls' bedroom emptied out we painted the walls from pink to green. Literally, as soon as Jeff was done helping with all of my sister's heavier things he went home and started to paint Tot's new room 'cuz Tot would be here in the morning and needed a room. I remember being so conflicted emotionally. How could I be so excited and so sad at the same time. I just wanted my cake and a big old slice of it to eat too. I certainly wouldn't trade those days for the world, but you could not pay me enough to live them again. Having tears of sadness and tears of joy at the same time will wear a person out!!!!!!

Tot~ Getting To Know You

It is important for you to remember a couple of things here. At this point my sister and her girls are still living with us. Now she has graduated from her masters program and is working at a before and after school program. Since it is summertime and the kids are there all day I agreed to help her a couple of days a week until the kids were back in school. Jeff and I are still not licensed, but are working hard to get things done since we have a little boy waiting to move in.

Through the summer and into September we had Tot over a couple of times a week and a lot of Saturdays. He usually cried for a couple of minutes when he got dropped off, but a little binky time and some snuggles on the couch and he was all better. We would play, watch movies, snuggle, and take naps so that he could get use to sleeping in what would soon become his new home. Grandma and I would have frequent talks about multiple topics related to Tot. When and how would we tell him that he's adopted? What role if any did Jeff and I want them to play in his life? I assured them they would be a very important part of Tot's future and kept saying it until I knew she believed me. All in all this was an amazing time. We all got along so well and really enjoyed one another's company. We could feel the Lord's hand as we made plans for Tot's upcoming move.

Tot~ The Start Of Something

Photo By Jamie Thompson Photography

*For the sake of protecting the identity of our foster children all pictures will hide little faces and they will be given nicknames. As we adopt children we will reveal their little faces.

Picture a summer day, you are getting ready to take a road trip to visit family and the air is already thick with excitement for this anticipated visit with loved ones... then the phone rings! In all the work of packing for our trip I did not get to the phone in time (OK, so I was in the shower) and after listening to the message I am so glad I had a moment to compose myself. The message was from a long time family friend. She said she had heard from her mom that Jeff and I were licensing to become foster parents and wanted to talk to me about a situation she had come across. I called her back right away and here's what she shared with me... She had met a grandmother that was taking care of her 18 month old grandson. This little boy had been placed in her home after being removed from his parent's care at around 9 months of age by DCFS (commonly known as CPS). It looked as though this little boy would be legally free (available for adoption) rather soon. Grandma still had 3 older kids living at home and was thinking adoption may be in her grandson's best interest. My friend wanted to know if I wanted to meet grandma and this little guy and I said... OF COURSE!!!!!

A few short days later I went to my friend's house to meet grandma and this little guy. Some of you can only imagine what was going through my mind and some of you know because you have been there. Grandma was not at all what you picture when you think of a grandma. While she was sweet with kind eyes and an easy smile as you would expect, she looked so young to me with her long blonde hair and wrinkle free face. She introduced me to one of her daughters and then to this little bundle of all boy! Tot (as we will affectionately refer to him) was riding in some sort of wagon or something and playing all over in the yard. He had a bit of a runny nose and blonde hair like grandma, but his eyes were captivating blue. During this visit my heart flooded with empathy and understanding for what this family must be going through. I left that meeting with plans to get together again so they could meet Jeff and we could meet the rest of the family.

There are some that would quickly pass judgement on this family for considering the idea of adoption. Let me set the record straight right now... It was not lack of love that caused this family to choose a safe loving home for this little boy quite the opposite in fact. Sometimes love means a great sacrifice, and that looks different for every family.

Licensing Process

Have you ever tried to call a government agency and tried to speak to a live person? Well that's what I was trying to do, but I had to press this number and that number to get to the right department only to get a recording that said to leave my name address and phone # and someone would call me within 24 to 48 hours. Now you would think with the massive shortage of foster parents that my phone would be ringing by 10 o'clock the next day... but it didn't. A week, then 2 weeks went by with no word, so I tried a different #. Little did I know it was the after hours line used to report instances of child abuse, but they forwarded my information to the right people and the ball began to roll... FAST! Within a week we had a licenser to our home and she gave us a licensing packet and helped explain to us what the licencing process looked like.

Now that we are licensed I will offer you some tips based on our experience...

~Watch the orientation video online
~Make an appointment for fingerprinting the second you get your fingerprinting information since this is by far the most lengthy part of the process even though they do them digitally now
~Take lots of Starbucks and snacks to your PRIDE classes it will help keep you focused
~Make a copy of all paperwork before you turn it in (paperwork tends to disappear once it's been turned in)
~Don't forget that if your children were placed in foster care for whatever reason you would be thankful that the state does all the interviewing and background checking that they do.
~Keep your sense of humor ;-)

The Foster Debate

By this point (2007), Jeff and I had been married 6 years and had no children of our own. I was uncomfortable pursuing the various fertility options and Jeff was very understanding. It seemed our options were getting rather slim. Adoption didn't seem like an available option since we didn't have the money to spend for such a thing and had heard that an adoption could cost thousands and thousands of dollars.

Now I firmly believe that God brings us friendships for special times in our lives. For Jeff and I 2 of those special friendships came in the form of the Thompson and Davis families. The Davis family is the family I spoke of in my last blog that met us at our future home and prayed with us, and Thompson family is the family that pointed us towards fostering. A member of their family has worked for the state for over 20 years, so they had great amounts of knowledge to bestow upon us. Ultimately, it came down to 2 things... 1) With fostering you are helping children desperately in need of rescue 2) Should the opportunity for adoption present itself the state will pay for everything... within a certain budget of course. With these perks there is also a cost. Naturally the state doesn't take one look at you and say, "Well you seem nice... HAVE SOME KIDS!" Knowing there would be a price to pay both physically and emotionally, Jeff and I decided to move forward with the licensing process.

Our Home Purchase

Less than 2 weeks before Jeff and I got married (Christmas Eve morning to be exact) my sister gave birth to a perfect baby girl that immediately stole our hearts. 15 months after that she gave birth to another dose of perfection. These two bundles of joy eased my baby bug a bit, but I was still wanting to become a mom really soon. Jeff had no such notion at the time, but he at least pretended he did!

Jeff and I were very comfortable with our role as doting auntie and uncle to these two precious girls. When the girls were a bit older, my sister decided to go back to school. In order to make things work for everyone she and the girls were going to move in with Jeff and I so that I could take care of the girls while Amie worked and was in school. The only problem with this plan was that we were living in a 2 bedroom condo at the time. Soooooo, to make a long story short we purchased our first home in April of '07. Before we purchased our home Jeff and I met up with some close friends to just look at the place. We ended up doing what some of you will think is odd, but we prayed right then and there for God to give us this home. When everything finalized Jeff and I committed to using our home for ministry. That seemed pretty easy considering my sister and two nieces were about to move in temporarily.

Wedding Day

Things progressed rapidly for Jeff and I. The next thing we knew we were engaged and had set the wedding day for January 5th, 2002. Yes, that is a mere 4 months and a few days from our first date. For those of you that think this happened way too fast STOP IT!!!!! From the second Jeff and I even considered entering into a relationship we knew it was going to be "until death us do part". While Jeff was on his business trip (before our first date) we were talking marriage instead of dating. Again you may think TOO FAST, but I assure you no two people have been more confident that this was a God ordained union.

A little side note...
If you are considering getting married I can only advise one thing, BE CERTAIN GOD HAS ORCHESTRATED YOUR FUTURE MARRIAGE. If you can't say that with conviction and cofidence then WAIT!!!!! There is no "oops I made a mistake" clause when you say I Do. Whether you stay married or not you become marked by that person for life. Be sure you are going to be marked for the better.

Back on point...
Well our wedding day dawned and I did what all brides do to get pretty for the big event. I was getting my hair done when my cell rang and Jeff told me he had just been diagnosed with strep throat. GREAT!!!!! We get to start our married life out in sickness rather than health, but oh well we still needed to get to the church on time (to quote a well known movie). Since I was not the bride that wanted the big wedding, we attempted to keep things low key, but lost that battle. Remember I mentioned that I was a pastor's kid... well the whole church was invited, and Jeff's family is HUGE!!!!! So, we had close to 200 guests when we wanted less than 15 (yes, I did say 15). I refused to walk down the aisle since I at least wanted the luxury of pretending there was only 15 people there... it worked until I turned around to be introduced to the group as Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey __________... well, we gotta keep some secrets! We ran downstairs and had food (I think) and cake, then I took my sick hubby home and... another secret!

First Date

Our first date was on September 11th 2001... that's right THE SEPTEMBER 11TH. Our first date was on a day most remember as a sad, traumatic day, but for Jeff and I it was the beginning of life as we now know it. Jeff had flown back home from a business trip in Tulsa, Oklahoma late on the night of the 10th. We'd made plans to have lunch during my split shift after he had slept in and had a chance to rest up from his flight. Little did we know events were in place to change our whole lives.

I woke up for work on the morning of the 11th and got ready like I always did. I hopped in my car and turned up the radio as usual to wake up and all I heard was "Our Nation Is Under Attack"! I quickly filled in the blanks and called Jeff. "Turn on your TV! A plane has hit one of the twin towers!" I told him. You know the rest of that story, so I will continue with our first date. Sooooo, somehow I make it through the first half of my shift, another plane crash, and the Towers falling. Jeff and I went to IHOP for lunch (stores and such were closing for the day rapidly by now) and while we were eating I got a call from my boss saying we would also be closing for the day. How BITTERSWEET! Here people were in the midst of tragedy and I was having my first date with the man I would eventually call my husband. No, we will never forget that day for so many reasons, THANK GOD NOT ALL OF THEM ARE BAD!!!!!!

Everyone Knew But Us (How We Got Together)

For you to understand where we are today I must give you our back story. Jeff and I knew one another from church. I was the pastor's kid, so I knew and talked to everyone. What I knew of Jeff didn't exactly draw me to him. He was a geek and I dated bad boys. I was a brat and he was nicer than any guy I had ever met. It took a year for us to even blip on one another's radars, but after we did, LOOKOUT!

After finally getting tired of dating bad boys I had just told the Lord that He could pick my soul-mate. So it's August of 2001 and Jeff and I are at a Christian music festival with the youth group. I had no idea Jeff even planned to be there and I was in pretty bad shape emotionally. Now it's a hot sunny day and a group of us are at a concert Jeff included. I'm holding a baby bottle and somehow manage to drop it down into the bleachers... not once but twice. Both times Jeff offered his hand to help me get back to my seat, and both times I looked at him like he was crazy and sat down on my own w/o Jeff's help, but it got me to thinking. Bad boys just use you, and they would never be a gentleman and offer help to a woman. Hmmmm, maybe Jeff isn't such a geek after all. BLIP! He's now on my radar! For Jeff it was a little more subtle, but the next thing you know we were planning our first date. Slowly, word started to leak to our church family that something was brewing between Jeff and I. The overwhelming response I got was, WE WERE WAITING FOR YOU TWO TO NOTICE ONE ANOTHER!!!!!!!

Too Late

So here I go jumping the gun! It's after 10pm and I just set up this blog, but am now too tired to do any posts worth your time this evening. I will start our story first thing tomorrow! Sweet Dreams All!