Whoa!

Two posts in one day...you can definitely tell it's a snow day! Ha!

* Please note the use of exclamation points in the rest of this post.

A few posts ago I said that I had some exciting news that was not my own to share. Well the secret is out!

My best friend Audra is pregnant! Her baby is a blueberry...she is due in September!

We laughed at her wedding that we wanted to be pregnant together! Well I suppose this is closest we could ever come!

Let me preface this by saying, I believe that God knew I needed a little cushion for her news.

The day I got the call for our baby, I of course immediately called Audra to tell her. I could not wait to ask what she thought and get her opinion. I of course am bawling because my news is the best news I had received in long long time. Then she tells me she is pregnant and I just lose it. I fully believe God knew what I needed long before I did!

I am so happy for her! I can not wait to meet that little peanut! I love you Audra, you will make an amazing mother!

*told you I was a little out of control with the exclamation points!

See...it's a sickness...

Practice

Thanks everyone for the wonderful well wishes. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside!

Artie and I are truly blessed beyond belief. The road has been hard....but it could have been harder. There were days when the sadness was so bad that I did not know how I could make it through the day. There were days when I questioned God and his plan, it is human nature. Thankfully I have Artie who would give me the encouragement I needed to pick myself up. He has always been the little voice in my ear reminding me to trust God. I am here to tell you that is hard for a control freak. So anyway....

Thursday night Artie and I babysat our pastor's boys! Twin 6 year olds=FUN!!! We had a blast and were sad when we had to put them to bed. Artie took this pic of us with his phone...we had them so wound up (Sorry Jody) that we feared they would not go to sleep.

We decided it was great practice for later on down the road.

Well it has snowed again! Artie and I have planned to just stay in all weekend. Artie went to the store and we are all stocked up on yummy snacks and food. I have several craft projects planned. I also have about 5 loads of laundry to do...just keepin it real folks. Anytime it snows I always want to tackle craft projects. What do you all like to do when snowed in?

I am SUPER excited that tonight is the Miss American Pageant on TLC. Ahhhh! I love it. I am a traditional southern girl and like sparkles, big hair, big bows, monograms and pageants. So I can not wait to know the results.

I everyone has a wonderful weekend. I am sure I will post about the Miss America Pageant tonight or tomorrow...Go Miss Tennessee!

A medium Shrimp

I have probably started this post a hundred times in the past 2 days.

This verse says it better than I EVER could:

I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him.

1 Samuel 1:27

Artie and I are proud to announce that we will become parents later this year!! We will be adopting a baby around the 1st of August and we are thrilled!

This could have only been designed by God. Artie and I can not understand how UNBELIEVABLY blessed we are. The past two days we have just been looking at each other in disbelief. I have been walking around in a big pink fluffy cloud. A fluffy cloud filled with kittens and puppies. And cotton candy and snickers bars. The best two days of my life. YOU HAVE NO IDEA!

I can not wait to share the journey with you. August seems so far away.

I have some others news that I am equally excited about but I can not say what it is yet...as it is not my good news to share!!!

Right now the baby is almost 13 weeks along and the heart beat is at 160 bpm. The doc says everything looks great! So I looked up all the info for a 13 week old baby and learned that our sweet pea is the size of a medium shrimp. Ha! It also has fingerprints now. Amazing.

Photo borrowed from www.babycenter.com

I am sure it is the cutest medium sized shrimp there is!

Artie and I decided to take a stroll through Babies R Us tonight. Oh my. Overwhelming is probably an understatement. I am so glad we have lots of support and lots of advice givers.

We will be announcing it at church this Sunday and I can not wait. I know we have had lots of prayer since the beginning of this journey. Our church family will be pleased as punch...we will be getting a new Sunday School student soon! Hehe.

Have a great week everyone!!

The big news...

...is coming!

I promise.

But I will give you a hint....

1 Samuel 1:27

Ornaments

I have been meaning to post a pic of these cuties! (sorry for the pic quality) These are the ornaments I made for Valentine's Day! I want to make a few more but just have not had the time. I think they turned out precious and I can not wait to make them for EVERY HOLIDAY!! Watch out Memorial Day!

I have been a busy girl cutting music for majorette tryouts. There are 9 girls trying out and I have about 5 of the songs done....pray I can finish the rest before my eyeballs cross. My poor husband has to listen to me play the same part of the songs over and over. Ha!

Suzan and I have been working at the store this past week. We have been getting ready to reopen in February, re-decorating trees, and anxiously awaiting all the new pretties to come in!

Ahhhh! It makes me so happy on the inside! I can not wait to show you photos!

Please be in prayer for some really exciting things that are happening. I will be able to reveal more at a later date..but now you shall remain in suspense! Muuhahahahahah! Ahem

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Children's Sermon

Today our pastor was talking about when Jesus changed water into wine at the wedding. Well he gathered all the children in the front of the church to tell them the story. Pastor Rick was in the middle when one of the little boys spoke up "Jesus should have turned the water into Sunny D!" The whole church cracked up. I just about peed on myself.

Today was a long day.

The track ball on the crackberry broke (like a month ago). Since I live in the boonies, it takes an act of congress to get to the Verizon store. (except not really..I pass one on the way to church) Well Verizon sent me a new phone and I finally took it by to have it switched over. Do you know how hard it is to use a blackberry with no track ball? INSANELY DIFFICULT! Why I did it for so long I will never know. Anyway....Artie and I waited in the Verizon store for over an hour today. It made the day seem really long, just standing and standing and standing. Ugh. But it is fixed and my phone is working great!

Afterwards Artie and I went to the grocery store and were very distracted. I think we were both tired. At one point we found ourselves just standing their talking to each other...not moving...not shopping. Just. Standing. Artie looked at me and I laughed because we were just so out of it.

Does anyone else notice how between Halloween and Easter it is like CANDY CENTRAL at the grocery store? I mean seriously.

Ok. I think that is it for the random post.

A little more Christmas

Just kidding. I really did finish putting away all of my Christmas things today. Every last one of them...I hate to see them go. I also like how nice and tidy things look when it is all gone.

Anyway.

I have yet to share with you one of my favorite gifts this year. I have really been looking at this Dayspring.com nativity candle holder.

I love it. It is actually on sale now so I might just go ahead and buy it! Ha! I love the idea and think that is something you can leave out year round. Well this year my Pastor, his wife Jody and their twins Noah and Drew bought me this (I am their Sunday School teacher)

Isn't it beautiful? And it is hand made!! So it now has a permanent place in my living room. Love it!

As a little present to ourselves for finishing all the paperwork I ordered us this:

It came today and I was thrilled. I can not wait to gift it to our son or daughter one day. It is the most beautiful book ever. It is written just like a storybook. Listen to what the very first page says:

"Go wrote, "I love you"- he wrote it in the sky, and on the earth, and under the sea. He wrote his message everywhere! Because God created everything in his world to reflect him like a mirror - to show us what he is like, to help us know him, to make our hearts sing.

The way a kitten chases her tail. The way red poppies grow wild.

The way a dolphin swims.

And God put it into words, too, and wrote it in a book called the Bible"

Ahhh! I love it. I find myself getting lost in the story.

I finished my little Valentine's Day craft today. I will post some pictures tomorrow. It turned out better than I thought they would. Artie even said they were "cute". Ha! I hope everyone had a great Saturday!