Long Time No Write

Hello dear friends and readers,

I apologize for the lack of writing on this blog – my mind and time has been rather consumed as of late with the many different events and projects going on at the moment.

1.  My sister-in-law came for a visit!  In May, Angie and I planned to surprise my husband Joe and it went off without a hitch – he had no idea!  It was so great to have her out from B.C. and spend time with her – the kids loved having her around too! 

2.  My little sister gave birth to twins on June 8th!!  I am so excited to be an Auntie to these precious little babies – my nephew Mason Carter and my neice Ainsley Sage.  I just wish they lived next door instead of a 45 minute drive away so that I could go squish them whenever I wanted!

3.  My little brother is getting married!!  In February, my brother finally proposed to his long-time girlfriend, who has felt like she was a part of our family for a long time already and they are getting married on August 21st.  We are all very excited for them and looking forward to the wedding.  It’s a busy time for our family with many bridal and baby showers happening all at the same time!

4.  I’m trying to live a healthier lifestyle.  Myself and a few friends have started our own little fitness club, for lack of a better term, where we are trying to implement healthier choices in the way we eat, move, and think.  We are going to try to add one new healthy habit in each of those three categories each month and keep each other accountable.  This month we are working on eating more fruits & vegetables, stretching, and having gratitude.  In addition to these, I’m trying to drink more water and go for walks more often.  I bought a pedometer to track my steps and have set a goal of 10,000 steps per day, but I’ve only reached it once in the last 2 weeks – ha!  Overall though, I am feeling good about the small changes I’m making and setting my sights on long term results that last throughout my life.

5.  We’re thinking about building a house!   When we bought the house we are currently living in, it came with a double-wide lot, so we’ve had this big empty patch of grass next to us that’s just been begging to be developed for some useful purpose.  We have agonized over what to do with this lot and have wanted to be wise with how we use this resource that God has blessed us with.  We are looking into what it would take to subdivide our property into two separate lots so that we could potentially build a house and seeing if we can afford what it would cost to go through with such a big project!  I’ve been making many phone calls and emails, doing research on the internet, and drawing up potential plans.  I waver between excitement and dread and we are just praying for God to lead us perfectly in all the decisions regarding this possible endeavor.  If we were to go through with it, the plan would be to move into the new house and rent out our current house.

6.  We’re thinking about adoption!  I’ve been on a personal journey with discovering the heart of God for the orphan over the last couple of years and we find ourselves being drawn more to the possibility of adopting ourselves.  While the reality of this dream may in actuality be years down the road yet, it is something that is continually stirring in my heart and something that we are slowly working towards.  It is difficult to trust God with the timing of this, as well as the how and where and who and all the other questions that inevitably come with such a life-changing decision.  In the mean-time, I am sowing “adoption seeds” by giving to other people’s adoptions and sponsoring children and doing whatever the Lord leads us to do for the cause of the orphan across the earth. 

7.  We’re playing outside and don’t have as much time for blogging.   With summer upon us, Justice could spend all day, every day outside!  He’s constantly begging to go play in the “back yard”, on the slide, or go for a walk in the stroller.  We discovered a new park nearby too, so we’ve been enjoying going there and watching Justice learn new things on the play structure.  Rayah simply loves the swing and kicking her legs!