212

A little dose of inspiration for you: www.212movie.com

Home From Vegas

That's right....I've been in Vegas, baby! I went for Arbonne's National Training Celebration (NTC for short). I had a phenomenal time and cannot describe what it was like. It was truly inspring to be around 16,000+ positive, upbeat people. I would have typed "women" instead of "people", but there were many men there too. It reaffirmed that I am doing the right thing for my family and I am having a great time along the way. The theme for the conference was "a million reasons why" and we were all given t-shirts with our "why" on the back. Above are photos of my shirt and a t-shirt of a lady I met while there. I could have worn her t-shirt too! I'm also including a photo of a shirt I want Brian to have on next year and a photo of my group of friends I was there with.

Latest Read

Here's the latest book I've finished....SAHM I Am by Meredith Efken. A very light and enjoyable read. The story is told through a series of e-mails shared by a group of stay-at-home moms. The book was written to give a glimpse into what it's like to be a SAHM. FYI...the author is an adoptive mom of two from China. It was nice to have something to breeze through following The Thirteenth Tale.

Keeping Busy

For personal reasons I'm trying to keep myself as busy as possible today. I decided to read blogs online and came upon this neat game. Type "your name needs" in the google search bar and see what comes up. Unfortunately for me, Tonya Harding is popular in cyberspace. Here's what I found out I need:

1. Tonya will need to use a combination of strategies and tools. (Brian doesn't let me near the tools.)
2. Tonya needs to get a life. (No comment.)
3. “Mom, I really think that Tonya needs to have it.” (I agree.)
4. What Tonya really needs is just to hear that people in general do not hate her. (I happen to think I'm likable!)
5. Tonya needs to take a page from Mary's book. (What book? Have I read it?)
6. Tonya needs to look herself in the mirror and admit it was her fault of her bizarre behaviour and not blame other people for her misdeeds. (What?!?!?)
7. A course that Tonya needs to take is now being offered in summer school. (Must be math.)

Here's my helpful tip for the day: Go give someone a hug and tell them you love them.

The Thirteenth Tale

I love, love, love to read and just finished a great book. It's The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. A simple description of the story: A famous and reclusive author asks a shy biographer to write her autobiography. I don't want to say too much because I don't want to give anything away. It kept me guessing right up until the very end. I highly recommend it. Thanks Linda at One Penny Time (shamless plug for the children's bookstore in West Monroe) for recommending it!

13 Months

From Wikipedia: The elephant's gestation period is 22 months, the longest of any land animal.
Stay tuned....it appears in 9 months we'll have a baby elephant. I'm just saying.

New Toy

Guess who got a new toy today? Since I don't think I look like a "truck driver", it must be Brian. How did we rationalize a new auto? The four doors will be needed when there's a baby riding in the backseat!

Baby Bedding

One thing expectant, parents-to-be do is "nest". (Well, I've been nesting for over a year now and it appears I'll be nesting for a little while longer.) Part of nesting is preparing the nursery and today I made some steps toward getting a room ready...I purchased bedding. We have purchased furniture for the nursery, but the furniture store is storing it for us until we need it. I have a lot of organzing that has to happen before we have room for baby furniture. As you can see, it's pink and green for us! What happens if this baby turns out to be a boy? I'll sell you some lovely pink and green bedding at a great price! :)

Brian's Yard

I wanted to share some photos of the hard work Brian has done in the yard. When I receive compliments on the yard, I always point out it's Brian's yard. He lets me enjoy it though. :)

Cruisin'

We just returned home from a much needed vacation. We went on a 4 day Caribbean Cruise with friends we met online. Let me clarify that last statement....we went with friends who are adopting too. Through coincidences, Stephanie and I met online about 1 1/2 years ago and have been sharing the adoption journey since then. They're using the same agency as us and our paperwork was sent to the CCAA at the same time. Odds are we will be traveling to China together and our babies will be from the same Social Welfare Institution (aka "orphanage"). It was nice to meet face-to-face and get to know Stephanie and Chris better.

We left out of New Orleans, so we were able to spend time in the French Quarter before we left. We had not been to New Orleans since Katrina, so it was nice to walk around. The food was nice too! We enjoyed gumbo and beignets before getting on the ship. The brief stop in New Orleans made us realize how much we miss visiting the area.

Our first day on the ship was spent at sea, so there was plenty of time for unwinding and relaxing. The second day was a stop in Cozumel. We all enjoyed a private beach and continued our plan of unwinding and relaxing. The third day was also at sea, so guess what, we relaxed and unwinded. We had to return home to the real world too soon, but were thankful for the getaway.