A little of this and a little of that...

  Though it be a little late, I'm joining Suzanne from Privet and Holly in her post from a new series she's starting called

Monday Moments is a time to recap the weekend prior around a "virtual" water cooler.  To play along this week or perhaps next week simply click on the Monday Moments link above and add your post to her link.  I think you'll fall in love with her and some of her other readers as I have. 

Life around here has been pretty busy as of late.  I am happy to tell you Bird was recently accepted into the RIT Executive On-Line Master's Program.  Last week, he flew to New York to meet his professors and classmates before they begin their 2 year on-line journey together.  I am very proud of him for continuing his education by pursuing his second Master's degree, this time an MBA.  This program is going to bring many changes to his life and ours and I'm excited to see the outcome.  We are thankful most of the financial expenses will be covered by the GI Bill he earned while serving as an officer in the United States Air Force.  At the end of this two year master's program the students are given the opportunity to travel to Europe or Asia for a week.  While in the designated country, the students will work with an international company to help them create a new business plan for their final project.  What an amazing experience and way to finish a hard earned degree!

I have been working hard making my photography cards and stepped out into the "real world" last weekend at a craft fair.  I wish I could say it was a huge success but I can't.  The good news is it had nothing to do with my cards.  It was the event's first year and it was not well advertised as far as anyone could tell.  Mom and I counted 19 vendors and maybe 10 customers came all night.  I sold 8 of my cards which isn't bad odds if you think about it but the cost of the booth/space was much greater than the few dollars I earned.  I learned a good lesson and in the future I will ask more questions before signing up for events like these. 

That said, the weekend wasn't a complete bust.  My mom and I hosted a JBF or Just Between Friends holiday open house in her home on Saturday.  I invited several moms who make and/or sell products to be vendors.  Those vendors included Tupperware, Mary Kay, Blossoms & Bows, Paper crafts and my photo cards.  Each vendor was asked to invite at least 10 friends/customers to come to the event.  In doing so we help create new clients for one another.  The open house was held for 31/2 hours and we all felt like it was a big success! I was blessed to sell almost 200 of my photo cards so I was thrilled!  Even better news is one of our friends/customers is planning one in her home in early December.  YEAH! 

In other news, I wanted to give you all an update on our little Yaya.  Back in September, I asked for prayers on her behalf in adjusting to her new school.  She has done very well and has settled in nicely.  The transition wasn't much fun at first but she is thriving in her new environment just as we hoped she would.  Now if we can find ways to help her be more successful during times of school/class transition in the future we'll be really pleased.  Any suggestions you have would be great! 

In addition, some of the moms from her class have joined together and formed a prayer group every other Thursday morning.  What an amazing blessing!  Finding and getting to know the other parents/families in her class who believe in God and pray as we do has brought such a peace to our hearts.  It's cool too because we found our kids love hearing we are getting together to pray for them and their time together at school.

Last but certainly not least, I feel like it's time to share an update on the adoption front.  We are still patiently waiting to be chosen.  I'm sure you'll understand when I admit some days and weeks are easier than others.  As our two year anniversary of waiting quickly approaches our anxiety grows.  Yaya still talks about waiting for her baby sister, "Sally" to come but has added a new name to the mix.  She has decided she also loves the name "Isabella" for a baby sister.  We continue to remind her the baby could be a boy not a girl and encourage her to think of some boy names too.  So far the name she came up with for a boy was, "Blue, because blue is a boy's color."  Um, OK?  We'll see about that...  Another thing we've explained to her is the baby may already have a name given to him or her by their birthparents like hers was.  She loved hearing the names we had chosen for her and why we liked them but she joyfully admitted she likes the name her mommy, Terra gave her much more and we do too.  It's perfect for her.

We're told two expectant families are currently looking at our adoption profile and are due in January.  Will you please help us pray for them and for all the women/couples who are considering adoption as an option for their child(ren)?  Thank you.