Branching Out

Well, I did something today that I have never done before.  In the middle of the afternoon, all by myself, I went to see a movie.  And I do mean all by myself– I was the only one in the theatre!  It was my own private showing–at first I was a little creeped out to be in there all by myself, but once I got settled in with a Coke Zero (my new addiction!) I felt like a rock star!  If I could have only had the limo that I rode in a few weeks ago, I would have been set!  I wasn’t sure about this, but my friend Marcy (co-worker who I love!) assured me that it was very liberating.  She was so right!  I will definitly do this again (even though it did feel a little strange to laugh with no one around!)  Oh, the movie?  “Made of Honor” with Patrick Dempsey.  Cute, predictable chick-flick very appropriate for viewing alone.  Go on, give it a try–you know you want to!

Places I’ve Lived

1.  Dallas, TX–born here.  My parents lived in a one bedroom apartment so I had to live in the hall

2.  Arlington, TX–moved here when I was five and lived there till I moved off to college although we lived in three different houses

3.  Waco, TX–home of Baylor University where I spent four years of serious fun (and a little studying, but not Spanish!)

4.  San Antonio, TX–moved here for a boy after college.  Nuff said

5.  Ft Worth, TX–lived with my room dog in one sweet apartment.  Good times.

6.  Arlington, again–this time as a married person

7.  Mt Juliet, TN–suburb of Nashvegas.  Spent two years here in a little house on an acre of land.  Loved it.

8.  Rome, GA–this one took me awhile as I had never lived in a small town.  But the people were wonderful and I have amazing memories of my time there and some lifelong friends.

9.  Round Rock, TX–this is our latest stop.  Who knows how long we’ll be here, but I have a feeling it won’t be our last destination this side of heaven. 

 

Laminin

Ever heard of it?  Me neither–never had molecular biology ( I would probably still be in college if I had had to take it!).  This is a nine minute video, but everyone should know what Laminin is.  Check it out here.

I’m on Youtube!

Some of our students made some promotional videos.  We all look like big dorks, but check it out!  

www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKNM0pHuVno&feature=related

Yes, I am a planner

It’s true.  I do like to have a plan!  I’m not too rigid, but I do like to have things mapped out.  God probably laughs at me sometimes!  So, here it is the middle of April and I’ve pretty much got the summer mapped out.  This will be my first summer to work, so I’ve got to figure out something to do with my kids!  Moe has about forty eleven days of vacation, so he will get to be Mr Mom some of the time.  We don’t get out till June 5 so here it is in a nutshell

Week 1–nothing!  the boys will have just gotten out of school so thought they needed to do nothing!

Week 2–VBS at our new church.  We haven’t joined, but I think we will.  We are loving it and so are the boys!

Week 3–Joshua gets to go stay with my parents and go to zoo camp at the Fort Worth Zoo.  He is going to love it!  Jared will go to a sports camp at a church

Week 4–First part of the week they will have Connect Day Camp at our church.  This is Moe’s friends camp and he has gotten it lined up–so excited, it is a great camp!  Then, on Thursday, we leave for Rome!  We’ll be there in time for the fireworks–party!!

Week 5–we’ll be home on Wednesday to rest!

Week 6–at the end of this week we are going on a Family Mission trip to Port Arthur.  We will be working with Vietnamese children doing sports camps.  I am really excited for my boys to get to have this opportunity!

Week 7–Joshua will get to have his first away from home camp experience this week.  It is a good introduction since it is only two nights.

Week 8–they both will go to mad science camp.

Week 9–nothing!

Week 10–at the end of this week we head to Disney World!  woo hoo!

And then, the fun is over, back to school.  I think it sounds like a fun summer–can’t wait!

It’s over, but it’s just the beginning

Well, we made it.  We finished our last class today.  I wondered at the beginning of this whole thing how I would feel on this day.  Would I be “ready” or would I be ready to throw in the towel?  I wasn’t sure I could do it.  And now, I know I can’t.  God has made that abundantly clear!  I absolutely cannot do this.  I am not patient enough, I am selfish at times, and many other ugly things to which we really do not need to go into at this time!   But, I serve a God who loves me in spite of all that and wants only the best for me.  He wants to do “immeasurably more” in me and through me.  I feel at peace sitting here tonight and that is a great feeling!  So, we continue to move forward and continue to pray for His perfect timing.  I’m ready! 

Finally, something close!

Yes, we have to drive (alot!) everywhere we go.  It takes about 45 minutes to get to work in the morning, about 25 to get to church, and everything else just includes lots of traffic!  So, I was soooo excited when we found an amazing Swim Center just 5 minutes from our house!  It is like nothing I have ever seen before–it is huge!  I had no idea that that many people were into swimming.  We have started the boys in lessons and they are serious.  The last time I took Jared to the Y, I counted that he was only in the water for 6 minutes during the 45 minute lesson.  Here, they have 11 stations and by the time they finish, they will know how to do all four strokes and be ready to start on a competitive team if they want to.  They also have a little workout room where I can walk on the treadmill and watch them through the glass–love it, love it!  Hope they love it too!

The List

We are five weeks into the seven week, 23 hour Pre-Service training.  I have never before thought about parenting as much as I have in the last five weeks!  Not only am I thinking about everything (and doubting everything cause that’s what I do best!), but I have a nine yr old helper as well.  The other day I said the word “crap” and he proceded to tell me that when we get a foster child I will not be able to say that word anymore!  I’m telling ya, I feel like I’m under a microscope here!  Thought I would share all the things we still have to get together after we finish our training before we can be certified

*Complete 13 page application with references

*Criminal background check, including fingerprint check

*Copy of marriage license

*Copy of drivers license and auto insurance

*Copy of high school diploma (I have no idea where I will find this one!)

*Copy of pet vaccinations

*TB test for total household

*Floor plan of the house and photos of inside and outside

*Health inspection

*Fire inspection

*Sign agreement to use no physical punishment (that one was hard!  ha!)

*Sign Foster Parent Agreement

*Sign Confidentiality Agreement

*CPR/First Aid certification

Wow, I’m tired just thinking about all that!  It will have to wait till Monday though–we are off to Tyler tomorrow for our first Alumni/Freshman weekend.

Searching

We visited a new church yesterday.  We joined a church in December and it is a great church, but I’m not sure it’s for us.  It really hit me while we were in Gatlinburg and everybody wanted to know about it.  I’m thinking when you describe your church, you should be really excited and I just wasn’t.  Now, some of this is probably our fault.  Moe’s job is very demanding and we are out of town quite a bit so we really are only able to go on Sunday morning.  We have become the people that we used to make fun of–you know, the ones that only show up about every three weeks or so.  We have vowed that wherever we end up, we have to make a better effort to get more involved.  So, we have been praying about this quite alot.  And then, a couple of weeks ago, we got a card in the mail about a new church that was starting on Easter Sunday.  I guess technically you would call it a sattelite church.  Anyway, at the bottom of the card it says in bold letters, “You may have found the church you’ve been looking for!”  And I just had to crack up–I called Moe and told him that I thought God might have sent us a postcard!  So we went and we’re going back this weekend.  In fact, we are cutting a trip short so we can be back.  I think that is a good sign. 

Get fit!

I live in one of the fittest cities in America, but you would not know it by looking at me! I have gotten lazy!! So, enough with the excuses, the time has come to get off my bedonkedonk! I have just joined the first National President’s Challenge. It kicks off March 20 and goes till May 15. I figure I can do anything for 8 weeks! They are encouraging 30 minutes of activity, 5 times a week. If anyone wants to do it with me, I think we can create a group and encourage each other. To sign up, go to www.presidentschallenge.org.