PRIDE Training....Check!

We survived the mandatory PRIDE (Parent Resource for Information Development Education) adoption training required by the State of Washington. We were in class for 34 hours spread over 3 days! It was grueling at times, but oh so worth it. We learned lots, were inspired by families that shared their stories, and bonded with others going through the same process.

We serve such an awesome God. This weekend was such an encouragement to us! We're getting excited and look forward to having babies, raising boys and girls that strive to glorify God in all that they do.

Our next step on this wonderful journey: Post-PRIDE training classes. These are a series of 6 more classes that we'll take on upcoming Tuesday and Thursday evenings. We'll also need to get re-certified in CPR/First Aid/Bloodborne Pathogens, take a Baby Basics Class from a local hospital, and tour the PICC. In addition to all of this is another mountain of paperwork! Yay! {Okay...maybe a little sarcastic, but we're getting used to it. They can't place these kids with just anybody!}

As always, we covet your prayers for us and the spiritual warfare we face, as well as our baby! God may be knitting him/her together in the womb right now!

{No time for stamping lately, but I hope to do some soon.}
Much love,
Whoop!

Sicky

Well, I've been sick since Monday and saw the doctor yesterday. She thinks I'm finishing up with a bad cold. I still have a lot of congestion and I have orders to sleep all weekend. My new friend: cough syrup with codeine. This morning Mountain Man woke up with a sore throat and congestion - just like all of this started for me! It appears he's going down for the count and he cannot afford to be sick this week! We've finally got our adoption PRIDE training this weekend and we can't miss! Please pray for us to be well!

It's a bright sunny weekend and we're stuck inside with colds. :( So sad! It's beautiful hiking weather. Hope your weekend is fun! We wish we were with our moms.

Poo Poo Point Trail

Click photo for album.

On Sunday, we hiked up Poo Poo Point Trail on Tiger Mountain with Jordan & Liessa. It was tougher than I had remembered, but I made it. The view was beautiful at the top, but we only saw a couple of paragliders because the winds were too crazy. On the way down, my left knee started giving me grief, but Mountain Man fixed up a makeshift brace for me and Liessa kept us laughing, occassionally yelling, "Mexican food, Mexican food, Mexican food." All in all, it was a fun day and we had some delicious Mexican food in Issaquah!

A Muse Lounge Challenge 04

I don't make many cards with large white spaces, so this was my goal for this card. I made this for A Muse Lounge's simplicity challenge:
-use A Muse and/or Saltbox Studio stamps
-use minimal embellishments (one or none!!)
-use minimal layers (no more than 3!!)

This is my first time to play along with this group. I've been having mojo problems lately, and I've found that pulling the A Muse stamps out is the easiest way to break out of that mojo black hole! :)

I spruced up that cute little paper toled duck with yellow fun flock on his body & crystal effects on his beak.

Stamps: A Muse Animal Wishes

Paper: White, Blue

Ink: Versafine Black, Craft white, yellow & orange markers

Accessories: Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, Lemonade Yellow Fun Flock, Crystal Effects, dimensionals

Techniques: paper tole

Happy Tuesday to you!

LV is here!

LV (Liessa) is here! We were suite-mates at Freed-Hardeman University and hadn't seen in each other in 13 years until last week! She's a traveling nurse and got a job in Kirkland (of all places) for 3 months. I'm so excited that she's here - I've loved catching up with her! She's a ball of energy and so fun to be around! Maybe she'll rub off on me while she's here. :)

Liessa rolled into town on the same Friday Ivan did (April 17th), so I didn't see her that weekend, but we have since spent some fun times together. Last Sunday afternoon, we decided to go to downtown Seattle. We walked the market, saw the fish tossing, went to the first Starbucks, walked the boardwalk, and had a nice dinner at Daniel's - my favorite place! It's delicioso and pricey, but oh so worth it! I snapped these while we were down there.

This is LV. Isn't she beautiful?

The flowers are so inexpensive, fresh & gorgeous!

Bear hugs!

We've become workout partners and enjoy working out with Jillian, Bob, Carmen, and yoga gal. It's fantastic starting our days together with coffee and sweat. I've taught her the simple joys of a french press and she's given me some energy and a new outlook on life! She's here for a reason, and that reason could just be to give me a lift and snap me out of this funk!

Review of The Shack

Book: The Shack
Author: William P. Young

The Shack is stirring quite a controversy, which I hadn't paid any attention to until my mom asked me to write a little more on it. While I will not spend much time on it, according to James B. DeYoung's review, author William P. Young used a fictional book to serve his universalism theology.

I originally said that this book changed my life, and it did. Although I do not agree with the theology of Universalism , I was challenged to look at my own life and confront a sin that I did not realize I had. No matter how many times I've read, memorized, or heard Matthew 7:3-5, I did not realize that I judge people so harshly and unjustly. This is one of my many sins, but the Holy Spirit revealed this to me as I read it.

(Matthew 7:3-5 NIV)
(3) "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? (4) How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? (5) You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Although many disagree, I found this a positive read and because God used this to reveal my sin to me, I see it in a positive light. I viewed this book as fictional, just as it was marketed.

If you read it for yourself, I'd love to hear your thoughts.

With love,
Bellawhoop!

A Fun Weekend with Ivan

Click on the photo for the gallery.

We've had absolutely gorgeous weather this weekend, so we trekked on over to Whidbey Island via the Mukilteo ferry, and visited Fort Casey State Park and Deception Pass. We hiked to the summit above Deception Pass for some great photos of the area. On our way back home, the guys spied some "long yellow plastic things" which I had to prove to them was actually fields of flowers! They didn't believe me until we got right up to them! :) It was a fun, long day!