Positively Lovely

2011 is in its 2nd Month! Wow how fast this new year has already been going by. At the beginning of the year i took a 30 Day challenge with KLOVE radio and listened to ONLY christian music for a whole month. During that month i went through major music mood swings, i loved that station and then i hated it. Sometimes i just turned my radio off because i didnt want to hear the same song again. Then other times i was super encouraged by the stories, and i loved how people shared their life stories on the radio. And after about 2 weeks i was addicted! I looked forward to hearing all the great stories about how GOD Wowed people. And hearing the testimonies of how GOD worked in all these peoples lives. I also had a chance to challenge myself in a new way this year. What KLOVE has been doing for the past couple years is that by the end of January you pick a word for yourself that you want to live by for that year. Well i had no idea they did that until this year so i accepted the challenge.

And my word is

POSITIVE

So far its been good. I have been trying hard to find the good in every situation and though i know that 2011 is just beginning; and there will be many trials that fall on my path. I am looking forward to beating negativity and becoming a more positive person :)

Growin up

This past tuesday is 3 weeks of living on my own. So far it has been FANTASTIC! Ive loved most every minute. It has opened the door to a lot more responsibility and stuff like that. I have learned a little about myself but i look forward to all the other lessons that are going to come my way. Life has been CRAZY lately though, i have something every single day of the week which makes of a lot of exhaustion, but at least im never bored. :)

Starbucks has been fantastic. Everyday i can see myself getting better at it. Though i have not mastered that job by any means i feel less like an idiot and more like i kinda have an idea how to successfully do my job! I also love my co-workers. I work with some awesome peeps! :)

Derek and Amber are Engaged!!!!! So wedding planning here i come :) Of course Lauren and Jonathan are engaged too and both of their weddings are this fall, so i have a lot of showers to plan, gifts to buy, Appointments to make, pictures to take and everything else that comes with weddings! But i am loving every minute of it... And i am totally using this as a learning experience for what NOT to do and what TO do for my wedding :) Yayyyyy!!! I am so grateful for the amazing future sister in law that GOD has blessed me with. She is also a great room mate and we have gotten a lot closer in these past 3 weeks! We spend lots of time together... lots of time... i mean a lot. Like tons.

The kiddos leaving was hard, especially since it happened right after i left home so it was kind of a shock for a bit but like everything else in my life GOD brought me through it and i am a lot stronger and better off because of it. Though i miss them a lot and think of them every single day i know that GOD has them in his hands and they are safe and deeply loved! So that gives me peace.

Overall life has definitely improved! It really is amazing how much a person changes with added responsibility.

Im lovin every minute of this journey :)

End of a Story and the beginning of lots of tears!

The kiddos left today. I have to admit this morning i forgot that they were leaving today. I moved out into my own place Feb 1st and took a second Job as a Starbucks Barista. So a long with the crazy busy schedule of juggling 2 jobs as well as a social life i have had little time for rest and a lot of running errands and taking care of my responsibilities as an adult. Weird... I am considered a legit adult now. Anyways, i had the opening shift this morning at the good ol' coffee shop, My babies left forever at 9:30, my shift was until 11... Therefore i knew that i wasnt going to be there so we had a goodbye dinner last night at Red Robin. Got the kiddos Ice Cream and i took about 10 minutes kissing and holding them tightly, just cherishing every second of our final moments together. Thankfully i praised GOD for at least being able to say goodbye. Then today came... After the busy morning and most of the exhaustion left my body i remembered... I called my mom and she explained the morning to me in between sobs. She was so great with them. Though she will never admit that; i saw the love and grace she poured out upon those angels with my own eyes. I will never forget the sacrifices she made for them. She gave up so much to love and raise those babies that should never have left their birth mother in the first place. I hope that someday i can be 1/2 the mother that my mom was to them. I learned a great deal from her! What an amazing woman; i have been blessed! It didnt hit me until about 11:15 after talking to my mom. When i realized i was never going to see my little Jazzy again. I was never going to hear her call my name (Bernie as she would say). I was never going to see Ariel wabble over to me only as fast as a 1 year old can walk. I would never feel her squeeze my neck when i picked her up. And i would never get to listen to Clifford stumble through his books or ask ridiculous questions about things that dont matter or hear him laugh. Its the little things that i am going to miss the most. I have their smiles implanted in my head. I cant get their giggles or voices out of my head. My heart is breaking.

But i wont lose hope. I know that this is the time to be praising GOD for the amazing moments and memories that i will never forget. The experience of a lifetime to watch those kids grow. I should be thanking him for being so merciful to my family and to those kids!

It still doesnt make saying goodbye any easier! Please pray for my family! Pray for the kids.

Starbucks Training

Well Folks today was day 2 of training with Starbucks. First of all i am very stoked to have this job, yes i applied because of Terra, so far it has been a blast! The first day was just a 4 hour shift reading paper work and doing a coffee tasting. The coffee tasting was kind of cool, not so delicious, but it was neat to see the process and to hear about the history and stuff. Today however was an 8 hour shift where i did a little book work, cleaned, cleaned and cleaned some more, did 3 coffee tastings and now i have 4 stickers in my coffee passport(it may sound lame but i actually really like the idea of having a cute little booklet full of stickers and descriptions of the different coffee) and i learned how to steam milk! Which is one of the main steps to making most of the drinks! I also learned the hard way that when you drink to much caffeine you get really jittery, random body shake spasms and a throbbing head. Lets just say i wont be drinking coffee on my breaks anymore!

Tomorrow i begin to learn the recipes for the drinks! Lets pray i dont spill myself to much!

I totally love my job though... I work with some pretty cool peeps :)

I know its been an eternity!

I am the worst blogger in the world! I will make it up to you by posting one heck of a long blog with pictures and details about the things that have been going on :)

Ill start with the kiddos. We have had them for 5 almost 6 (jan 27) months. It has been quite the journey. And I have grown very fond of each kid in their own way! As a new years resolution i want to be a more positive person, so i will tell you what i love about each of my babys :)

CJ aka Clifford or Bud as i call him he is a different kinda kid! He is shy in his own way with a lot of energy and a hint of sweetheart all in the same tiny little body. He loves to be loved, but hates to be touched... Unless its by my dad. He has this spirit about him that if nurtured correctly could dramatically impact others! He is a very kind hearted little boy, he cares about people very much and is extremely forgiving! He has a very creative mind, he loves to create things and play different characters. I could see him being a very misunderstood artistic genius someday! My prayer for CJ is that when he goes home he wont follow the leader of the negative male influences. But that he will remember my Dad and the impact he made in his life. That he will strive to be a father and husband who sticks around in the tough times and always strives to provide for his family no matter what.

Jazmine or Jazzy or Jaz or Dora and at times chunk. She is a lovey dovey mushy gushy little girl with a very strong presence of Tough girl. She loves hugs and kisses and being called a princess and beautiful, but if you touch that toy she was just playing with we are going to have issues! She is a joy in my life! Mind you we work a lot with her on playing nicely with other kids but its not rare for her to come home with a scratch on her eye, cheek or nose from being bit, hit, scratched, or something else little kids do when she takes their toys from them! Yes, my Jazzy can be a bully... But you would never guess it by the way she loves to love. My little Diva, i pray that when she goes home she will remember to love and forget hate. That she will grow with GOD and change lives by her strong heart!

Last but certainly not least Ariel. We dont really have any nicknames for her; believe me we tried but none came out right :) She is our little character. No one can change moods as fast as she does! Its incredible... Sometimes ;) What i love about Ariel is her joy. She has this smile that will take your breath away! She also has these little joy attacks where she laughs historically at nothing or she gets so excited to see you that she squeezes your neck as tight as she can... And that girl is strong! :) She is our Joy box :) My prayer for her is that she wont lose it. That she will carry around her Joy and dish it out among everyone she comes in contact with. Believe me its contagious.

GOD has great things for my baby sibs and i have faith that he will provide opportunities for them to live it out!

We also went to Cabo right after Thanksgiving which was FANTASTIC if i do say so myself. I had so much fun hanging out with my family and relaxing by the beach! It was also very eventful and busy. I loved every minute of it! Here are a few pics of our trip... We had themed Dinner parties every night but one, We went to the famous rock scene of Cabo San Lucas. Lovers beach and Divorce beach, Snorkling, Whale Watching, Ziplining, My mom and sister swam with Dolphins, I went parasailing which was awesome! Each day was very eventful and awesome! :) It was the best family vacation everrrr







Then After Christmas for my Dads birthday and New years my grandparents and cousins were in town! We had a blast. We unlike Cabo stayed at home a lot and just hung out as a family. We did a lot of painting and believe it or not i painted two pics... The first was not bad considering it was my first painting, i was much happier with the second! :) But one of the days me and my beautiful Twin cousins and lovely younger sister went to the Mariot hotel and took pics :) Here is a look at how those turned out!





On New years day we went to Starbucks after pics and took John Wayne Shots... We were up most of the night... And we had a lot of energy :)





Now i have very exciting news! I move out on my own with my soon to be sister in law February 1st. I am very excited about it :) Ill post details and pics as i have them :)

Cabo San Lucas

A week ago yesterday my family returned from Cabo San Lucas Mexico where we spent 6 days sulking in the sweet sunlight and getting pampered hand and foot. It was absolutely incredible! Most mornings i woke up to see the sunrise out our window over the calm beautiful sea. We would get our morning outfits on and head downstairs for a buffet style breakfast with an omelet station on the side. Over the course of the 6 days I went Zip lining, Hand-gliding, an RV tour of the mountains, Whale watching, Snorkeling, Site seeing and a little bit of shopping. We were constantly on the move going on an excursion, meeting our Tennessee friends at the pool or getting ready for our dinner dates. It was the best vacation i have ever been on! We met some really great people who i am glad to say will be our friends for years to come. I keep waking up and hoping that when i look out the window i will see the Sunrise over the ocean! :) It is yet to happen, but i have faith! Miracles do happen ya know!

When we were on a speed boat going whale watching and snorkeling we saw jumping sting rays. It was one of the coolest things ive ever seen! I did not have any idea they were so active. But sure enough they were flying out of the water and got some air in the process! They looked like they are flapping their wings :)

Overall it was a fantastic trip!


In other news... I will most likely be moving out with my brothers girlfriend Amber soon. We may sign a 6th month lease on Friday or Saturday. Scary but exciting.

Halloween/Child care

Halloween was awesome. The kiddos were so cute. Emma was a Candy Corn witch. CJ was Bumblebee the Transformer. Jazmine was a pink Kitty cat! And Ariel was a Cow :) I was purple grapes and Alissa was Green grapes. It was epic :) I took a picture on my phone so i am going to try to email it to myself and post pictures. Though i didnt get to go tricker treating with the kids, i did get to go to a College group outreach thing at Julie Beths house. It was uber fun and i am proud to say that i kicked butt at Zombie brains or something like that (It was a dice game we played.)

Today however was a bittersweet kinda day. We enrolled Jazzie and Ariel in a Christian Day School. They will be going Mon-Fri from 8-4pm... The reason was not because we didnt want them in the house or anything like that. We did it because they are definitely going home in a few months and as of right now my mom and i are VERY attached to the girls and they are VERY attached to us. Our thinking was that they would slowly detach from us and learn social skills, but more so that we would be able to begin our emotional transition into saying goodbye. It is so complicated and i cant really put to words what i am feeling because to be honest i am a little confused. But what i can say is that even though i have been thinking about the girls all day wondering if they are ok and if they like it, this day school is the best for them!

Ill post some pics of the kids in their costumes once i upload them to my computer! :)
Blessings <3