One step closer...

Now that Pride training is over, we are looking at the next steps. Our house needs to be up to code. This means the tile needs to be done as well! Whoohoo! Sike, I am not looking forward to that adventure. But I was talking to our Licensing Support lady, Cheryl and she thinks if we get on it, we could be licensed by December!!! So, I am kicking it into high gear. I have to schedule my T.B. testing and find a first aid/cpr/bloodborne pathogens training.

On another note, the front yard is almost done being raked. Now we have to even it out. We have decided to foot the bill for hydroseeding. It is so late in the season, we don't think that regular seeding will take. But through our good friends The McCalls, we have a guy who does it for a fantastic price. Today I will be working on the yard. Yesterday would have been ideal, but Jairus and I have had a cold, so we took advantage of the day and baked cookies and cuddled on the couch. We love you all, and will keep you posted of any new developments!

The 30 Day Notice

For those of you who have never been to our home, our front yard is detestable. It is huge with not much landscaping, in combination with my lack of green-thumb, the existing plants are very sad. It is not because we like having the ugliest yard in the neighborhood, it is because the yard ranks very low on our list. The home-owner's association president has been just short of harassing us about fixing our yard. So finally, he brought us the 30 Day Notice- to have it up to "code" (totally variable based on the opinion of the judge) in 30 days or they will have a company come in and do our yard and bill us for it. Since we are not independently wealthy, Tim and I have cracked the whip on ourselves to get it done. On Monday and Tuesday, I worked in the yard all day until I had to go to work. Then, Tim got off of work, worked on the yard and picked up Jairus from the gym, took him home and made him dinner. Wednesday was raining, so a nice break for us. Then today I spent the better part of 6 hours raking and shoveling dirt, and shaping a landscaped "island" in the middle of the yard. I am hurting, and so is Tim. I admire those people who work so hard to have a nice landscaping. Now that I have worked for hours upon hours to make our yard look better, I am sure I will be more motivated to keep it nice. We just pray that when we seed the yard, it will take. We are not in any position to hydroseed. Praise God, we are physically able to do it on our own, I am certain we are saving a boatload of money. We have about 25 days left to fulfill the "code", hopefully we will make it with time to spare.

THE SHACK!

If you are not sure about God's love for you, and want to read about a captivating true story, read THE SHACK. It is about a journey of a man who loses his daughter to a serial child killer. He travels back to where her possessions were found, and presumably where the killer took her life. Through a supernatural encounter with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, Mack was able to come to terms with his own pain. He comes to understand how he has wrongly accused God for the tragedies in his life, and most of all truly forgive, not only Missy's killer but his own father for the pain he inflicted. THE SHACK is an absolute page turner. One minute I was crying for him, and for my own realization of God's love for me. A few lines later, I was laughing. I began to unearth my own misconceptions of our Lord and come to terms with the fact that our perceptions are NOT always right. And because of our wrong perceptions, we have wrong emotions attached to them. Please do not get me wrong, this is not "churchy" or stale. This is a book of love, of divine intervention for a man drowning in his own despair. Held captive by his pain, and ultimately the triumph he has had through the understanding of God's love for him. Read it, I promise you will not be disappointed!

First Day of PRIDE training.

My heart is in physical pain after today. I am sure there are going to be harder days yet to come. PRIDE training was amazing. I loved that we got to do it with a Christian agency, instead of the state. They have such a comforting perspective on the process. I just want to get through this as fast as possible, I want our Chosen One to be home, safe and sound. Oh, loved ones, please pray for us. We have very uncertain territory ahead of us. Praise God for the work He is doing in my heart. I love our Chosen One! Please pray for a speedy process through the system, and that God keeps him safe while we are on our way!

Oh my chosen one,
That is just who you are.
Not because of me,
But because God placed you in our heart.

He has a purpose,
His perfect plan,
To take you out of harm,
And place you in loving hands.

I make you this promise,
That though you may be sad..
Soon, chosen one,
You will have a mom and a dad.

Chosen one, there is so much,
Coming your way!
I promise, there will be an end,
To these dark and dreary days.

You will have a place,
Just to call your own.
You will be loved,
You will never be alone.

Just hang in there,
Just a little bit longer.
We are coming to you,
Through of the love of the Father.

Do the Puyallup!

It was free to get into the fair from 10-12pm. So Sam and I made plans to meet. Since we are ballin' on a budget, Jairus and I parked for free.... In Egypt. I put him into the stroller and in my wedge sandals walked down two hills and got in through the back of the fair. Never did I think on my way down, about walking back up... We had fun with the kids, and after a couple hours decided to go back to the car. Once we got to the bottom of the hill, I realized why people pay for parking, or for that matter wear tennis shoes. But I did it, in sandals, pushing 35+ pounds of toddler and stroller. The rewards of being frugal.

I love this picture.

Fun at the Zoo.

Point Defiance was cool, but I know next time it would be worth the drive to go to Woodland. We had fun just the same.