And for my next trick...

My Dad has been bugging me about not having a place to sit and put his shoes back on at our house so I set out to find something to fit the bill. First I looked at ottomans at Home Goods. They were too short. They I looked at bar stools. They were too tall. I do not have room for a chair so I had to go to plan B.

I found a sturdy sewing bench at a thrift store for $5 several weeks ago. Although it had good bones it was terribly ugly. As you can see.














The fact that it has a lid with a little storage space gave me the idea to use it as a charging station for all the technology that we need to make it through the day.













So with a little elbow grease and a couple of yards of fabric from the clearance table, voila, we now have a place for Dad to sit to put his shoes on and a place to hide all our gadgets. It is not my best work, the hardware made it a little tricky. A family heirloom it is not, but overall I think it came out well enough to be attractive and very utilitarian. What do you think Dad?

The fruit (er, uh vegtable) of My Labor

I ate the first salad out of my garden today! I had to thin the lettuce plants, which are really still just sprouts, out to 10" apart. At first I was feeling badly about throwing away the still very baby romaine but I thought "Why can't I eat this?" After washing away all the soil I plated it up with a little extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon, some kosher salt and black pepper. It was de-lish!

Today I planted spinach, arugula and Roma tomatoes. I think I planted the tomatoes correctly this time. Apparently you are supposed to put 80% of the plant below the soil, leaving only 20% above ground. So, I am hoping this plant looks a little healthier than the ones I plant last month, which are growing fruit but the plant its self looks a little weak.

A Baby in Heaven

Last night we found out that the baby we were to adopt (the one with the severe birth defects) was delivered via C-section last Monday. He lived for three hours in his mother's arms and then went home to be with the Lord. I know we will meet him one day.

Adoption Update

I know I said I did not want to make this blog all about infertility and adoption but I thought I should write a quick post about what the Lord is doing in my heart.

Since our failed adoption this summer I had not wanted to discuss next steps. Regarding this topic there was absolute silence between Dave and I until we went on a weekend getaway to the Cove. The Cove is the Billy Graham Training Center and it located in the beautiful mountains of North Carolina. The weekend we spent there was so refreshing and life giving. Pastor Bob Coy spoke for Ephesians 6. The title of his teaching was "What the Devil Does Not Want You to Discover." You can watch the teachings at this link.

This was the weekend that I knew we needed to discuss where we were going with the whole baby thing. So we did. We sought council from two people we trust. They both encouraged us to continue on in our pursuit of children. Both Dave and I have a piece about it and so we march forward, with our hearts and minds open to the child God brings into our lives one day.

Bugs Be Gone

I realized that I probably need some kind of pest control in my fledgling garden. I am trying to be as "green" as time, money and convenience will allow so I did a little research on natural pest repellents. In a blink of an eye Google produced for me an entire list of ways to protect my produce. Here is the link. The one I chose seemed the most versatile. So I cooked up a brew of one whole onion, a head of garlic (both chopped, skins on) and a heaping tablespoon of red pepper flakes.

What I thought was going to smell overwhelmingly awful actually filled the house with a internet equivalent would be but this picture will have to do. The pot full is a concentrate and should last me a month or more. You can also add a little bit of mild dishsoap to make it extra potent.

Incommunicado

It has been quite a while since I last posted but to be honest I just have not felt much like blogging but I am back. I am sure your life has not been the same without me. (yeah, right) I also plan to start reading some blogs again but I don't want to get bogged down with blogs! I have stuff to do and I am starting to feel creative again.

I have decided to make this blog less about the ups and downs of adoption/infertility and more about the freedom we have in Christ to live life abundantly, regardless of our circumstances.

I would like to share with you some of the things that make me happy. If you know me at all, you know one of the things I love is a good project. I know this is very geeky, but I have an excel spreadsheet of all the projects I have lined up. I won't bore you with the entire list but here is a sampling:

• Plant a container garden
• Make curtains for the family room
• Spruce up the home office, master bathroom and entry way

Here are some pictures of the garden we started. My Dad helped us create the river pebble patio. Dave's dad is going to help us with future plantings. So far we have yellow pear tomatoes, garden variety red tomatoes, zucchini. The romaine lettuce has not yet sprouted. And for herbs - mint, thyme, basil, oregano and parsley.

Choose life.

It will be two weeks ago tomorrow that we "lost" our baby. I have chosen not to despair but to have joy, faith and purpose. On Tuesday, September 1 I will be starting a Life Group at Christ Fellowship for all those women who have suffered infertility, miscarriage and failed adoption. At this point I am an expert in all three areas. I feel that God asked me to start a group like this about three years ago but I have put it off thinking that motherhood was imminent. I procrastinated long enough. I choose to allow God to use my heartache for his Glory and for the good of those who have suffered the same loss.

Habakuk 3: 17-19
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.