Erica's Snowy Day!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Check it out!

A friend of mine has a great stationery company called Keep in Touch Stationery. I love the products that I've bought from her (notecards and notepads) and she has great designs for birth announcements, Christmas cards, bag tags and other fun stationery items.

In honor of her 5th year in business, she's offering give-aways every month this year! Visit her website to enter the contest (4 different ways) and while you're there, check out her designs (or email her for new catalogs) and place an order. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Erica says

I haven't done a post about Erica in a while, so I thought I'd share some of the cute and funny things she's been saying lately, at 17 months old.

* Her vocabulary is growing every day, with some words being more clear than others. She can say, "Bye" and "Hi" and likes to say them at the appropriate time when someone comes in the room or leaves. Or when her mommy is winding up a phone conversation, if you don't hang up right away, you'll here a little parrot in the background saying, "Bye-bye!" She's also been known to just start saying "bye-bye" and waving to everyone in the room, giving us a complex that maybe she's ready to move on to the company of others.

* She's getting to be quite a "parrot" too, which is cute, but also got her Aunt Nette in a little bit of trouble one day. I said the word, "boobies" in her earshot (there was a reason and it wasn't inappropriate) and in a minute, we heard Erica saying, "boobie, boobie, boobie"! YIKES! Thankfully, she hasn't repeated it past that one occurence!

* She also likes to mimic sounds that she hears: like the noise a cow makes (mmmmoo), a horse (nay nay), a cat (meow meow). Or the sound Grandma makes when she's clearing her throat! When we were with her the other night, everytime Grandma cleared her throat, Erica mimicked with a little throat sound of her own.

* One of the cutest things Erica has said recently was when someone was hugging her. She'd heard people go "Awwww" as they were hugging, so Erica repeated, "Awww" while she was being hugged. It was heart-warming, to say the least, and really made the day of the friend who was receiving the hug!

I am 100% certain that Erica will only continue giving me things to post about on my blog, so stay tuned . . .

That's what friends are for

Career uncertainty. Change. Divorce. Loss of a child. Financial struggles. Adoption. Cancer. Beach trips. Encouragement. Prayer. Hugs. Tears. Laughter. Belief. Trust. Compassion. Faith. Hope. Love. Almost seven years ago, one group of women that I know first started meeting together and have since experienced together all of the words listed above. That's what friends are for.

Scrapbooking. Snacking. Listening. Talking. Laughing. Crying. Sharing. Laughing again. Five years ago another group of women that I know (plus and minus a few along the way) began scrapbooking together and have enjoyed preserving and making memories together ever since. That's what friends are for.

Waiting. Praying. Struggling. Crying. Waiting some more. Laughing. Praising. Giving. Preparing. Waiting. Loving. Welcoming. For at least four years (or longer), a group of friends that I know have been doing all of the above words with a couple who was on the adoption journey. Tonight, many of those friends, plus interested onlookers in the airport terminal, got to witness the homecoming of a new family of four (twin boys adopted and accepted) and welcome them home with the Doxology. Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow . . . that's what friends are for!

Snow mad!

I was "snow" mad this morning when I woke up, yet again, to dashed hopes of getting a good accumulation of snow in Nashville. I know I have to go to work, and don't mind it, but my northern roots show up big time when there's talk of snow. It just made me so mad that the forecasters (National Weather Service, as well as the local yokles) thought we'd really see some white stuff on the ground this time (and all the grocery stores and school systems bought into it, too) and then they decided to mention this morning that our atmosphere was too dry for snow to reach the ground. Excuse me, but couldn't all of those expensive and fancy machines/computers give you that information last night??

So, as I was stewing in the shower, I realized that what I was really upset about was not the actual snow, or lack thereof, but the dashed hope. I was disappointed and felt like what was promised had not come true. Upon further thought (and by God's grace), I realized that I had not been putting my hope in the right place. I didn't need to put my trust in weather forecasters, who are human, but in the One who makes the weather. I even had the thought that maybe there were some people who didn't need an accumulation of snow today and God, in His sovereign mercy and grace, was providing for them.

I need to always remember and never forget that "my hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus' blood and righteousness"! I should "dare not trust the sweetest frame (or weather predictions), but wholly lean on Jesus' name."

Of course, as the day went on, we got some snow, mostly just falling, but some stuck on the ground. It looked pretty out my window as it was coming down and I was thankful that I could get home safely after work. I had even forgiven the weather guys when I was watching the evening news, especially when they were having to go out in the sub-freezing temps to tell us what to expect for tonight and tomorrow. Whatever happens with the weather, though, I'm thankful for the reminder to put my hope and trust in Jesus, who always keeps His promises!