Adoption Blog

This is one of my favorite sources for adoption information. If you're at all interested in adoption, I highly recommend this source!

http://adoptedbydesign.typepad.com/

Pack Your Bags . . . It's Time for Vacation!!!

YES! Vacation is FINALLY here! I am so excited to escape reality for a short time and adopt the carefree, rested, and fun spirit that comes along with being at the beach! There's no other place in the world where I feel so in tune with God, nature, and my own heart/spirit then when I'm sitting on a quiet beach looking out at the vast ocean and all that it symbolizes to me. My spirit is still and I feel more peace in those moments than anywhere else at any other time. Right now, my spirit desperately needs to feel still. Between the news of my dad's health, the continued infertility saga, the inability to find a good job, and the restlessness of many friendships in my life right now, I just need to feel still. Does anyone know what I'm talking about here? The power and the words "Be still and know that I am God" are most effective during moments like these.

We'll begin our vacation in Ocean Isle Beach. OIB is our favorite place to go! It's like our home away from home! It's even more special on this trip b/c we'll be taking a group of our Sunday School friends with us for a marriage retreat. This will be our last time together with the people in this class before we move on to our new class the following Sunday. It will be a bittersweet time for sure. Chris and I have the privilege of leading worship together for this retreat. It's fun to get back to our "roots" as this is how we originally met and fell in love :) Here is a picture of the house we'll be staying in (it's beautiful!).

So, we'll be in OIB Friday through Sunday. We'll leave there and head north towards Southport, NC. This is another place we love to go! It's a small, very quaint, fisherman's town - but it's beautiful! The history, the houses, the architecture, the local shops/restaurants all make this place what it is today. It's right on the Cape Fear River. We've booked a night at a local motel right on the water. We'll spend the day there soaking up the local culture and cuisine! Our favorite thing to do here is drive around and admire all the gorgeous renovated turn-of-the century homes. We are both goo-roo's for architecture :) We make lists and take pictures of things we like and don't like about these houses, so when it's our time to build our dream house, we know what to do (or not do) :)

From there, we'll continue our trek north to Wilmington, NC. This is, by far, my favorite place on earth! This town holds many childhood and adolescent memories for me. But the most important memory there is when Chris asked me to marry him. It was the perfect place for such a moment. So I like to go back there as often as I can, re-living all the memories that came before and experiencing new ones. While in Wilmington, we'll do the typical touristy things, but most importantly, we'll end our day at Dockside Restaurant. Dockside is my favorite seafood restaurant on the NC Coast. I've been going there since I was in high school. Most importantly, it's where Chris took me for dinner after proposing to me on the beach. I LOVE it there! It's very "local" and the food is great. It went through a rough patch for a few years, and there was talk of tearing it down, but it's now under new management and is thriving! YAY!

Wilmington in Springtime

Historic Downtown Riverwalk

An exact replica of the scene when Chris proposed

Beginning on Tuesday, we'll join my mom, dad, and newly-graduated little sister in Topsail Beach and will spend the remainder of our vacation there with them. My parents have some friends who own a gorgeous mansion on the beach and have generously offered it up to my parents several times as an escape from their haunting reality. So, in honor of Hannah Musette's high school graduation, we are all spending some much needed family time together at this beautiful home on this beautiful beach! I've never actually been to Topsail Beach, so I don't know what the area is like. But according to my parents, it's very quiet and relaxing, non-touristy and simple. Sounds good to me!

Why I Voted for Kris Allen!

He melted my heart with his velvety voice and piano/guitar skills, but little did I know that was the least of his gifts. This man is passionate about Jesus Christ and has been blessed with the oppotunity to be the worship pastor at his home church in Arkansas. I believe that our newest American Idol has been ordained to change the world!

Turning Over A New Leaf

About 6 weeks ago, Chris and I were presented with the opportunity to step out of our current leadership roles in our Married Adults Sunday School Class and step into new roles as co-teachers in a Newlyweds Sunday School Class. What an honor to have even been asked! Our very dear friends, Ryan and Valerie, have felt the calling to start this new class and after much prayer and consideration they feel that we have been chosen by God to join in this new journey with them. Of course, as a result of our own personal prayer and consideration, we believe that we all have been chosen and are being obedient to the call. This is a bittersweet decision for us. 4 years ago, after searching and longing for a church body to belong to and a group of friends to be included in, we visited the Hartsell Newlyweds Class at HGBC North. Immediately, we knew it was where we needed to be. Only a few short months later, we were actively serving in the class and appointed as leaders among our group. Over the course of 4 years time, Chris and I have had the privilege of serving our class with our friends (Ryan and Valerie included) through fellowship/social coordination, inreach/outreach, prayer, etc. We have made beautiful friendships as a result of the decision to commit to this group of newlyweds every Sunday. We will miss seeing all of them as frequently, but we know we're being obedient to the call, and we know that obedience always precedes blessing.

Beginning on June 7th, 2009, we will officially be the leaders of the Haynes Newlyweds Sunday School class at HGBC North. Many preparations are already in place, but nothing can take the place of your commitment to pray on our behalf. We are excited to see who and what the Lord brings to us through this opportunity. But we also know that it will be a prime target for Satan in the coming weeks. Please be praying for us as we impart our wisdom, experiences, and love on these newlywed couples. We will be studying how to "Fireproof" our marriages. I ask specifically that you pray for protection over our marriage during this time. Not only will schedules/personal time be affected by this new commitment, but we will be more in the "limelight" which offers up opportunities to fail and be judged by those around us. I know that we certainly do not have all of life's questions answered in regards to marriage, but the Lord has taught us MANY things over the years to prepare us for where we are right now. We ask that you pray for unity of thought and action, wisdom in all decisions (personally/spiritually), guidance in the coming weeks, and preparation of the hearts of those who are purposefully chosen by God to be a part of this class.

We know GREAT things are in store and we can't wait for God to rock our worlds together!

You can keep up with how things are going through our new class blog: http://haynesnewlyweds.blogspot.com

The Joys of Serving Others

On Saturday, we had the great privilege of assisting our church's Heart & Hammers Ministry with reaching out to a military family in our community. The husband had recently been deployed to Iraq, leaving behind his wife, son, and handicapped mother. His wife had recently been injured and was held up in crutches while the mother was bound to a wheelchair, so they were unable to take care of some of the things that the man of the house would normally do. Therefore, we heard the call, packed up our trucks and drove down to Monroe to serve this family. The plan for the day was to build a wheelchair ramp and do some yard work and landscaping that was very badly needed! Everything was overgrown and dangerous. However, 4 hours later, the ramp was securely constructed, the yard was cut/edged, the trees and bushes were pruned back (A LOT!), new flowers and plants were planted in the yard, 42 bales of pine straw were dispersed, and a Bible/salvation message was presented. We accomplished a huge amount in a short period of time, and for that, we were so grateful! Here are a few pictures from our service project:

At the very end, the family came outside and said that this was the most special Mother's Day present she could've been given this year. Just seeing the joy and appreciation on their faces was all the thanks we needed.

Needless to say, all our hard work made us contemplate our landscaping deficiencies in our own yard! So, we stopped by the local farmers stand on the way home and picked up some plants to help spruce up our own yard! We added a lot the front porch and Chris also tore down the railing on the porch, so it's now more open and enjoyable to look at it! We've spent a lot of time out there already! In addition, we picked up some new bushes for our back yard, and began planting our summer vegetable/herb garden. Right now, all we have are 2 tomato plants, 2 sweet banana pepper plants, mint, and lavender. But our intention is to also plants yellow peppers, red peppers, and basil (at least). So there's more to come!

We left out the 2 hanging ferns in this picture . . . oops :)

Simply Divine Designs

Many of you who are not on Facebook may not be keeping up with the busy production schedule of SDD! To keep you in the loop (and to help advertise the business - lol), here are a few images of what I've been working on lately:

Paci Clips

Diaper Clutches

Boppy Covers

Bibs


Packages ("Orders")




Blankets

Tomorrow (May 2nd) I will be working at my second vendor show. There's an annual event at Chris' mom's winery (Farm Day) that I've agreed to host a table at. If you're in the RDU/Mebane area between 10:00 - 4:00 tomorrow, please stop by and say hello! It will be a busy weekend, but hopefully many good things will come as a result of all my hard work lately. :)