An Ethiopian Doll for Selah!!!

Seriously, my daughter has the sweetest aunties...far and wide. Remember Auntie Jenn who worked with her mom to create that gorgeous doll just for Selah? It totally surprised me and blew me away when I got it in the mail. It's a real treasure.

Well, back at Christmas, another auntie of Selah's, Trenace, decided to surprise me. Trenace and I are not just co-workers, we're really good friends. In fact, I'm pretty sure she'll be accompanying me and Aunt Shelly on the second trip to Ethiopia to bring Selah back home.

So little miss sneaky went all out like Auntie Jenn and got another gorgeous doll for Selah! This particular doll is a gorgeous Ethiopian girl named Rahel. She is simply beautiful. The doll comes with a friendship bracelet for Selah, comb, and storybook to help girls learn about and understand needs all over the world. If you haven't seen these dolls by Hearts for Hearts, you've got to check them out. Here is Heart to Hearts mission:

"We invite all girls to become agents of change - to improve the lives of girls in their communities, across their country, and around the world. We promise to deliver meaningful products and experiences and to tell all girls, "You can help!" 

Okay, how cool is that?!

Love Auntie Trenace and the many ways that she and her family have supported Selah's adoption.

Weekly Meal Plan Free Download

Hey y'all!

So since baby girl is on the way...down the line, of course, there are some areas that I've shared that we've tightened up. Don't get me wrong....sometimes I slip-up and need a little reminder. Today at church was a great reminder.  Our Pastor, Keith, shared Part 6 of the series, Journey to Your Dreams. He focused on how to cut debt since debt is one of the big things that prevents us from obtaining our dreams. For many of us reading this blog, an adoption may be or is one of your 'dreams'. So I thought I'd share again our family's weekly meal plan and offer a free template download.

Here's what one of our completed weekly meal plans might look like...(the activities aren't necessarily real since I didn't want everybody online knowing our family's schedule):

Completed Weekly Meal Plan to Share Online

I often decide what goes on the meal plan based on what's in the freezer, on sale at the store, or activities that we have that day. Late night activities either call for dinner that is easy to put in a crockpot or prep in advance. I try to plan out everything including snacks. Once this list is done, I use the app Grocery IQ to simply create a grocery shopping list. This keeps me focused during shopping so I'm not hitting extra aisles. Extra aisles and no list = more $$$.

Hope this helps. Here's a blank template for you to use and download. Feel free to share.
Blank Meal Plan

What are your grocery tips to cut costs?

New Adoption Number!!!!

Yep, that's 'number' singular. We moved to #8 in the toddler girl 'unofficial' list. We're still #24 in the infant girl line but you never know what God will do. In the meantime, we're celebrating the Number 8!!!!

Take it away Count!

..and the Winner is....ImagineSabrina@SabrinaHamilton

Congrats to Sabrina who won the book Power of a Praying Wife! Woohoo! I'll send a copy of the book off to Sabrina this weekend.

Giveaway: Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian

**Giveaway CLOSED**


Yesterday, I referenced in my post, the impact the book The Power of a Praying Wife had in my marriage. Over the years, I've hosted book studies, given this book away, and re-read it again...it never gets old to me. Because I enjoy the book so much, I wanted to give a brand new copy away to one of Y-O-U!

If you're single or already have a copy, how awesome would it be for me to send it to a friend on your behalf with a special little note from you??? I think really cool!

It's really simple. Just leave a comment here on this blog post and tell me, "Good or bad...what have you learned about marriage from your own experience or watching others?"

No long waits to pull a winner....I'll pull a name sometime this Thursday so don't delay, get your comment in today! Hey, tell your friends, I'm sure some of them would love to get in on this giveaway.

Do Your Eyes Still Light Up When Your Spouse Enters The Room?

I heard someone ask this before about your child but it got me to thinking about marriage. You see, this adoption is the one that almost never was. Why you ask? As with many couples, Tony and I went through some really tough patches early in our marriage and I wanted to call it quits a couple of times. Had I done so, I would have aborted this dream. Often that's the case with so many divorces or marriages, because we don't fully do 'our part', we miss out on some amazing missions and dreams that God could have orchestrated through that couple.

But during one particular season, I got a hold of Stormie Omartian's book The Power of A Praying Wife and it totally reversed my thoughts and had me focus on Michelle. Some years later, 2007 to be exact, I wrote this entry into a newsletter I was writing. Take a peek...it became my surrender that saved my marriage.

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**Just a quick note of clarity, even during that time of challenge during our marriage, I never believed that we should stop praying that God would change various things about our spouses. I just think that the majority of our prayers should be focused on God doing a work within us--just in case our spouse never changes. Love y'all!

New Adoption Numbers!!!

Do you see what I see?! That's right we're #9 for a toddler girl and #24 for an infant girl. Unbelievable and so exciting!

*this is the unofficial list that our agency's parents put together according to the date our dossier was sent to Ethiopia.