Some of my best friends I have met through blogging. Who knew, right?
I have met Evonne (Gage's shirt in the previous post is from Evonne! I loves you forever!) and Aubrey in real life. I absolutely love them. They are two of the best friends a gal could have. They have both changed my life for the better. I am so grateful for friends.
I must meet Kenna, and soon. I can not get enough of her. Plus, Gage needs to meet her handsome son. They must be friends. (along with Vin, of course)
Heather and I have been blogging friend for three, maybe almost four years. I think we met through Sarah (who is getting married in October! So excited for her!) who found me because I posted a Friends video from youtube, I think. I don't know, we'd have to have Sarah fill us in there. :) At least that is where I received her first comment.
Now here is where I wish I could post the picture of us meeting for the first time, but sadly... that hasn't happened. Yet.
Heather lives 14,457 miles away (says Google Maps, anyways. :))
Even though she lives half of a world away, she always has a way of making her friends feel special and loved. She is one of the most giving and loving people I have ever met.
When Gage was born, she sent him a package.
It had a Koala, two cute, cute shirts (I think they have the best clothes in Australia!), and three books.
(I have pictures of Gage in his cute shirts somewhere, but for the moment, I can't seem to locate them. I just recently deleted all the photos off my computer)
(the other one is the orange and grey stripped shirt with the robo-pup at 10:42 on his one year old video! Ha ha)
For Christmas, Heather sent Gage this Crocodile (you need to see it in action) and a Koala book.
For Gage's First Birthday, Heather send the cutest outfit ever, an Emu and an Edward the Emu book. :)
Thank you so much Heather. Thank you for your friendship. Thank you for being you. Your packages mean the world to us and Gage loves them. We are grateful to know you!
I enjoy blogging sometimes and other times... not so much.
For now, I will keep the Gage-Photo-Weblog going and we'll see if I ever have anything else interesting to say. You can tell who is the center of our world. :)
Not only did I get to witness the beautiful union of Kevin and Aubrey, I finally got to meet Evonne. I seriously love her. I can't wait to have many more play dates with her and her cute, cute kids.
Sadly, I never did snap a picture. Luckily Aubs has one with all of us. I must get it.
I thought I was getting better today, it seems I might have been wrong. School might be long tomorrow. Pooh.
I was so excited to blog this month and I have so many posts swimming in my head but once my head started stuffing up all my ambition disappeared. But rest assured there are some posts coming soon... as soon as I feel up to it.
I'll leave you with a picture that we took in Logan. I thought it was quite funny.
Have you ever seen a handicapped parking sign in the shape of Utah?
Ugh.
I have all my RSS feeds in my Safari Bookmarks.
That is how I like it.
I have tried to use Google Reader and such, but I always end up going back to my original RSS feeds.
I love them.
Occasionally they reset for some reason.
The last 25 post of each bookmark shows up.
I have to go through and click on each blog feed.
No big deal... if it only happens occasionally. (meaning every 6 months or so)
I had all my bookmarks reset last week. There were over 3000 RSS feeds. I spent at least few days and a lot more hours trying to get them all taken care of.
I finally finished. Sadly, I think I missed a lot of blog posts because I got so sick of it. But today I was back to normal. Hallelujah.
Take the first sentence from the first post you made each month and string them together.
Wow, it's officially 2008! For me at least! I am a green fan this month! :) Adoption is something that I am passionate about. My house is a mess. OK This is how it works. Of course, ya'll know I love, love Tim McGraw. Well we are finally home for a few days. Wow, what a weekend we had! Can you believe it is already October? A few more before we are off to the happiest place on earth! I have been able to come up with so much to blog about lately, until I sit down.
Wow, what a year in review! Next year I better make my first sentence count.
Go ahead and give it a try, I betcha it will be better than mine! :)
(Just ignore the crappiness of this picture, it's called a webcam! Ha ha)
Back to blogging.
Hopefully you can expect a post from me tomorrow.
Thank you to everyone who sent emails and messages! You guys are great and I appreciate your love and concern for me. It's funny how blogging can make you feel so loved. I have the best friends, EVER!
I am doing well. I am excited to get back to life . . . and blogging!
Made with My Cool Signs.Net DId I mention that was my 600th post (at least that is what it says, who knows how accurate it is. I'll just trust them instead of couting)? Who woulda thought.
Well we are finally home for a few days. Seems like I have neglected everything for the last month. I love summer and all the fun things we do, but I always wonder how we ever have the time to work. I thought it would be a nice relaxing summer. Seems like we have been running and it's not over yet.
We spent the last week at my Mother-In-Law's house. It was good to be there and to visit. We accomplished a big project, so that was nice too! It was a busy week. And an exhausting one! I have a few pictures, but my camera died and I didn't bring the charger, so I didn't get too many. But I will post them later.
But on Friday we are going to the Families Supporting Adoption National Conference. I am SO excited! I am totally counting down the days! What an awesome opportunity! I am excited to see and meet all my favorite adoption bloggers! Isn't adoption amazing?
So that is all for now, I just wanted to let you know that I am still alive and busy! :)
~I take far too many picture of myself. Just trying to get that one good one. Oh well.
~I am so excited that I am in contact with Alice, Sonnie and Rachel again. They are all friends from when I lived in Mt. Pleasant. I moved from Mt. Pleasant the day after 6th grade started. It's been awhile since I have seen them. Wow. We are getting old. But they all have amazing beautiful families! I am so excited to watch them grow and learn!
~Why is it sometimes hard to talk to people about adoption? I mean I don't have a problem telling people that we are adopting or anything like that. But what about that pregnant teen that I see around town. How do you talk to her?
~We so need to get our pass-a-long cards made and send them out! That will be my goal for August (hopefully before, but we'll see)
~Did you know that we are more likely to adopt through a designated adoption? Here is LDSFS information about Designated Adoption.
Designated Adoption
In designated adoption, the birth parent(s) and adoptive family find each other through someone outside LDS Family Services. This person is referred to as a third party. The third party tells the birth parent(s) and adoptive family only nonidentifying information about each other. Once the birth parent(s) and adoptive family decide to pursue an adoption, the birth parents, adoptive family, or third party may contact LDS Family Services for more information and services, including adoption planning.
Who can participate? Any family or birth parent interested in adoption can participate.
Who can act as a third party? Adoptive families may tell family members, friends, and personal and professional acquaintances of their interest in adopting and how they can help the family make an adoption happen.
What information can be shared by the third party? The third party may share such information as the physical description of the adoptive family and birth parent(s), personality traits, educational background, talents, hobbies, interests, values, goals, church activity, and involvement with extended family.
Can the birth parent(s) and the adoptive family share information with each other? Yes! Within agency guidelines, the birth parent(s) and adoptive family can create a plan for communication. This plan may include exchanging letters, pictures, and small gifts, and even meeting in person if they desire.
What does LDS Family Services do for a family once they have found a child to adopt?
Completes the required adoptive family home study. Provides professional support and counseling to birth parents, their families, and adoptive families. Gathers and shares available nonidentifying background information about the child and birth parent(s). Coordinates legal and medical services for the birth parent(s). Provides the required supervisory visits after placement. Completes any additional paperwork required for out-of-state adoptions.
~We went to American Idol last night. It was so fun! We met up with Jenny and Daniel, Sheri, Janell and Jenny's mom and went to eat at Chili's. It was good! The concert was a little slow at first. But the longer it went, the better it got. David Archuleta was amazing! He is such a good singer, but David Cook is truly an American Idol. He was awesome. I loved every minute of it! (but more on that later)
~I have so much to post, but sometimes it seems overwhelming and I put it off and do silly posts like this, but I promise they will come soon. Although, it is a lot harder for me to post in the summer. I am so busy having fun (meaning more to post about) and I just wanna be outside and out and about. Who wants to sit home in front of a computer? lol
~Dustyn and I got new phones. Our "New Every Two" came up, so we upgraded. We got Motorola Q's. They are nice and I am totally enjoying it, but it's not an iPhone. So sad. Dang AT&T. :P
~I love watching Big Brother. Love it. (Actually I hated BB9 - I watched it maybe twice and then quit) But Big Brother 10 is currently going. There have been two episodes. Tomorrow someone gets evicted. I still have no idea who I like and don't like yet. (Not Jessie or Renny for sure. Gag)
~Which brings me to the point of totally missing my DVR. We have 13 channels or something like that (the basic locals). We don't really watch TV that often, so I didn't think it would be a big deal. But I miss it so much. I am almost ready to break down and get one. I like watching my favorite show when I want to watch them. Not when they want to be watched.
~One year ago today, we were looking at these fabulous sunsets in Pennsylvania. Man, I miss that state. I so want to go back. That was one of the best months of my life. I love traveling and discovering.
~It is so hot today. I guess you could say it's summer. Duh, Kamie! We have yet to get AC in out house. It is so, so, so warm there. Tonight we are over at my Aunt's babysitting and it is hot here. Although I am sure that it is MUCH cooler than our house. It's been a hot one.
~On Friday we are going on vacation with my family. I am excited. We are going to Flaming Gorge to go boating, fishing and camping. It is suppose to be in the lower 80's. I am so excited! We get to use our fancy tent. It is so nice!
~Next week Dustyn and I are babysitting (yes, we do a LOT of that) Dustyn's brothers two youngest. I am excited and nervous. I know they will be fun, but I am nervous to see how they will react being away from their mom with two strangers that they really don't know. I hope they like us and have a good time. They are one and three. We'll have lots of fun and play a lot!
~So Guitar Hero is coming out with a game called "Guitar Hero: World Tour". So fun! It's going to have DRUMS and a microphone! How fun is that. We really need to get over our obsession with video games. We are such geeks.
~Speaking of video games... I haven't played Dr. Mario forever. Sad.
~I am so not good at staying home with nothing to do. I so want to adopt and stay at home. I am excited for school to start so I will have something to keep me busy, but I don't really want it to. I love having all this free time to do what I want (as long as I am not staying home). At this point this summer is so busy. I have no idea how we have time to work! :)
~I know it's a little late, but remember back when I posted all those random things on my birthday about July 7th? All the facts that Dustyn read to me? Well I found the full version. Kinda fun. Here it is.
7 July 1979
Your date of conception was on or about 14 October 1978 which was a Saturday.
You were born on a Saturday under the astrological sign Cancer. Your Life path number is 4.
Your fortune cookie reads: The first step to better times is to imagine them.
Life Path Compatibility: You are most compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 2, 4, 8, 11 & 22. You should get along well with those with the Life Path numbers 6 & 7. You are least compatible with those with the Life Path numbers 1, 3, 5 & 9.
The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2444061.5. The golden number for 1979 is 4. The epact number for 1979 is 2. The year 1979 was not a leap year.
Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 1/28/1979 and ending 2/15/1980. You were born in the Chinese year of the Goat.
Your Native American Zodiac sign is Woodpecker; your plant is Wild Rose.
You were born in the Egyptian month of Paopy, the second month of the season of Poret (Emergence - Fertile soil).
Your date of birth on the Hebrew calendar is 12 Tammuz 5739. Or if you were born after sundown then the date is 13 Tammuz 5739.
The Mayan Calendar long count date of your birthday is 12.18.6.0.17 which is 12 baktun 18 katun 6 tun 0 uinal 17 kin
The Hijra (Islamic Calendar) date of your birth is Saturday, 11 Sha'ban 1399 (1399-8-11).
The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 15 April 1979. The date of Orthodox Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 22 April 1979. The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 28 February 1979. The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 3 June 1979. The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 10 June 1979. The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Saturday, 22 September 1979. The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Thursday, 12 April 1979. The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 27 February 1979.
As of 7/16/2008 12:14:56 AM EDT You are 29 years old. You are 348 months old. You are 1,515 weeks old. You are 10,602 days old. You are 254,448 hours old. You are 15,266,894 minutes old. You are 916,013,696 seconds old.
Celebrities who share your birthday: Michelle Kwan (1980) Cree Summer (1969) Shelley Duvall (1949) Ringo Starr (1940) Doc Severinsen (1927) Pierre Cardin (1922) Robert Heinlein (1907)
Top songs of 1979 My Sharona by The Knack Bad Girls by Donna Summer Da Ya Think I'm Sexy? by Rod Stewart Reunited by Peaches & Herb Hot Stuff by Donna Summer I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor Escape (The Pina Colada Song) by Rupert Holmes Ring My Bell by Anita Ward Babe by Styx Too Much Heaven by Bee Gees
Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 4.14951076320939 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)
Your lucky day is Monday. Your lucky number is 2 & 7. Your ruling planet(s) is Moon. Your lucky dates are 1st, 10th, 19th, 28th. Your opposition sign is Capricorn. Your opposition number(s) is 8.
Today is not one of your lucky days!
There are 356 days till your next birthday on which your cake will have 30 candles.
Those 30 candles produce 30 BTUs, or 7,560 calories of heat (that's only 7.5600 food Calories!) . You can boil 3.43 US ounces of water with that many candles. In 1979 there were approximately 3.1 million births in the US. In 1979 the US population was approximately 203,302,031 people, 57.4 persons per square mile. In 1979 in the US there were approximately 2,152,662 marriages (10.1%) and 1,036,000 divorces (4.9%) In 1979 in the US there were approximately 1,921,000 deaths (9.5 per 1000) In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds. In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.
In 1979 the population of Australia was approximately 14,602,481. In 1979 there were approximately 223,129 births in Australia. In 1979 in Australia there were approximately 104,396 marriages and 37,854 divorces. In 1979 in Australia there were approximately 106,568 deaths.
Your birthstone is Ruby The Mystical properties of Ruby Ruby is said to open one's heart to love. Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources) Carnelian
Your birth tree is Fir Tree, the Mysterious Extraordinary taste, dignity, cultivated airs, loves anything beautiful, moody, stubborn, tends to egoism but cares for those close to it,rather modest, very ambitious, talented, industrious uncontent lover, many friends, many foes, very reliable.
There are 162 days till Christmas 2008! There are 175 days till Orthodox Christmas!
The moon's phase on the day you were born was waxing gibbous.
~I know I said we don't watch too much TV, but can I just tell you that I LOVE The Office and I miss it. Again - a DVR would be nice.
~This song - or rather sayings - are ALWAYS in my head. Ha ha Love George Lopez. (Okay apparently my random thoughts are about TV today. TV that I don't watch much... Ha ha. Doesn't sound like it, Aye?
~My cute cousin who was at the American Idol concert last night, just texted me and said the concert was a lot better tonight. Dang! Too bad we didn't go tonight, but it was still so much fun last night! :)
~Enough randomness for the moment, maybe I will think of something else later. Or maybe I will work on actually posting on my blog. Or my picture blog where I am a month behind. All the pictures are pretty much ready to be posted, I just haven't gotten around to it.
On Saturday we had made plans to meet Arianne and Greg. We we hung out at the Gateway Mall for awhile. It was so warm (okay - HOT). But so much fun. There were so many kids playing in the fountains. It was so funny to watch them. Only - I wanted to jump in so bad, but finally refrained. I mean who really like walking around in wet clothes? Not I. While we were wandering we went in all the favorite stores. Of course the Apple store. Can't wait for the new 3G phone to come out on July 11th. Don't know why. Can't use one down here. Anyways, back to my story. We also went into Anthropologie. I LOVE that store. Of course I could never afford anything in there, but I love looking. Last time we went there we found a book with an interesting art project. Dustyn went home and tried it and we never posted pictures. But I will soon. You can get a sneak peek here! Anyways we were wandering and suddenly I smell one of the best smells ever. Ever. I walked around for at least 15 minutes trying to figure out where it came from. Finally I found the culprit. A super yummy candle. Now I don't usually burn candles, but I will make an exception for this one! I LOVE IT. There was no chance I was leaving the store without that heavenly thing in my little paws. So we bought it. And I have never been happier to spend $26.00 on a stinkin' candle. But O it smells good. Totally worth the $26.00. For sure. Oh yeah, by the way, it kinda smells like Grapefruit, but better. YUM!
While we were sitting on the bench waiting for Arianne and Greg, this scary guy came up. I still have no idea why he came up to us. Just to shoot the breeze i guess. But I couldn't help but scoot my candle under the bench a little farther. No one was getting away with my candle. No one. And then, he left.
We met Greg, Arianne and Anika at Costa Vida for lunch. It was a good time. They are such a fun family. I wish we could get cute little Anika a little sister or brother soon! :) She is so excited to have a brother or sister. But we had lots of fun talking and getting to know one another (well in person, of course we chat quite a few times a week!). We went and watched Greg and Anika play in the fountains. It was so cute. Greg is so cute with her. It was getting a little warm so we decided to leave. It was such a fun afternoon.
We were trying to get pictures, but the sun was so bright. I thought Dustyn was taking pictures, but I guess he hadn't yet. So this is the only picture we got - as we were walking away. But Arianne has some more on her blog.
I was totally hoping Kim would be able to come, but next time for sure. I didn't plan well. I think we need to have a girls night out with all you up north bloggers! That would be so much fun! Or a big BBQ with our families too!
Oh yeah, and can I just mention that all of my very first roommates now have blogs! YAY! And we are finally all in touch again! I am so excited.
CARRIE AND RODNEY (They are hoping to adopt too!! They are an amazing couple! Feel free to pass along their information, or email me for it! Hopefully I will have links for them soon! *hint, hint*)
I always wonder (like most bloggers do) if there are actually people out there visiting my blog... or if I just do it to humor myself. I love blogging and would do it even if no one was looking, but you always wonder if there are people that are. Long lost friends, relatives. New friends, or people in similar circumstances. Some comment, some don't. So you just never know.
I love finding new blogs and making new blogging buddies. Yeah, I may never meet them, but it's kinda fun and mysterious to have friends and know a lot about people that you will never meet. But those people can also be a huge support!
Thanks for visiting whether you comment or not. Whether I know you exist, or not. And whether I know you or not. I look forward to meeting more of you in the next year!
So I thought it would be fun to use the sideshow element on blogger.... but for some reason it isn't bring up my pictures from my Flickr account. All the info is in correctly and still.... someone elses random pictures. Any suggestions?
When I look at my blog on my computer, the title at the top is the perfect size. Everything looks good... like this.
What do you see? I know that everything is different on my computer. I have a widescreen and a Mac... so you know of course it looks perfect on my screen. But if it is hanging off and annoying for everyone else... I might think about changing it. Just for ya'll.
