The Christian Crew

I recently had the pleasure of going on the Radio show/ Podcast show Adoption Now, with April Fallon. She is a STELLAR busy adoptive momma of 4 with her own unique stories too! I got to share a good bit about our stories and I LOVED it. The only regrets that I have are that I feel like I didn't get to tell Celise's story enough ( we ran out of time ) and we left details out of Brielle's story too. Brandon listened with me last week as we were folding clothes and said " I should have told this story with all the details!" I agree that He is a terrific talker and I think You may here a podcast from Brandon himself, soon ( cross your fingers). His POV is a bit different than mine and as an adoptee He has very different experiences. Also, some of our story will not be shared- its those intimate details that stay between birth parents and adoptive parents. It's not secret info, its just sacred to us. During birth and placement-  is such an extra special tim...

So.... TODAY. I took my 2nd Ballet Class! Some of you may wonder WHY an old-ish lady decides to try to fit into a leotard and why on earth now? Well, I can tell you- it's been on my mind for a while. I have wanted to learn all about ballet and the ART of the dance- so, why not now, I'm not getting any younger and i can dance WITH my girls.( not the same class though) And I love the challenge and process I'm going through as i try and learn this new love! Today, as we had our stretch, the teacher asked me about my baby BOY! ( i love telling his story but we didn't that have that much time so, i said yes, We Adopted almost 4 months ago... BINGO! That leads into the ADVOCACY part. I thought to myself ( sweet another op. to shar e my LOVE for adoption) BUT, before i could utter any thing else, Angie ( one of the students who is also a MOM) says: I'm Adopted! Where did you adopt through? Me: LDSFS! Angie: Cool, I spoke on panels with the Albequerque office a couple ...

Besides doing the MOM-THING, I'm still and ARTSY SMARTSY lady! So, if you know me- you are invited! and yes, I MADE ALL THESE from SCRATCH with no pre-cut anything and no patterns! Who needs them anyway!

So... a while ago i bought this table- solid wood chunky curvy base for 34.00 Then I found 4 chairs on craigslist and bought them for 60. They were also solid wood and in pretty sad shape. Although the wood, design and look was what i was going for- they need joint repairs. That cost me 80.for someone to FIX them up! Then, i need some paint- 28.00 for the top coats and 8. for primer 4 for rollers... total project 214. ( i think that's a steal) Did i mention everything is SOLID WOOD- no veneers! And I Got exactly what i wanted in the end... A black, distressed kitchen table and chairs. I don't have to worry about if the kids beat it up a bit b/c it's solid and it's distressed! Works for me! Even though it took some man hours it turned out awesome! So glad i waited to find the right stuff and jumped at the opportunity when i found these things!

is now on my Photography blog ... Check it out! And please leave a comment on what you think about it! Thanks and Enjoy! All of these photos were free of charge. If you live in CO and want free adoption photos please send me an email!

on my etsy store with this coupon code at checkout: FREESHIPAPRIL Grab your adoption onesies and tanks and all the other snazzy stuff! I'm hoping to close this as soon as i can but... i have inventory left and i get excited about Adoption Stuff so... I may have some sleep sacks and toddler tees coming. It all depends on how things go over the next fe w months. Today... i will enjoy folding laundry finishing my table and chairs makeover, taking care of little sick Aria and see what needs to leave us before we move to our new place in June! Oh, and I'll be editing pics fro the adoption conference last weekend- it was awesome!

I can't believe i can still do some of this crazy shtuff!!! I may be almost 30 but, I'm not dead yet! ( plus i think 30 is still very young!) Elisabeth and Brielle LOVE the foam pit and rope but they can't climb it yet( neither can i) But, my friends can do it! Little Merich loved the pit! I got to babysit my friend's son for a day and HE was a riot! I even got to give him a faux hawk hair style! The girls thought having a boy around was fun but, they did say that his pee pee ( seen while changing diapers) looks like a worm. And once, Aria called it a tiny snake. Silly girls! Man, having a boy would rock our world in such a cool way! Here's to hoping, right? ( boy,girl, giraffe... we'd be ecstatic!) Aria is very serious on the beam ! She is getting pretty good at balance and strength stuff! Brinley ( in background) is getting some pointers! All my friends are doing cartwheels and very well i might add! But, I have to kick it up a notch with some aerial...

Hey Peeps- I'm donating this sweet onesie and some adoption binks for the door prizes at the Area conference:) If you don't win it- you can purchase it at my etsy store :) Limited quantities! here's a few more to choose from! all new and all 100% cotton apparel!

We have been getting ready for this Adoption Conference . Brandon will be speaking in the Adoptee Panel and I will be teaching the Adoption Advocacy Class. I have also been getting stuff rounded up for the door prizes, adoption arts display and more! I ordered some sweet binks from my friend Danielle - including this one! (PS- I'm the 1st person to ever put this on a bink) my friends Joelle & Almina took me to a place I've been longing to go- D Bar desserts owned by Keegan Gerhard and his wife. He is A Food Network Chef and Judge of almost EVERY CHALLENGE show on that channel. He made me a special egg-free dessert that night! Such a great place and great guy too! Last Saturday, Dara and I made this cake for her daughter Claire's Birthday! We had tons of fun. I made the tree, lots of leaves on both layers, some polka dots and flower centers! We had a blast making this! we added tons of cosmic sparkles:) So much fun!!! We are doing well- all of us are healthy and ha...

Yep, I'm once again clearing out ALL my supplies and goods from my Boutique business and the last bits of stuff are on my ETSY store . So, if you missed it- you get this last time to check it out. I don't have many things posted at the moment but, You will see the rest of what i have left appear sooner than later. And Honestly, I can't wait till it's all gone. I really did have a ton of supplies that i needed to USE up and re-coup some of what i had invested into it. It was a great 5 years and i had fun but, now it's on to better and more important things! I'm sure i will make all these goodies for our future children and for gifts for others- I'm just done with the business side of it all! Thanks to all who supported me while i was in it though! And snag stuff while I still have it!

...That some people have no idea how special they are! If we could all remember Where and Whose presence we came from everyday- I think we'd treat each other better! B helped decorate this by saying which letters she wanted bling on and Aria handed me most of the crystals! Way too much fun! My girls will either hate crafting ( b/c i do it often) or love it as they grow up. I think it's important to learn some skills like the arts and crafts. I enjoy doing arts like sewing, decor, cake decorating, jewelry, photography and making baby boutique products!!! Life's too short to be bored. These are things I do in my spare time and our girls enjoy doing most of them with me:)

I remember as a kid on Valentine's Day... My mom would make us pink pancakes or heart pancakes with berries, when we had them. It seemed as though every detail about that day was centered on how much she loved US! When we got home from school we had treats on our beds and nice card or letter. We often made jello jigglers hearts and mom made us something scrumptious for dinner. we'd watch old musicals or some love story type shows like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers or My Funny Valentine or whatever! She always made that day special for us. I never felt unloved by my mother and i don't think i really appreciated how much she really did for us and me until i became a mother! Thanks mom, for being my Valentine my whole young life. You did a great job and sacrificed so much for me to not end up rotten! I may not be a typical model of the perfect LDS/Christian person but, i know where my heart is centered and i know How much God loves me and loves everyone. Christ loves me ...

SIX!!! Yep, I'm hitting my weight loss goals and I'm sitting at a size 6 looking towards a 4 in the coming weeks. I've lost 25 lbs so far! The reason why i am so excited about this is b/c through this accomplishment I have been able to focus my energies on other tasks- NOT on feeling bad about my body. Here's a great quote by Stephen R. Covey from his book Spiritual Roots of Human Relations about what I'm feeling... "A great many men and women, for one reason or another, have a tendency to overeat and thus are rather heavy. It makes many of them feel self-conscious and ugly, and it depresses their entire spirit. What an emotional and spiritual transformation would begin to take place if they could get back to normal weight through a strict program of self-mastery. They would not only look better, but they would also feel better and would thereby treat others better. They would grow in a "consciousness of victory over self." And with this...

Today was a great day. It was the first day of the last year of my 20's! Yep, i hit the big 29 ! I can't believe it. I really can't!!! I feel youthful and Life is Just starting! I'm happily married, 2 girls, doing the mom, photographer, singing, arts thing. Being 29 doesn't really seem that old at all. I still like to do fun stuff like dance around the house with my girls and hubby. I can't wait to snowboard this season and i want to enroll in a dance class this spring too! I'm not one to sit on my rear all day. I like to get out and DO things!!! But, i do know what responsibility is and sometimes it STINKS to have to be responsible for everything. And sometimes i love it! I love watching and helping the girls grow into little learners and Christ-centered Children. There is so much a child needs from a mom and a dad in order to thrive and i LOVE giving my heart to them. Even if it means sacrificing a few of my personal wants in life. I know from observing ...

shooting babies lately. Jacob was my first this fall. I'm sure I'll be photographing a bit here and there this fall and winter. I can't decide where and when to have our next family pictures taken! Probably when the leaves change! Here's where you can see more of jacob's and other pictures i have taken

So, the first fondant and gum paste WILTON method class was pretty easy. We made balls and bases for flowers out of gum paste! At this point, i felt like a kid playing with edible play dough. It really was so much fun squishing and pulling fondant like taffy! these are some mum and rose centers- OH and we also learned how to make a bow! class 2- we made these flowers (mind you these are kind of broken from my girls playing with them a bit) class 3- we covered a cake board and made the daisy and the mum. my mum stinks- btw. But, it was my first try:) class 4- we covered our cakes and put our skills to the test. I decided on a Zebra cake - just for kicks. I also learned NOT to use pure gum paste for the stripes and ruffles- it hardens way too fast and tastes icky! THE best thing about FONDANT these days is that it comes in some awesome, tasty flavors! Like Buttercream Fondant, Marshamallow fondant, chocolate, orange cream etc... Fondarific is a HUGE company that makes some killer stuff! ...

Hey Readers and Everyone, I just thought i should Lay It ALL out for everyone on how Brandon and I communicate. We are a very outgoing couple and our parenting style is the same. We do not hesitate to say what we feel unless it would be hurtful. So, we are very Open, Outspoken and always Expressive. We are sometimes intimidating to others who are not as Open as ourselves. We say we LOVE our kids and tell them that more than 3 times a day. We talk openly about our friendships, relationships, desires, interests, wishes, goals, flaws and spirituality. We are both TYPE A personalities (with different strengths-thank heavens:) . We Love to joke and play and wrestle and tickle or tackle with each other. Communication can also be called LOVE LANGUAGES .. We all have different LOVE languag es (or ways we feel/communicate love) Here they are: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service and Physical Touch. To be totally honest here's my top 2 languages (or ways i ...

For all honesty's sake, I'm going to be REAL and tell you some things that make me shutter in fear or disgust... (may not be suitable for children to view) FIRST: Pageant Moms and Daughters: Note to you people: Your child IS not a trophy piece- please love them without all the make-up and hairspray. They are precious the way GOD made them. No extras needed- ps. when your child stops doing pageants are you going to love her less or be less involved? Poor girls:( second: Facial Tattooing- UGH frightens me BALUT: half grown duck inside the egg, fermented in the ground for days then eaten as a treat or on rice in the Philippines- gag me! (ps. Brandon tried this on his mission) Extreme Dog Groomers and their stylists- It's cool but, still wigs me out a tad! any hairless breed of cats or dogs- can't do it, peeps more: being trapped in a car and sinking slowly, MLM lovers, bees, too many ice cubes in my drink ( i know a little odd quirk- 3 is just fine) public restrooms, ca...