The missing piece ...

Puzzles!

Who likes puzzles? Who wants to be a part of putting together a puzzle? Who wants to fill a missing piece of a puzzle? Who wants to take part in something wonderful? Who wants to help make something wonderful happen? All it takes is just a click!   Interested???   Then read on.....


See this beautiful girl?

Her name is Tetiana, or Tanya rather. She is a 16 year old orphaned girl we hosted this past summer through an organization called New Horizons For Children  (NHFC).  After bringing her here and her living with us for 5 weeks, we felt our hearts being tugged on real hard by the end of that 5 weeks. Sending her back to Ukraine was the hardest to witness.

Now over 2 months later, we are in the process to adopt her! She is the sweetest, kindest, and most nurturing girl. It's a long process to adopt her, but we are kind of on a time schedule. We sent off our I-600A three days before her 16th birthday, so we literally have six months to complete her adoption and get her home!  This is where you come in!

Six months doesn't give us long to fundraise for her adoption, not to mention we're hosting her again this winter. And let me tell you, she is so excited to come here for Christmas! So we need your help! That's where the puzzle pieces and YOU come in! I have in my possession a 252 piece puzzle that is very unique, just like that girl you see in the picture above. I can't show you the picture of the puzzle until it's completed. So this is where you come in. To complete our puzzle, I will sell a piece of this puzzle for $5 each. Each time a piece is purchased, I will write the name of the person that purchased it, on the back of that puzzle piece. Each time a puzzle piece is purchased, we are one step closer to getting our puzzle put together and getting our girl home.

So, if you'd like to purchase one or more puzzle pieces. Go to this web site.  Here, you can "buy" a piece of the puzzle, while donating to our cause, getting our girl home! Just select the Donate Now button, enter your amount you're donating and how many pieces of the puzzle you'd like to buy and for whom. I will then write the name(s) on the back of the puzzle pieces. Once the puzzle is done, I will have it set between glass and framed. That way, we can always look at our memorable puzzle and what it represents and turn it over to see all the wonderful people that helped make it possible!

So, don't be the missing piece!  Get to clicking people, we don't have much time!! And, I'd like to say, thanks in advance for all the support and prayers along the way! We could not do this without YOU!

Thanks, I needed that!

Okay, so life has been somewhat .... uh .... well .... um okay .... really, it's been a whirlwind lately!! Like, totally cray cray!  So I won't bore you with all the chaotic details. Seriously, I'd like you to stick around for a while and at least get through this blog post with me, maybe want to read future posts. Yeah? Maybe? Yeah, I know, get on with it!  =)

Life as I know it, is totally crazy right now. I had no idea how much everything was weighing on me till I went on a "girls" trip this past weekend with my two life long besties! We had planned this trip for a while, like, months ago. So far back, in fact, I had kind of forgotten about it. So the day before we were supposed to fly out, I called my friend and touched base with her. Normally, I'm not a "last minute" kind of gal, I usually plan things out pretty well, but not this time. Too much going on upstairs to even think about our trip. With every thing going on, I almost didn't go. But, I knew I needed a break so I just threw some things in a bag and went with it. If there was something I would need while there, I'd buy it. <---(This is major for me, the OCD queen, plan everything, don't mess with my plan, kind of mama!) Yeah, I was patting myself on the back for that one, totally out of character for me.

My best buds, picked me up at 6 am Saturday morning and we were off. I didn't get much sleep the night before, so I was tired to say the least! Got to the airport, got on the plane, exhausted. Got to our destination, got to the room with this view.

 It was really beautiful to see, hardly anyone there. Really, it was a perfect time to go. Ninety degrees, perfect weather, etc!  We got settled in and went down to the beach. I was so tired, but could not take a nap. Hardly any people on the beach, waves crashing, quiet, breeze blowing, and I couldn't relax.  I didn't realize it at that time, but I was overloaded, bogged down, overwhelmed and couldn't relax and enjoy myself. Just had too much on my mind. I had my book with me so I read some on my book.

I'm not one for reading books. I don't really like to read books, <gasp>  but, this one has not left me alone in over a year. It's been following me and nagging at me that long. So, okay, I'm reading it,  now back to the blog! Oh yeah, so I'm reading on the beach while my two best buds take a nap, lucky! Took a break from reading and put the book down. Was snapped out of my "zone" when one of my friends asked me "what cha thinking about?" Huh? My first thought was "nothing", but that wasn't true. I had all the happenings in the last year or so, plus thoughts of the future running circles in my head. You know the look, the blank stare, in the zone. The "duh" moment when you catch yourself staring at something for an infinite amount of time? Like you need someone to snap their fingers in your face to snap you out of it?!?  I had zoned out completely and I have no idea how long I had "checked out".  

That evening my friends and I fixed ourselves dinner in the room, ate, sat and talked for a long while. I have to say, I love my friends. They are awesome! Supportive, the.best.listeners, you name it!  Bless their hearts, they both have a lot on their plates, A LOT I tell you. But they took the time to talk with me, listen to me go on and on about things going on around me, how I'm feeling somewhat helpless in it all, and giving me some insight too. The.Best.Therapy ever! They never once asked me why I wanted to adopt Tanya. Never, ever gave me anything negative at all, only support, help and let me bend their ears, a lot! 

The next morning, I didn't want to get out of bed. I just wanted to lay in bed, and not move, feeling overwhelmed again, but my back was telling me different! So I rolled out of bed, went out on the balcony to view this again.

I took a deep breath, I felt somewhat refreshed. It wasn't till around lunch time that I started to feel somewhat normal again, whatever normal is for me these days. The cloud over and in my head had cleared some and I felt like I could function and actually laugh again. You can't be around Lee Ann and Tracy and not laugh! It's just impossible! We hung out on the beach, hung out at the pool, which we had mostly all to ourselves, check it!

Talked about old memories, fun times in our pasts, everything, laughed, it was so nice! Lee Ann, I don't know how you can remember so much from the past, just amazes me! Love that about you! We stayed out there till dinner time. It was so so SO nice being able to not have a schedule, not have to be somewhere at a certain time, do what we wanted when we wanted, ate when we wanted, went to bed when we wanted, even got up when we wanted ..... ahhhhhhhh. 

We finally went to the room that evening, showered, ordered pizza, fixed salads, and just had good old fashioned "girl" time, i.e. eating, talking, laughing, reminiscing. By then, I was getting back to my normalcy, whatever that is, and enjoying it.  

Thanks Lee Ann and Tracy - you ladies are a God send to me! I don't think I could ever repay you for our "Girl's weekend getaway"! I didn't realize it at the time, but God had a hand in it for sure. You two were brought back into my life for a reason and at a  time when I really needed it. I thank Him every day for the blessings in my life, most of all you two! So thanks to you .... I can move on, with a determination that I can tackle anything, with an open mind that I can handle anything, and with an open heart that will guide me to where I need to be. Love you girls! 

Orders of Business ...

I've come to love this lady and her precious family! What an amazing mama and person she is! See her precious little girl with the gorgeous blonde hair?



She's from Ukraine, like our girl we're adopting. I'll indulge about this awesome lady at a later time. Yeah, she said it best! Here's her blog post. Read it! :)