Getting in shape mind and body.....

Lois and I have been talking for close to a year now about getting "in shape." Well.....

Last Thursday we checked out a gym in K, and we were both impressed.
They not only have 10 of every machine (treadmills, step machines, etc.) They also have a weight room, personal trainers, classes, karate, and private rooms (mostly for school teams), and they have a 500 yard track. That's not including TVs around the room. These TVs are HUGE, and the sound is off. Each TV has the FM station under it, so you can bring your own FM radio with headphones and listen. It also has a daycare center, free massages, tanning beds, and a women's only workout room (for those who's insecure with men in the room.) Oh, and a restaurant in the front that sells food and smoothies. YUMMY.

Oh, and the best part? It's open 24/7. We can go right after work and work out if we want....
We both signed up for the 14 day free trial, however Lois has already said she's going to go ahead and get a membership and pay the whole year at once. Since I won't get a check for a couple weeks, she's offered to pay mine as well. I hate the thought of her doing that, but I told her that I would pay her back ASAP.

I also signed up for my Assoc. degree in Early childhood education. I was going to go with Penn Foster, however.... You have to put in a 300 hour internship in a 4? month time span. I simply can't do it that quickly. So, I checked out Ashworth College, and chose that. My first course has been sent to me already. I'm really excited to start....

Now to get my high school transcripts sent and find 2 people to nominate for my semester exams..... Hmmm...

Something to pray about.....

When I first started researching international adoptions my main thought was "WOW, not a lot of countries accept single applicants." Most countries let single women adopt ONLY special needs and/or older children over the age of 5. I understand they need homes, but I wasn't sure how comfortable I am in taking in a seriously ill child or an older child as my first.

My second thought was "They require too much time off work."
Some countries you have to be in their country for more than 2 weeks. One country you have to be there for 45 days.

Then I found out that Guatemala adoptions only take 2-4 days. SO.... I was thinking seriously on adopting from there UNTIL..... The government has stopped all adoptions from there. There's been cases of people "pretending" to be parents and giving kidnapped children for adoptions.

When I read that I thought, okay, so maybe I'm not supposed to adopt... UNTIL......
I was researching again and Haiti has opened up an international adoption service. The requirements for single women is that they are a MINIMUM of 30 years old and they show proof of faith. And the travel time is only 3-5 days. Another awesome part? The cost is only $7,000, which is cheaper than other countries that wants double that and more.

I know I decided YEARS ago that if I was ever blessed with a child her/his name would be either Taylor Rose or Taylor Brent.

I just think how symbolic it would be to adopt Taylor from Haiti. I have A LOT of praying to do.

HUGE MISTAKE

My mom was asked to take WKFM (I still have trouble not calling it YMWB). Well, she agreed and she drafted me to help. No problem, I didn't mind since it's only the first Sunday of each month. Last Sunday was a special service so our WKFM service was today.

Well, before the service, the kids go upstairs and take soup cans around and take money. The money goes to different missions.

We have 4 boys that come every Sunday. Jake is the oldest, and he's 10. Then there's Noah, Caleb, and Isaiah. They are all under the age of 5.

This was Noah's first time taking up the offering, but once he figured it out he was fine...... UNTIL.....

After giving the money to Kita, we went back downstairs. First thing Noah said was "When do I get my money?"

My mom thinking maybe he left some money somewhere asked "What money are you talking about?" He said "The money up there?"

My mom told him that the money upstairs was going to the Indians (Which it is) for school supplies. Poor Noah got really quiet.

After singing some songs, my mom started telling about the Indians. Everytime mom mentioned Indians poor Noah puckered a little more each time. Finally he started crying. We tried everything to get him to stop, but he wouldn't. I even took him to the back and tried to read to him, but he wouldn't stop for anything.

The only thing we could think of is he really thought he was going to keep that money. Poor little guy.

For some strange reason I'm not able to put a title to this post. So, it will have to go titleless.....

Before everything changed at work, I worked with 6 wonderful ladies... Tammie, Michelle, Crystal, Shelia, Christie, and Lois. For Birthdays our "group" would have a pitch in dinner and gifts for the birthday girl.
Well, everyone was moved around the summer of 2005, by Jan. 2006 Michelle, Shelia, Christie and Tammie all got laid off (Now they all took the buyout, and none of them work there anymore) Crystal is on day shift, and Lois and I are the only remaining ones left.
Lois's birthday was the first, everyone else's was in Oct and Dec. So, with everyone gone, our little "parties" stopped.
So, Lois and I celebrate each other's birthdays by treating each other out for lunch.

Well, Sat (yesterday) was Lois's birthday and we celebrated by going to Culivers. The rule is the birthday girl picks the place, and the nonbirthday girl pays. I was told that Philip wasn't too happy about eating there, but was perfectly fine with the idea when he found out that "Miss Angie" will be there.

Anyway, Culivers has a KILLER banana Sundae. It's called a Banana Foster Sundae. It's vanilla ice cream, bananas, pecans (have to ask for it, not automatically added), and a carmel/cinnamon topping. Oh, and the bananas and topping isn't just on top, but at the bottom as well. YUMMY!!!

Anyway, Lois has been kidding lately about getting a dog, since they're better than men. However, she and Philip are both HIGHLY allergic, so I gave her a stuffed dog, which she laughed extremely hard over. I also gave her a Strong's Concordence, which she found AMAZING and loved once I explained to her how to use it,(She told me she had no clue they made things like that) and Chondra Pierce's book "Laughing In the Dark".

After eating a hearty meal of butter burgers and deep fried cheese curds, getting Philip bouncing off the walls due to a MAJOR sugar rush (He had an M&M concrete mixer, which is like a blizzard), and trying to explain to an eight year old why I couldn't go to his house to play, we headed back to our normal lives.

Anyway, Hope you had a HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOIS!!!!!!!

CONGRATS Christie and Shawn!!!!!

Jackson Chap (the younger)
Born July 1, 2007 at 9:04 AM
5 lbs 13 oz
20 inches long

Joseph Lee Born July 1, 2007 at 8:50 AM
6 Lbs 4 oz
19 inches long

Christie used to work with me until she got laid off. Wonder how Jared enjoys being the BIG brother. They're beautiful Christie!!!!!