My Little Ladybug!

Lots of parents have a mascot or theme for their baby. My inquisitive brother asked me the other day what Emma's "animal" would be. I hadn't really thought about it yet, so I told him I would get back to him on it. I have friends that have used butterflies, giraffes, cows, puppies, frogs, and even certain Disney characters, but none of those worked for me. A monkey came to mind at first, but since we affectionately call our puppies "monkey", it wouldn't be right to call our sweet Emma that too!



But while I was outside the other day, it hit me literally, a lady bug landed on me and I realized.... her little mascot should be a lady bug. Not quite an "animal" but close enough. I was so excited to ask Brandon if he agreed, and he did. I don't think I even explained to him the significance, or why I was so happy about it! As most of our friends and family know, we have had a rough few years. We lost Momma 3 1/2 years ago, and as we've alluded to on here, for the past two we have been pretty discouraged that we would be able to conceive a child and had been on the infertility rollercoaster. Many tears have been shed wishing my mom was here to listen and encourage me as we went through all of this. Once, for her birthday, the last one she would have, I made her a special cake. She and Dad were going to be spending the weekend with dear friends, and I wanted her to have a pretty cake to enjoy. I made her a red velvet cake and made cute chocolate lady bugs to go around it. It was more than I normally did, but I am so glad that I spent the extra time that year, even if they did melt a little on the car ride there! After we lost Momma, I started noticing lady bugs when I would miss her the most. Keeping it my little secret, I don't even think I told Brandon, I knew that Momma was close by whenever I would see one. Once, when leaving a disappointing doctor's visit there was one sitting on my car door. Countless times I have had them land on me, and a sweet feeling of Momma's presence would pass over me. But they have been out in droves since we found out we were finally pregnant! As we worried about her in the beginning, I would see them outside, even though it was only January or February! Just today I saw 10 while taking the pups outside. There was one sitting on my bedroom floor yesterday. It makes my heart so happy to see them so it only seems right that we call Emma our little lady bug! It does help that red and black will match her room perfectly (I will post my decor for her room soon) and that often they are seen with polka dots.

So Brady, I hope that sets your mind at ease, she has an "animal".

Take that Gestational Diabetes!

I just got of the phone with my Endocrinologist and I got some great news. I have lowered my A1c number (the number by which they determine if you have or are at risk for diabetes) almost completely out of the range for even "at risk" for diabetes. I do believe that she called me a rock star! I am still only having to take one shot a day at night, my diet is controlling the day numbers adequately. Hallelujah! What good news as we get closer and closer to this little one being at viability (+/- 25 weeks). The larger the baby grows, the harder my body will have to work, so it is very encouraging that my numbers are getting better now while the baby is growing larger.

On another note, we are two weeks away from knowing if this cute little Tator Tot is a girl or a boy. I have dreamed both, so I am no help! I will be happy either way, I just want a healthy happy little one! That doesn't mean I am having an easy time waiting to find out! I want to be able to call this little one by name! And I admit, I really want to get started on the nursery. It is so hard waiting to buy anything!

Hello 2nd Trimester!

Woo Hoo! We made it to the second trimester! I am 16 weeks along, and this little one is starting to show a little. It is so fun! I still have trouble believing that it is real. We have waited so long for this miracle, it is surreal that it has actually happened. We went to the doctor(s) last week and everything is looking good. It was much easier to find "Tator Tot" at this visit. We may or may not have nicknamed the baby Tator Tot due to my intense craving for tator tots and ketchup for almost a month, and I don't normally like ketchup! That craving is gone, so I am waiting to see what is next.

We will have our big 20 week sonogram on the 25th, our 5 year anniversary! What a special gift for us to celebrate! We can't wait.

Big News!

We hope that your new year has started off great! We have been wanting to share some news for awhile, and now we feel the timing is right! Brandon and I received the best Christmas present ever this year, a little baby Price is on his/her way! On December 22nd, I was able to see the little heartbeat of our little one, what a special gift. We are due early August. Looks like I am getting a baby for my birthday this year!

We have struggled with infertility for over 2 years, and had been deep in conversations and prayer regarding how we would grow our family. We had decided this fall to try a few fertility methods after the new year and if those failed we would pursue adoption. Adopting was a choice we were both so comfortable with, we were really ready to just get that ball rolling, I think we had both decided that was going to be our plan. Everything we have done in our house was thinking that we would have a home study done. We had started baby proofing and everything! Thanksgiving weekend I cooked for our family and just seemed really tired. After our all night Black Friday shopping tradition, I was worn out. We talked about how funny it would be if I was pregnant, but I don’t think either of us thought too seriously about it. Well wouldn’t you know, we were right! We are so surprised that we were able to get pregnant with so little medical help. Clearly the Lord had decided it was to be in His timing, not ours!

We have been quietly enjoying our little secret now for a couple of months. Our immediate families have been so supportive and loving towards us. Clearly the first trimester has been a little scary for us since this wasn’t our first time to be pregnant, but all in all it has been great! We are just about at 14 weeks, and baby sounds/looks good and is growing strong. According the OB as she struggled to find the little one on the doppler, he/she is a feisty one! I love that!

Please join us in praying for our sweet little miracle. Both the baby and I are doing great, but the pregnancy has not been without a few hiccups. I have already been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, a complication stemming from the same reasons we struggled to get pregnant. It was caught as soon as the pregnancy was confirmed, so I have been treated for it from the very beginning. I do have to test for blood sugars several times a day, ouch!, and give myself insulin shots. Brandon is getting really good giving me shots, so I prefer it when he can! I have been labeled "high risk" because of the diabetes, but I am choosing to look at it positively, since it means more sonograms throughout my second and third trimester, at least one 4D sonogram at the hospital, and more attention from my team of doctors. So far, I am very impressed with my doctors and their attention to my health and the health of our little one. One of my doctors routinely calls on the weekend or after hours to give test results and check in with me. I am very fortunate.

Here is Baby Price from December, a teeny tiny little blessing. Yes, I think the sonogram tech was as excited as I was to see that little heart beating so she added the "YAY!".

Two years ago today I lost my Momma. It hurt, physically, the first few months. It was a dull ache in my chest that could take my breath away. I remember asking Brandon if it was normal, because I had never experienced grief in that way. Everything had happened so quickly, she was only in the hospital a couple of weeks, so I think shock protected me from a lot those first few months. Every day it seemed to get a little better, the tears came less frequently; I no longer needed to carry that hanky that had been given to me by a sweet friend at the funeral. I was healing. The anniversary last year was sad, but we got through it. I knew that the grief was still strong, so I went to a grief class at church, and talked through my grief.
I breathed a sigh of relief. I had survived losing Momma. I could do this.
Then Momma’s birthday rolled around, and it was harder than I thought. I think the worst part was that everyone else was moving on. My little world had stopped and yet everyone else’s was still going. These past few days have been really hard. I have tried to keep going, keep doing what I am supposed to be doing, but it seems like swimming upstream. I know that it will get better, and I also know that it is ok to feel grief. I guess I just didn’t expect it to be so hard still. I didn’t expect to still “forget” that she is gone and go to call her still two years later. I didn’t expect that I would still think that I need to tell her when things were exciting or sad. I also didn’t realize all the times that I would need her and she wouldn’t be here. How hard birthdays are without her to make a big deal of it. How all of a sudden I had no other woman in my immediate family to talk to about girl things. How much I would miss her silly cards on St. Patrick’s day with a $5 dollar bill to give us some “green”, or an Easter basket even though we are 20 years too old for baskets. Or how much I would miss the way she loved Brandon as her own, how hard she tried to treat him exactly the same as she treated us. She could have written a book on how to treat your children’s’ spouses. (I will interject that Dad is excellent at this as well, I am so very grateful.) She no longer had two children, she had three. Or how much I would miss her advice, even if I didn’t want to hear it. I never thought about how much I would miss seeing an email from her pop up, and how much trouble she would have tried to get into on Facebook. She would have had a million friends.
I just didn’t know. And now I do. I am so sad of all the things she won’t be around for in the future. She should be there when we find out we are pregnant someday. She should be there for my children. She, of all people, should have gotten to experience being a grandma. She should be deciding what to do for the holidays, and what we will have. She was a lot of our link to our extended family, and I miss seeing them.
I know that I will survive this crazy rollercoaster of not having a Mom. I know that it will get easier, that people will help fill the gaps. I have an amazing husband, who in our second year of marriage dealt with my loss with such love and grace. My dad has done everything he can to be both parents to us. Brady has been there to listen, and most importantly, to help me laugh. I have a wonderful and wise Grandma that has held my hand and loved on me, even when her grief was still fresh from losing Grandpa. I have wonderful friends that have been patient and understanding, and have been here for me at a moment’s notice. I love Momma’s friends, and several still check in with me, just sometimes to tell me that they miss her too.
I am blessed. More than I deserve. So I will move forward. I will focus on my blessings, that is what Momma would tell me to do. But man, I will miss her telling me to!!!!

Ok, so it has been forever, and I am terribly behind! Brandon and I have had so much going on, I hardly know where to begin to get caught up! We just moved into a cute little townhome in Wylie! And we LOVE it! It is so roomy for us, we have three bedrooms, we hardly know what to do with all the room. We are going through all of our stuff, and we are finding things we haven't seen for two years (we were never able to completely unpack in Friona because our places were so tiny there, and we have been back in Dallas almost a year and our stuff has been in storage the entire time).

It is great to see all of our things, and the memories that go with them. Of course, memories are sometimes bittersweet, and I have missed Momma a lot. She was so generous during all the showers for our wedding, and so I have loved getting to see all of her gifts again.

My favorite is my tea pot. I have many memories of mom and I having tea whether is was to warm up on a chilly day, to soothe a sore throat, or to soothe a worn out spirit, a cup of hot tea was her answer. I miss those cups of hot tea, most of which were not even touched because of all the talking and giggling that accompanied them. I hope to make many memories with my tea pot. Hopefully with my friends and family like you guys. So, if you need to unwind, gab, or soothe your spirit, I know a good tea that will work wonders, come on over to my house!

Giving Back - A Charity Event for our Buddy Nate

"Giving Back" is a charity event honoring the supportive community that has helped the Oxford Family, through prayers and support, deal with their battle of childhood cancer. This special event will take place on May 2nd from 11-4 at Pullen Elementary in Rockwall, Texas (Horizon Rd & FM 549). This is a family event for all ages. Everyone is welcome!

We will be having pony rides, bounce houses, fishing demo, vintage car show, chili cook-off, circus clowns, golf training for kids, games, and a blood drive, just to name a few. Most of the activities/games are free. (There will be a nominal fee for some food items.) We will also be having a silent auction, a live "celebrity auction," and a really unique raffle called "Golf Balls from Heaven."

The raffle tickets for "Golf Balls from Heaven" will be numbered and will match up with numbered golf balls. Those golf balls will be dropped from a helicopter at the event (into an unoccupied field, of course) where there will be golf holes. Numbered balls in the hole or closest to the hole will win the prize. Prizes will include: $1000 television, His/Hers watches, $500 gas card, $300 Wal-Mart gift card, and a round of golf for 4 at Buffalo Creek Golf Course. Raffle tickets are $10 each.

All of the money and donations raised that day from the raffle, auctions, donations, etc. will be used to cover the Oxford family's expenses during this trying time and also a donation will be made to Nates' doctor for research of childhood cancer. Dr Bowers, Nate's Doctor, is on the cutting edge in the world with this research. The event will help to raise funds to further his research.

Please mark your calendar and plan on attending this wonderful event for the whole family!

If you would like to get involved, please contact the following people:
Blood Drive registration: Rhonda Mishler -- rhondambi@sbcglobal.net
Volunteers: Justin Hall -- jkhall@hallcriminaldefense.com
Silent Auction donations: Wendy Rathje -- omahawendy@yahoo.com
(We are collecting baskets of merchandise, crafts, gift cards, etc. If you own a business or would like to put together something, we would love to have it. ABF's, groups, etc can get together and put together baskets from the whole group too.)
Sponsorship & Monetary Donations, Event Coordinator: Lana Carlisle -- carlislelana@yahoo.com

Points of contact for purchase of raffle tickets for the "Golf Balls from Heaven" drop:
Lana Carlisle: East of Royse City -- carlislelana@yahoo.com
Stephanie Cox: East of Royse City -- stef4chase@yahoo.com
Rhonda Mishler: Rockwall -- rhondambi@sbcglobal.net
Wendy Rathje: Woodcreek -- omahawendy@yahoo.com
Kristi Helton: Caddo Mills -- khelton@caddomillsisd.org
Renee Clover: Pullen -- rclover@rockwallisd.org

Picture Post

As promised here are a few pictures from the last few months. These are all from our trip to Louisiana for Easter to see Brandon's family. It was a great trip, his family was so friendly! We had a great time!


My new haircut!


Me, Brandon, Stephanie, and Chris on Easter.


The hotel lobby that we stayed at in Louisiana.


The pig that we ate on Easter! It was the best pork I think I have ever had! Yummy!


"Uncle Bubba", Stephanie, and Jesse boy riding a golf cart.

Hello out there, if anyone still checks in here, that is! I am so sorry that it has been so long since I last posted. I have a picture post coming soon, we have been so very busy!

One of the ways that I have been busy is a brand new adventure I decided to try. I will give you a hint with this clip from "The Simspons", and no, I am not going into ministry!

It's been too long since I posted. I guess I needed a break. I will return, don't lose faith in me! Until I do, let this little video make your day! This is the best prank, and you know you would have enjoyed being there!

Proverbs 31 - An Overview

Ok, so I am really learning so much studying Proverbs 31. I am really excited about diving into the different aspects covered in this jewel. I have been reading others blogs, joining email devotionals and really trying to spend time everyday studying what God wants from me as a Godly woman. Here are the different areas that I will be focusing on that I have found in Proverbs 31:
1. Loving and respecting your husband
2. Homemaking
3. How to treat others
4. Teaching others
5. Parenting skills
6. Personal Character Traits

I should have made homemaking number one, about half of the passage is about it. I am excited about this. I think that our urges to do creative things, scrapbooking, sewing, cooking, etc are God given and even possibly admirable. Michaels here I come! J/K kind of!

Alright ladies, let’s get into this. What intrigues you the most? What are you most interested in learning about?

Just for fun!

more lol celebs!

Proverbs 31

I want to study Proverbs 31, I want to study about what it means to be a Godly woman, especially in a world that is not very conducive. I am going to be do a little blog series about what I have found, and I invite you to join in and study with me, and let me know things that you have found. I am hoping to grow in areas that I need improvement, and further nurture other areas that I would love to develop. For now, I will leave you with the Message's version of Proverbs 31:10-31:

Hymn to a Good Wife
10-31 A good woman is hard to find,
and worth far more than diamonds.
Her husband trusts her without reserve,
and never has reason to regret it.
Never spiteful, she treats him generously
all her life long.
She shops around for the best yarns and cottons,
and enjoys knitting and sewing.
She's like a trading ship that sails to faraway places
and brings back exotic surprises.
She's up before dawn, preparing breakfast
for her family and organizing her day.
She looks over a field and buys it,
then, with money she's put aside, plants a garden.
First thing in the morning, she dresses for work,
rolls up her sleeves, eager to get started.
She senses the worth of her work,
is in no hurry to call it quits for the day.
She's skilled in the crafts of home and hearth,
diligent in homemaking.
She's quick to assist anyone in need,
reaches out to help the poor.
She doesn't worry about her family when it snows;
their winter clothes are all mended and ready to wear.
She makes her own clothing,
and dresses in colorful linens and silks.
Her husband is greatly respected
when he deliberates with the city fathers.
She designs gowns and sells them,
brings the sweaters she knits to the dress shops.
Her clothes are well-made and elegant,
and she always faces tomorrow with a smile.
When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say,
and she always says it kindly.
She keeps an eye on everyone in her household,
and keeps them all busy and productive.
Her children respect and bless her;
her husband joins in with words of praise:
"Many women have done wonderful things,
but you've outclassed them all!"
Charm can mislead and beauty soon fades.
The woman to be admired and praised
is the woman who lives in the Fear-of-God.
Give her everything she deserves!
Festoon her life with praises!

Pray for Nate

Please join me in prayer today as Nate started his Chemo in the night. We are asking that this Chemo session goes well and that he is able to clear this within 24 hrs. Little Nate has had to go through so much and emotionally and physically he is exhausted. He needs God's strength & healing now. Please pray for Wes & Jackie that God would comfort them and give them the grace and strength for these days ahead. Please pray for Jake and Luke, two big brothers who love their little brother. Please join me in prayer tonight.

Urgent Prayer Request

I guess I should say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all those that have checked back in after the holidays! I have been a poor blogger for myself lately, but that is because I have been working on another blog. A precious family that we went to church with for years has been going through a major crisis. Their two year old son, Nate, was diagnosed the week before Christmas with a rare and aggressive form of cancer that has caused tumors on his brain and his spine. After a surgery to remove one tumor that resulted in several set backs, we were so excited that he was going to start chemo and hopefully slow the growth of his tumors. Nate recieved his first round of chemo this weekend, only to have to be rushed to the ICU because his body would not process the chemo correctly. Please join me in praying, fasting, and crying out to God for this little child of His. His parents have amazing faith, and I know that God is at work in this situation. I have created a blog with updates about this family and I urge you to read it, pray about it, and pass it on to other believers so that they can be praying for him as well. I want to get as many people prying for this guy as possible. Thank you for spending a little bit of time making a big difference in the life of this family.

Click here to visit his blog!

Brandon and I are doing well! We just went on a weekend get-away to San Antonio just for fun. We had a good time, and when I can I have pictures to post from Christmas until now! I hope that everyone is starting off the New Year well.

Very Very Grateful

Thanksgiving this year was very good. It had a few rocky moments with family tension at the in-laws, but other than that, it was a great day. I did a lot of cooking and baking. I really enjoy cooking for people. There is still a hole were Momma would have been, especially when I made her famous frozen cranberry salad. My sweet in-laws invited Brady and Dad to come over so I did not have to choose where to be for the day. That made it a lot easier. It would still be really hard not to spend the day with my family, but luckily Brandon's family is kind enough to include everyone. Here are a few pictures from our day...

Brandon and Me



There is nothing cuter than two people still in love after being together 50 years.



The entire Juneau Fam! (my in laws) Getting this picture was a little stressful since some members of the family were fussy (not the two year old unbelievably) but I think that it came out great. We wanted to do this for Gama and Papa for Christmas.



My sweet boys. It is hard to call this a family photo without Momma in it. This was probably the hardest moment of the day to take a picture together. I am glad we did though, I am very grateful for all of the wonderful men in my life.



Gama and Papa and their Grandkids, Brandon's sister Stephanie and her husband, Chris, and Brandon and I

A quote I thought you all might enjoy!

President Bush talked about Obama in an interview on November 11th. Here is a tidbit from that article that was posted on CNN.com:

Bush described the atmosphere in his Oval Office meeting with Obama as relaxed and said he offered the future president advice on the transition process. Bush also said Obama was specifically interested in how his two young daughters would adjust to life in the White House.
"It was interesting to watch him go upstairs," Bush said. "He wanted to see where his little girls were going to sleep. Clearly, this guy is going to bring a sense of family to the White House, and I hope Laura and I did the same thing. But I believe he will, and I know his girls are on his mind and he wants to make sure that first and foremost, he is a good dad. And I think that's going to be an important part of his presidency."

I cannot tell you how excited I am to have a president that is a loving and involved father. I know I preached a long sermon the other day on here, so I won't get back on that soap box, but I just wanted to share this tidbit with you guys, especially those that are upset with Obama. Maybe this will shed a little light for you onto our president-elect's family values. Maybe because it is coming from Bush it will hold a little more value than coming from others. Maybe all this Obama talk will stop you from reading my blog (I sure hope not). But maybe, just maybe, it will help you see that Obama is a person, just like the rest of us, that has his family as a top priority, and that maybe he should be treated like one.


Link to full article by Alexander Mooney on CNN.com


A couple of pictures I found that I thought fit the quote!

Tagged again... look at all the posts lately!!!!

TYPE ONLY ONE WORD FOR EACH ANSWER. IT'S HARDER THAN YOU THINK!!!
1. Where is your cell phone? desk
2. Your significant other? working
3. Your hair? frizzy
4. Your mother? missed
5. Your father? Hard-working
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? strange
8. Your favorite drink? Diet rite
9. Your dream/goal? baby
10. The room you're in? office
11. Your fear? loss
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? House
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you're not? awake
15. Muffins/donuts? donuts
16. One of your wish list items? clothes
17. Where you grew up? Rowlett
18. The last thing you did? emails
19. What are you wearing? clothes
20. Your TV? At home
21. Your pet? loving
22. Your computer? work
23. Your life? hopeful
24. Your mood? interested
25. Missing someone? yes
26. Favorite pastime? reading
27. Something you're not wearing? watch
28. Favorite Store? Target
29. Your summer? Summer?
30. Your favorite color? pink
31. When is the last time you laughed? today
32. Last time you cried? recently
33. Who will/would re-post this? Dunno (look at me using bad grammar to get one word answers)
34. Four places I go over and over? Wal-Mart, Target, Work, home
35. Four people who e-mail me? Brandon, Davita, Vicki, Dad
36. Four of my favorite foods? mac n cheese, chicken, pizza, pasta
37. Four places I would like to be right nw? on a cruise, with my husband, with friends, did I mention a cruise
38. Four people I tag? I will let this one go without tagging… I have tagged people recently, but feel free to do it, it was a fun one!

A new face in the White House

We have a new president elect. Whether you voted for him or not, Obama won over this country decidedly. He won over people of all backgrounds, nationalities, religions, and races. He won them over with talks of change, and a forthright attitude. I am proud that there will be more diversity in our government. I have never felt such an overwhelming emotion as I did watching Obama on Tuesday night as he graciously accepted McCain’s concession. I was touched by the crowd shots. Older people, young people, every race was represented. There were men and women in suits and kids in t shirts. It was a great example of the make-up of our country. I loved how he interacted with his wife and children. He was loving towards his mother-in-law and exteded family. It was a touching scene.

Over the past few weeks we have all had an emotional rollercoaster while watching the election. I doubt that anyone escaped politics at one point in time or another. I tend to lean to the left when it comes to politics, and I will proudly admit that I voted for Obama. I realize that this is different and maybe even offensive to my “church going” “ACU attending” or “Texas living” friends. I am not a democrat. I do not align myself with a certain party, but most of the time, I prefer the policies of the Democratic party rather than the Republican’s. This election was no different. Why are my political beliefs so different from the majority of my peers? My political views shifted dramatically when I worked for the state. When I figured out that who was put into office would benefit or challenge my job of protecting children (I was a CPS investigator), I started paying a lot closer attention. So when this year’s debates started I read policy and knew how I would vote. I never mentioned it on here or anywhere because it did not really matter. Especially here in Texas, and especially amongst my peers.

Recently, though, I have been reading others blogs, and I have felt like I needed to stand up for what I believe. I realize that this may make others uncomfortable, and it may even make some angry but I feel like it is important. Now I am not going to debate politics, even though it would be fun. I am not going to get into policy, although I think some people need to better educate themselves instead of just going along with the crowd. I will offer that I do not agree with all that Obama stands for, although I do agree with the majority of it. What I want to talk about, and what I have been so caught off guard by is the way that many have reacted to Obama being elected. There have been many people that have been downright ugly about Obama. His faith and relationship with the Lord have been questioned and attacked. He has been called the anti-Christ, and one blog I read devoted a whole section to comparing him to what the Bible says about the anti-Christ. I blogged recently about the book, The Shack, and that it moved me to be a better person. It convicted me to not judge other people. Not at all, not even a little. I cannot imagine the thought process that thinks that you can call someone who says that they are a believer the anti-Christ. Obama and his family attend church. He refers to his faith often. He is a loving husband and father. Yet some people think that they are in a position to judge that. My sweet and incredibly wise husband told me that he does not know why people who are believers think that our God is not strong enough to use Obama, with his flaws, to govern our nation. Why are Christians saying that they are fearful? We all have flaws. We all hold beliefs that do not align perfectly with the Lord’s ways because none of us are perfect. I am sure that I have never heard Obama claim to be perfect. He has admitted that he is not. He alone will have to stand up to the Lord and be judged for what he did. We aren’t into a position to judge him.

My answer to all of this is that we need to understand that Obama is going to be our next president. We need to pray for him. We need to pray for the decisions that he makes, and the people that he chooses to bring into the White House with him. Let’s pray for his wife and his family. For their protection. For their relationships. Let’s not sit around and wonder if we are a better Christian than Obama. Let’s not sit around and treat him like he is anything less than we are: a flawed imperfect person trying to do the best that we can with what the Lord has given us. Let’s learn from this. Let’s learn that God can work through all of us, any of us, and that includes Obama.

RULES:*Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog
*Share seven random and/or weird facts about yourself
*Tag seven other people at the end of your post and link to their blogs
*Let each person know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

I was tagged by Brooke.

1. I have started collecting lamb things (not the breathing kind) and snowmen. They remind me of my mother for multiple reasons.

2. I went to three different high schools. It was a trip. I spent my freshman year at Dallas Christian, I spent my sophomore year at Garland High School, and my junior and senior years at Rowlett High School. No, I was not kicked out of any of them. It just happened that way, and I enjoyed each one. I kind of forget about my year at Garland High School though, I made a few friends there that I wish I would have kept up better with.

3. I have a tattoo. Lots of people wouldn’t believe that about me. I really like it. It is hidden most of the time. It is an icthus (Christian fish). I figure that if a tattoo is a sin, at least I went with good intentions.

4. My husband and I have lived in 5 houses in the two and a half years we have been married. We are currently temporarily living with my dad and all of my stuff is in a barn. It is a very nice barn, but it is a barn.

5. I have visited about 90% of the continental United States, mostly by car. I love
traveling. Especially in a car. I know, it is sick, but I love a car trip. I really good long one! With my cute hubby. He is the best driver ever.

6. I am adopted. I was placed with my parents at birth through a private adoption placement. I have had email correspondence with my birthmother. I imagine that one day I will meet her. I love to talk about adoption. Watch out, it can be a hot button topic for me though!

7. I later worked for the same agency that I was placed through. I enjoyed my job and I learned so much about everyone involved in an adoption. Especially birthmothers. I have such a respect for the decision that they are making.

I don’t necessarily have 7 people to tag, but I will tag Davita, Melody, Brandon (who I kept wanting to use things about him for mine, so I know that he has plenty of interesting things), Lauren, and Kylie. Y'all don't have too, but I had fun!