The Dress.

This September the company I work for, doTERRA, will be having their annual convention and at the end they have a gala where they award people who hit certain ranks.  And I want Mike and I to be getting one of those awards.  It's pretty great - they have a red carpet to walk down and people line it and cheer.  You choose the song that will play and you get to dress up.  Part of envisioning myself there is choosing the song and the DRESS.   Here are some dresses that inspire me:

First off, Mike and I saw "The Artist" a couple weekends ago and every shred of clothing in that was beautiful.  Not that having Berenice Bejo wearing them hurt at all.

Hair that makes you want to chop yours off.

Prettiest woman alive.

The dress that hasn't left me.

This last dress just won't leave my brain.  It was so beautifully beaded and sparkly with that perfect fat ribbon around the middle.  Ok, so those dresses are in a movie and not something I can walk into Dillards and buy.  Here are two dresses that are actually for sale that I would die for:

This dress is amazing.  But it's just a little over $800 dollars.  So, it's not for me.

This next dress totally hits the spot for me - the silver one.  I L-O-V-E it.  But it's like a bazillion dollars.  Out of the question.

So, perhaps I could make one?  As of now, my sewing skills are sub-par for this dress BUT I could get better by the end of the summer.  This pattern look like with some alterations it would work:

I'd do the black one on the bottom right with not such a high slit and add cap sleeves.  I like the idea of it being long - it's dressier.  AND it's an easy sew one.  This pattern might work too:

The only draw back on this one is the ruching.  I couldn't wear a belt with it like I'd like to.  I don't HAVE TO wear a belt...I just like the idea of the ribbon belt thing.

Anyhow, getting the award would not only allow me to get a dress but would also be seriously helpful in bringing Pearl home.  It would mean my income level was high enough to replace Mike's income plus some.  So, say a little(or big) prayer that we make it!

And if you haven't seen "The Artist" yet here's the trailer:

Frost Feathers

 Last October(2010) when we moved here I saw some of the most beautiful weather I have ever seen.  I thought then that it was normal and that once we settled or even the next season I'd photograph it.  But it seems that no two seasons are exactly alike here and I missed it.  So this week when everything got layered with frost for several days in a row I decided not to miss it and to take my camera out there.

So today I hopped in the car and headed up to the top of the hill I live on to capture how magical the frost is...

 And here is a look at where I get to go running.  The hill I live on is a beast(for me) and even though I live over half way up it, it takes another 3/4 of a mile to get to the top.  But the top is mostly flat and surrounds me with rolling fields of green in spring, gold and yellow in the summer, and blankets of white though the fall and winter.  All while giving me views of Mount Spokane and the surrounding mountains

With a little help from our friends...

This isn't an easy post for me to write.

We made the decision long ago to adopt. It was always something on the horizon for us but since we knew it was an expensive process we didn't consider doing it any time soon. And then slightly out of the blue, in early October we felt this urgency to start the process. We figured it would be a process we would start and that in the spring(with some savings under our belt) we would find a child and move forward. But the Lord didn't see it that way. A week after we fasted and prayed about where to look we found our little girl, Pearl.

And what a joy and blessing that is. How grateful we are that we have been entrusted with the job of bringing her home. What a blessing it is to sacrifice and fast and plead on her behalf. We know that she is as much a member of our eternal family as any of the boys are.

But that doesn't make it any less expensive. So, we've begun to work harder than we ever have before, sell everything we can, eat beans and rice, and to literally save EVERY penny that we find or earn. But most importantly we are relying on the Lord to multiply our efforts because we KNOW that without his help we would never make it.

And now, in our desire to bring her home as soon as possible, we are asking for your help. And it's hard to ask for help but I am willing to do it to bring her home even one day sooner. So, if you'd like to help us bring Pearl home you can click on the link on the right hand side of this blog.

And I know you will be blessed as we have already been. Since I have begun this process I have seen how much the Lord loves and cares about his orphaned children because he has given me VERY clear direction and answers to my prayers. He has said:

Pure religion... is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction... -James 1:27


And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. -Matthew 18:5


Then thou shalt say before the Lord thy God, I have brought away the hallowed things out of mine house, and also have given them unto the Levite, and unto the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the widow, according to all thy commandments which thou hast commanded me: I have not transgressed thy commandments, neither have I forgotten them. -Deuteronomy 26:13

So, thank you in advance to those of you who are in a position to help us financially. And to those who aren't - we ask for your prayers. Someday we will happily tell Pearl all about how many of our friends and family worked to bring her home. For a little girl who was abandoned in the beginning, what a gift to know that there were many others who saw her worth and value in this world and who were waiting with open arms to love and cherish her.