Favorite Things Friday

SHOES!!!!

SHOES!!!!

SHOES!!!!

Oh, How I Love Them All!

The Anticipation of the Hunt.

What is it about shoes? I love shoes. Not so much in a “Carrie Bradshaw” kind of a way, because I don’t mind wearing a pair of 10.99/pair shoes! However, my biggest splurge was for a pair of white Coach Sandals with a big Buckle across the strap. 3 years later - I still love them! (It was a splurge, even though I used a gift card someone had given me!)

Shopping for Shoes can be a bit of medication for me. Yep. I said it. I know. I know. It’s only a temporary fix, but so is Advil.

When I am overwhelmed at the amount of things our home is need of (Rug fraying apart, Rickety Coffee Table, Sofa Held Up By 2 Nails, the list goes on, and on, and on….)I realize that those are expenses that are too great for our bank account right now, so I go out and buy…shoes! The price of shoes - I can handle! I can not drop $3,000.00 on furniture that would sure make me feel good, but I sho-’nuf have no problem dropping $29.99 at Marti and Liz for some great strappy heels that make life so glorious for the moment. What? If I saved all my shoe money and put it in an account to save for furniture then…what? Crazy voices in my head again……

My favorite brands of shoes recently are: Coach, Jessica Simpson (gotten better), Michael Kors, White House Black Market flip-flops (2 for $40), Tory Burch, Nine West…

Here is a picture of my Dream Shoes, they are Louboutins:

They are hot on. Very feminine and beautiful. In fact all of this French Designer’s styles are stunning. They are however almost $1,000.00. cough. cough.

Because our Gallery has concrete and old wood floors with random holes, I mostly wear flats and flip-flops, and that makes me happy. And if you happen to see me in a shoe store somewhere, and I happen to look a little high, be assured that I’m just fine, it’s only natural happiness radiating from my surroundings. And if you happen to be a size 8…you’ll see a bit of my sassy competitiveness come out. (hiss)

Great places to buy shoes:

Marti and Liz(Coach, Cole Haan, Betsey Johnson, others), Macy’s (Green Hills Mall), BCBG, EBay, White House Black Market, Off Broadway, Saks Fifth Ave.(sales only),TJ Maxx (bought Coach and Kate Spade there), Atlanta,New York.

Ok. So, How Shoe Saavy are you? Can you name all 3 shoes at the top of the page???

What are your favorite? I love a good deal…What other places do I need to know about????You know who you are. You are the ones who stand in a circle with your friends, kick off your shoes, and try everyone elses on. Do I need to name names Janna? Lisa? Austine? oh, um…guys love shoes too. You just may see my sweet 40-year old buttercup at Marti and Liz this weekend!

The Reading Room

In our home, the “Piano Room” was originally called the “Reading Room” when we built our house, but never got around to building shelves for our books…so the only thing in this empty room was Ken’s 1889 baby Grand Steinway that he inherited from his Grandparents…so we went back to calling it, “The Piano Room”.

Well…I am most elated to say that, 5 years later…it is again called “The Reading Room”, thanks to our friend JT who came by and helped Ken with the building and installing of these wonderful “built-in” bookshelves.

Here are Kenny and Alec cutting the Shelves for the Built-Ins!

Kenny & JT Installing one of the Shelves

The Finished Product!!! Woo-Hoo

Thank you Kenny for finally getting these done for me, and for JT for taking the time to help him out!

Now if I could only find the time to read…..

Adoption Forecast this Month

It is still a little early for predictions, and we haven’t heard anything about July referrals yet, but this is the first time on Rumor Queen (China Adopt Talk), that the families in my group (March 2006 LID) have been positive! The buzz is that we could have a referral from China as early as November, and could be home with her in January!

With the Olympics in Beijing this year (8-8-08 at 8:00 - 8 is their lucky number!!!), those who just received referrals will have to wait until the Olympics are over to travel. It’s a bummer, but it’s the agencies decisions because everything will be so expensive and there will be no hotel rooms!!! But China has not stopped referring babies because of the Olympics…Great News!

Still haven’t put the crib together yet, though! Which means, if you’re in town and need a place to stay, come now while there’s still a bed!!!

Swimming with Manatees

My Sister-In-Law just sent me these pictures of my Nephews swimming with the Manatees in Florida. There is not a trip to Florida that they take without jumping in the Ocean near a jeddie somewhere in hopes to see Manatee…Today they got lucky!!! Here are more pictures of my 9 year-old nephew, Max swimming with the Manatee.

Manatees are such Docile Creatures. They stuck around for an hour allowing everyone to play with them!

I Apologize...Forgive Me...I'm Sorry...

If you are married, or if you are a parent, or a sibling, or a friend, or if you have any communication with any people whatsoever…you are going to eventually make a mistake, or have one made against you.

The opportunity for an apology will arise at some point in this lifetime, or in this week, or today!

HOW do we get our message across??? We have no problem saying “I’m Sorry” when we accidentally bump into a stranger, so it shouldn’t be any different when we’ve wronged someone close to us. The thing with “I’m Sorry”, is that while it’s important to speak, and to hear, it’s somehow lost it’s meaning over the years. We say “I’m Sorry” to the dog when we accidentally step on it’s tail, or “I’m Sorry” to our children when they are asking for something we’ve already said no to. We say “I’m sorry” to the person we accidentally cut off in traffic, who doesn’t know that we are sorry because of the gestures in the rear view mirror…

As Christians, we have done the same thing with “Please Forgive Me”, I ask that you Forgive Me” “I Forgive You”. While saying these things are important, are they really necessary to speak every time something goes wrong?

A Story:

I’ll never forget Ken and I sitting with some dear friends of ours in the living room of a pastor and his wife. We were having some strained issues in our friendship, so we asked if we could meet at their house while we dealt with a couple of these issues in front of them. It did not go as expected. That evening backfired on us. While we were discussing our issues back and forth, the only thing that was important to this mediator was our words. I can’t even remember which way he asked us to say it , “Please forgive me, or “I need to ask your forgiveness”, but we had to do it differently every time, because we weren’t saying the words right!!! It didn’t seem to matter our hearts’ condition, it was all about the “facade” the appropriate words, the eloquence of the apology. Our friends left the meeting feeling satisfied, I left more upset than when I got there. But everyone else was content because I played the game and said what I was supposed to say.

I’ve searched the Bible, in several translations, and the act of Forgiveness is all the way through. We serve an amazing God who is willing to Forgive us and Forget what we’ve done no matter what. God wants us to seek Him for Forgiveness. He warns us that if we do not Forgive others, we ourselves won’t receive forgiveness. However, interestingly enough, no where does it say that there is a certain way it should be said.

You see, God Himself is not interested in our words, as much as He is interested in the condition of our hearts. It is important to hear the words, to say the words, but most importantly, it is to see the change in the heart.

While we have taught Alec the importance of forgiving, and asking for forgiveness, and apologizing, and the importance of speaking those words, we have also taught him with those words spoken, you must also act in such a way that you mean it. Not only in the moment, but for the days afterwards. When he was young we would have him speak the words, then follow it up with an action: a hug, or handshake, or an act of serving.

Speaking the words “I am truly sorry” “Please forgive me”, are selfless acts, where you are drained of any pride, but I dare you to act upon those words. That’s the true test.

We live in a world where words can be so empty. Just turn on the television. Words. Radio: Words. Words are easy. Words can be meaningless. Words only take the movement of your tongue. But Actions. Actions are difficult. They take a boldness, bravery, and courage. A movement of your whole body, your being, your soul.

I am so thankful that my husband sees my apologies through my actions, even if I don’t utter the sacred “I’m Sorry” words every time. He knows that all is well, and that I have done some soul-searching, and he receives my apology.

Ken asked if I could add this story:

A couple of weeks ago, we were having a serious disagreement…We went to bed upset. (I know…we didn’t resolve it before bedtime) I awoke the next morning and sat out on the swing with coffee, nature, the Lord, and my conscience. I was led to repent for my actions and my words and my attitudes toward Ken. I got off the swing, went in to the kitchen, made him the best cup of coffee and went in to the bedroom to wake him up (which I never do, since I enjoy as much alone time in the mornings as I can get). I kissed him and handed him his coffee. He said “honey, I’m so sorry” I told him, “no, today is a new day”. He accepted my apology, accepted my forgiveness, and we went on with our “new day”.

On the other hand…We can’t wait for people to say they are sorry or to ask for forgiveness, before we should forgive. We are commanded to Love, and we are commanded to Forgive regardless of how severe the hurt. But if you see the actions of a repentant heart, even without the words…don’t discount it.

If I have hurt you, I have no problem apologizing, but when you see it in my actions…you’ll know.

Here is a fun website on apologies, if you aren’t an expert already!!!: The Perfect Apology

Favorite Things Friday

ROAD TRIPS!!!!

Upon return from a road trip to a client’s house in South Carolina to Install (decorate) all of the furniture, shades, accessories, etc. for a Lake Home they just purchased, Colin asked me if I enjoyed road trips. If I wouldn’t have paused to think about the answer, I would’ve said, “no”. However I began to think about it.

My answer, surprising to me, was, “actually, yes”!

No matter where we are going, if there’s more than 1 person traveling, and as long as it is more than 2 hours, there is always, always road trip food, fun music, and usually a movie, and really great conversation!!!

When we travel as a family, Ken always drives. I read or watch a movie in the passenger seat, Alec has his Ipod in, and Ken is drinking some coffee from a gas station that he got for free somewhere while eating his Dolly Madison “Zingers”, and I am munching on Twizzlers and Doritos. Alec is drinking Gatorade, and eating Gummybears!!! Then I precede on kicking Ken’s butt in radio wars! My feet are always propped up on the dashboard (not good if we wreck….) where I leave “toe impressions” all over the windshield! Or in Indian style!!!

On road trips with my girlfriends, Shelley, Kelly, Nicki, (to Atlanta in the past for shopping trips), we would always have great chocolate, some girly music playing, Doritos, and we would talk non-stop about something we all have in common; usually our kids, and the Lord. (After they answered the “what 2 things would you take on a deserted island, favorite vacations” etc. questions from me, of course!)

When I travel with Shannon (sis-in-law), we laugh most of the time, but then find ourselves in deep meaningful conversations , while she’s drinking a Diet Dr, Pepper, and I am sipping on a Fountain Coca-Cola. I do not play radio wars with her. I do not like having my butt kicked.

Humorous things almost always happen on road trips:

When traveling with the family to Florida recently, I had fallen asleep. It was late and I was tired. I don’t sleep well in the car, so I wake up a lot. As we were traveling about 75, I awoke to find an old beat up pick up truck stopped dead in front of us that we were about to hit, I screamed bloody murder, about gave Ken a heart-attack, then realized there was no truck there at all! Apparently this is something I do a lot!

Once when coming home from Florida, we had our Nephew Nick in the car. We had pulled up to a toll booth to pay the nice lady at the window. Nick, with his music in his ears proclaimed loudly, “Look at her Mole, Look at that woman’s mole!!!” He had no idea how loud he was! It was, however, a very large mole.

Back to this week’s road trip to South Carolina with Jonathan, Colin and Matt…

On the way to SC, I was traveling with Jonathan, and the guys were in the UHaul. I turned around to find that Jonathan, like me, travels with a ton of design magazines, a little work (orders, research), and good intentions! None of that was even touched! After a bit of conversation, we watched a movie on his Ipod the size of my thumbnail. When we stopped for trip food, the assortment consisted of: Doritos, Sour Skittles, Reeses, Corn Nuts, Peanuts, etc… On the way home, all four of us were jammed into his Hummer, and they were all fading fast. So I grabbed the wheel in Knoxville, and drove them the rest of the way home. Halfway, Matt jumps up in the backseat, Jonathan and I start laughing, Colin asks if he’s ok, and sweet Matt said, very groggily, “I’m sorry, I thought I was driving and I fell asleep”. Yeah. We’re going to have fun with that. Jonathan put on some great Music, the boys fell asleep, and I drove to the sounds of all 3 snoring in Unison!

Some of the best times happen in the car on your way to your destination.

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; But it is the journey that matters, in the end”

I’m always interested in others’ journies: trip food, what do you do…what am I missing???

Happy Father's Day

Ken and I are so blessed to have the best Fathers in the World! We love and honor them today, and want them to know how much we love them. My dad taught me the Importance of Forgiveness, how to Swim, How to look fear in the face and “Go For It”, how to be Courageous.

My Step-Father, Jeff, taught me the Depth of Jesus’ Love for me and others, how to be Secure in Him, to Have Faith, and to love People. He taught me to Drive, and to always always fill up the ice trays! hahaha

Ken’s Dad taught him the Importance of Church and Loving God. Thank you for being a good role model for Ken as he is reflecting your fatherhood.

Here are some photos of our wonderful dads.

My Dad (Gabor) & Me wearing a traditional Hungarian Ball Gown

Our Family with Dad and LaDona at Christmas

My Step-Dad/Papa (Jeff) with My Brother Shawn, and Mom

Ken’s Dad (Rod) with his 2 Sons, and 2 of his Grandsons (Alec & Scout) after the Packer/Titan Pre-Season Game last Summer

To my Sweet Husband: Thank you Ken for teaching Alec all the important things in life, and how to Love Jesus, and other people. I know he will be a good husband one day, because he is watching you! You were born to be a dad, God has certainly placed His Father’s heart in you. I can’t wait until Addie Grace meets her daddy!

Here are some of my favorite photos of Alec and his amazing Dad!

Ken & Alec reading the Packer Report in 1997

Ken Teaching Alec to Shave in 1997

Ken teaching Alec to Shave (for real) in 2006!

Before the Packer/Titan Pre-Season Game 2007

Favorite Things Friday

Jon and Kate Plus Eight!

If you haven’t seen any episodes of “Jon and Kate plus Eight” on TLC, you don’t know what you are missing!

Their Story:

Jon and Kate Gosselin are 2 normal people who fell in love, married, then conceived twin girls. They decided to have another baby when the twins were 3. With some medical help from the doctors, and a miracle from God, she ended up pregnant with sextuplets. (It is worth seeing the show just for the opening credits to see her full-term belly!) WOW!!! This show on TLC shows brief snippets of their lives as they go through normal life raising their children. They are amazing parents who adore each of their kids. Kate has a strong personality, but is very loving and nurturing as well. (A good balance I think..especially considering her household!) Her house is always maintained (ok, she does have help at least every day), but they live very modestly and smart. Her husband Jon is a good balance for her. They both are very funny - they have a great sense of humor! I am absolutely in love with this family! Their kids are beautiful, too!

In a recent episode, I learned that they are Christians. They get these kiddos up and dressed every Sunday morning for church, and if you go on their family website, almost all the Music posted are Christian Artists!

Coming from a big family myself (my father is 1 of 14!), I am mesmerized with how they function daily, from: meals, traveling, laundry, bathing, one on one attention to activities outside of the home…They do it very well! Oh, the stories they will tell in the future…

Check out their website and read about their testimony (”Our Story”) on this amazing family: www.sixgosselins.com/Home.html

Adoption Forecast this Month

Our prediction for LID 2006-03-07

China has 44 days of dossiers to be processed before they get to your dossier. China currently processes about 6.3 days of dossiers each month.

Our best guess: 2009-01-23

Since China generally sends out referrals in a batch about once per month, your referral date could easily vary +/- one month depending on whether you just get included or just get missed in a particular batch.

In spite of the recent Earthquake, Preparation for the Olympics in August, and other things, they are still matching babies with waiting families. Yes. It is still very slow, but we are encouraged that they have continued the process, and have not shut any doors, as they could have used any of these reasons for not having done so. We are 44 LID’s closer to getting our sweet baby, and as each month passes, the LID’s decrease, and it is only a matter of time before we travel to China for “Gotcha Day”!

We will continue to pray that things will continue moving, and they will process even more days in the following months until they get to us! Thank you for your prayers for our sweet baby girl, and God’s perfect timing for her in our lives. We believe she will be with us soon, and we will continue to prepare for that most wonderful day.

Favorite Things Friday

“Hummingbird in Flight”

“Hummingbirds at Dusk”

“Hummingbird Over Water”

Charlotte Terrell Paintings

I’ve been to Art Museums where I find myself staring at people staring at paintings, bewildered at how they can look at a painting for so long. Are they taking a temporary break from a hurried life, napping with their eyes open? Or just pretending to be the curator, and doing whatever curators do? What am I missing? So I thought I would give it a go and take part of this “art museum” ritual, by walking up to a painting, tilting my head, propping my head ever so thoughtfully between my fingers, shifting my weight back and forth, and letting out a couple of “hmm”’s just to see what all the fuss was about, and I came up with well, …nothin’.

Until…

I was working in the gallery and a lady in paint covered clothing (she actually had on “painters pants”…imagine that, a painter wearing painter’s pants, with paint on them!) came in with an armful of art. As she approached me, I couldn’t help but catch a glimpse of theses pieces out of the corner of my eye. After introducing herself, she asked where she should put her art.

As I began taking them from her, one by one,I slowly began to feel my mouth opening wider, and my heart pounding heavier and faster, and the decibels in my appreciative, amazed voice grew louder with each painting that I took from her talented hands as I began to comment on each one. “Oh No…this is NOT how it’s done in the museum…these people look dignified and smart when admiring a piece of art…” Oh Well.

For the first time, I understood what all the fuss was about. Her paintings suck you in. The colors soothe the soul. The themes are delicate yet, strong.

I am happy for her when we sell one of her paintings from our gallery, but a part of me feels sad to see it go. Each one of her paintings has become a familiar friend to me.

One day I will own a Charlotte Terrell original. It is on my short list of accomplishments. Until then, I will continue to admire them until my friend finds a new lucky home in which to hang.

If you are interested in having a Charlotte Terrell painting grace the walls of your home, or if you want to just come and stare, or gawk, visit our Gallery: Pierce & Co. 615-385-5055

2005 - Alec On the Porch Swing

Very few things make me want to “pop” out of bed at 6:00 a.m…But in the summertime, when the sun is up early, I look forward to making a warm cup of coffee, and making my way out to the back porch swing, to spend some alone time before the day begins.

My grandmother introduced me to the Porch Swing from the very beginning! I remember sitting with her on the swing, that my grandfather had mounted for her, under a huge oak tree, in the cool of the summer evenings in the country. I don’t even remember our conversations. I just remember feeling the temperature change, feeling the breeze blow past my face as she kept the swing in motion, and the intense feeling of happiness and security I felt with my grandmother by my side. This is how my simple, hard-working grandmother would “wind-down” every night.

My swing was wonderful this morning as I swayed gently back and forth (smoothly I may add, since my husband oiled the chains!), coffee in hand, one foot propped up on the cushion, with the rest of me nestled in the pillows, I watched as a baby wren bounced under the feeder oblivious to my presence in his young innocence. As the morning breeze greeted me, I closed my eyes to hear the chickadees, finches, bluebirds, cardinals, jays, and other songbirds loudly proclaiming their presence singing to anyone who cared to listened, layered along with the quiet roar of a train in the background miles away. Occasionally I would hear the “hum” and chirp of a Hummingbird landing on the feeder for a quick drink. I watched as a bunny and 2 squirrels hopped across the field, and a cat on the hill hunting mice, and the fluttering of yellow butterflies as they land on the butterfly bush.

I love my moments on the swing. I’m prepared for my day, and it has made me thankful for my surroundings.