Jehovah-jirah

The God who provides.  That is who we serve.

I could spend hours telling you all about this last week, but I would rather spend that time snuggling my little girl {or sleeping}, so instead I will just share with you all the ways that the Lord has provided for our family to bring this tiny little miracle into our lives.

*At a time of great mourning for our family, God provided a source of rejoicing when we received a phone call on the way to my cousin's funeral telling us that we had been chosen by a birth mom to raise her baby girl.

*My sister {who allowed me to be in the delivery room for the arrival of both of her children} was able to come to Utah with us to help us ease into a family of four.

*We prayed for a smooth and easy delivery for our birth mom, and God provided exactly that.

*Brooke specifically prayed for a little baby {to decrease the chances of a c-section, which would have cost us more money}, and God provided a teeny, tiny, vaginally-delivered 5 pound, 7 ounce baby.

*When we realized at the wee hour of 6:15am that we were not all going to fit in one car and be able to get our luggage to the airport, one desperate phone call resulted in Brooke's husband Darren pulling into our driveway within minutes.

*Worrying that we would then not be able to fit in our rental car, God provided an unexpected and free upgrade from Enterprise to a brand new Expedition that offered us just enough space for the five of us and all our paraphernalia. 

*We randomly chose to stay at the Residence Inn, which turned out to be a wonderful home away from home, with an amazing staff that even brought us a gift for the baby... an adorable stuffed giraffe that sings lullabies.

*Part way through the week we found out that Darren had found a family in our church that owns a 7,000+ square foot luxury home in Park City that was offering for us to stay there for free, saving us about $600 in hotel fees.

There have been so many moments this week that have confirmed that Penelope is the baby that God has intended for our family... the reason that we have had to wait seven long years to meet her.

In case there was ever a doubt, let me tell you that certainly Jehovah-jirah exists.  Our God has  provided.

Penelope Susan Blakely

Wow... where to begin???

This has been such a crazy, crazy, amazing week.  After arriving home from Justin's funeral, we spent three days cleaning, painting, shopping and preparing to come to Utah to meet our baby.  The plan was for us to arrive in Utah on Thursday morning, have lunch with the birth mom and our agency reps, and then for the birth mom to check into the hospital on Friday morning at 7:00am to be induced.

Late Wednesday night as we finished packing for our 8:00am flight, we got a call from the agency.  The birth mom's water had broken and she was on her way to the hospital!

We tried so hard to sleep, but only managed about three and a half hours.  Leaving for the airport Thursday morning was the most chaotic experience we have ever had leaving for a trip.  I cannot even tell you what a disaster we left behind!!!  I didn't even make my bed. 

At 6:15am we realized that we were not all going to fit in my mom's car with the ridiculous parafenalia that we were taking along, so I frantically called Brooke's house to get another driver.  Darren was in our driveway in less than 3 minutes... thank goodness for good friends that live close!

We arrived at the airport in the nick of time, and as we checked in for our flight we received a text that our baby girl had been born.  At 8:12am our tiny, tiny, 5 pound, 7 ounce, 18 inch long little peanut was born.

We had to wait a whole day to meet her, but this afternoon we were finally introduced to our little Penelope Susan Blakely.

She is perfect.

We have had an absolutely perfect trip. {Other than trying to upload photos for this blog, everything has gone well.  I cannot get a single picture of Penelope and me to upload.  Urgh!}  God has provided in so many big and small ways, and we have gotten confirmation after confirmation that this is our special little girl and the reason we have had to wait seven years for her to join our family.  

We got to meet the birth mom today, and that was perfect too.  She is amazing, and we are eternally grateful for her strength and courage in bringing Penelope into this world.

There is so much more to tell, but I am exhausted, and I need to go to sleep so that I can wake up and go get my baby.

And Baby Makes 4

This week has been an emotional roller coaster.

On Wednesday afternoon as I packed to come to my cousin's funeral, I got a call from our adoption agency saying that they would like to present us to a birth mom.  This was the second such call that we have received.  We got the first one a few weeks ago, and after six long days we finally heard back that the birth mom had chosen another family.  So when I got this second call I quickly put it out of my mind, figuring that we wouldn't hear back right away, and preoccupied with the thought of heading to a funeral.

Thursday afternoon, when we were stopped in San Luis Obispo for lunch on our way to San Jose {yes, we know the way to San Jose... I couldn't resist} we got another call from the agency telling us that the birth mother had chosen us to be her baby's family.  *Did you hear that???*  Chosen us. 

So in a parking structure in San Luis Obispo we got to tell Beau that he was going to have a baby sister.

{My sister took these pictures with her camera phone, so excuse the quality.}

Friday morning, while I was at my cousin's funeral, I got a voice message letting us know that we need to be in Salt Lake City by Thursday because they are inducing on Friday.  THIS FRIDAY.

So {no April Fool's here} our baby girl will be joining our family in just six short days, on April 1st.

Can I tell you that we serve a God of miracles?

And how nice it was to be able to share such wonderful news with our entire family.  It was a little something to rejoice about at a time when there would normally not be too much rejoicing.

Thank you to all who have been praying for Justin's family.  Stephanie has been amazingly graceful and a picture of strength.  We got some good news that my Aunt Jodi seems to have a good prognosis.  They are still running some tests, but my cousin {her son that is a Physician} is hopeful and encouraging.  For those of you that are curious, Aunt Jodi has been diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma which is a cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow. 

Despite the circumstances, we have had a wonderful weekend with our family.  Today we spent the day watching old videos of past family reunions and making fun of ridiculously short shorts {on men}, big teeth and awkward stages. 

We are heading home tomorrow.  I am anticipating an overwhelming week of trying to prepare a nursery, make travel arrangements, and shop for baby essentials.  All amazingly good things that I have been looking forward to for a long time.

Please continue to pray for Stephanie and Aunt Jodi.

And please pray that everything will go smoothly with our adoption.  Pray for this birth mom... that she would be blessed with a smooth delivery and confidence that she is making the right decision for her baby.  Pray that papers would be signed and processed quickly so that we can come home soon as a family of four.

Updates on my Family

First of all, thank you so much to all who have been praying for our family.  It has been a difficult week, to say the least.

People keep asking me if I was close to my cousin.  Our family lives all over the country, and has my whole life.  We don't see each other nearly as often as we would like to.  But we are one of those families that, when we do get in the same room, it is like no time has passed.  I love each one of them dearly.  I have special memories of each one.  In fact, because our visits tend to be too few and too far between, we seem to cherish them even more.  Justin was my next closest cousin, age-wise {out of the 10 of us on my mom's side}.  To say I absolutely adored him is an understatement.  To say that when I was a little girl I maybe wished he wasn't my cousin so I could marry him {while inappropriate} is certainly true.  I loved him.  Yes, I was close to him.

It turns out that Justin did not die of a heart attack.  It was Sudden Cardiac Arrest, which means that his heart was healthy and he died basically instantaneously.  If you are interested in more information about SCA, my cousin Jared {Justin's brother and best friend} who is an ER Doctor has set up a blog: Updates on my Brother.

I will probably be fairly absent this week as we prepare to take our trip to San Jose for the funeral.

Please continue to pray for Stephanie and her babies, and for my Aunt Jodi who is currently in Chicago having testing done to determine just how far her cancer has progressed.   

Thank you again for your support!  I can't tell you how much each and every comment means to me.

Hug your Husband

My cousin Justin died yesterday.

There is just no way to sugar coat that awful truth.

{I am so grateful that we got to share one last dance.}

My favorite cousin, a young father of three with one on the way, an amazing man... died yesterday morning in bed with his wife from a heart attack.

As if that news wasn't devastating enough, we also found out yesterday that my aunt {Justin's mom} has cancer.

The last several weeks I have been working on writing a bible study on Infertility, mainly focusing on why God allows suffering.  I have been studying Job, and reading about his response when everything was stripped away from him... loss after devastating loss.  And yet his faith never crumbled.  Job praised the Lord in the midst of unthinkable loss.

“I came naked from my mother’s womb,
      and I will be naked when I leave.
   The Lord gave me what I had,
      and the Lord has taken it away.
   Praise the name of the Lord!”

Job 1:21-22

In times such as these, it would be so easy to blame God, to be angry with God, to curse, complain, weep, and wail at God, but today I am clinging to the promise that "in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." {Romans 8:28}

While my family is shocked by the news and events of yesterday, God is not surprised.  I find comfort and hope in that truth.

Please pray for our family at this time.

Pray for Justin's wife Stephanie, and for the health of her unborn baby.  I do not want to even begin to imagine the pain and sorrow she is experiencing.  Pray for an unexplainable peace and for strength to get her through these next few days of decision making and funeral preparation.

Pray for my Aunt Jodi who is not only facing the reality that she will never again be able to hold her baby in her arms, but is also facing the battle of her life, fighting against these horrible cancer cells that have invaded her body.  Pray for strength for her... strength to fight.

Pray for my Uncle Ed who has lost his son, and now needs to walk his wife through a painful journey of treatment.

Pray for Justin's brothers and sister, for peace at a time when their whole world seems to be crumbling.

And pray for those three beautiful boys that are facing a lifetime without their daddy. 

Now go hug your husband.  Hold on tight and don't let go.  Tell him how much you love him, and how important he is to you.  Remember that this lifetime is but a blip, and use this as a reminder that our focus should be on eternity.

A Little DIY Wednesday

My mind is full.  I am so engrossed in my Indie Biz 3.0 course, that I have 9 million thoughts all ramming into each other in my tiny little head.  {Really... I have a tiny head.  I think it is out of proportion with the rest of my body.  It's why my big curly hair works for me.}

Yesterday I spent some time designing what I want my market booth to look like this year, and in turn decided that I need a retro little desk that I can paint aqua.  {So if you have a retro little desk that you want to sell me, or if you see one on Craig's List or at a garage sale... give me a shout.}

This has inspired my DIY creativity.

So this morning, I would like to inspire yours.  Here are some fabulous DIY projects that I thought you might enjoy.  Please to enjoy...

I found this Office Lamp Makeover at Just a Girl:

I need this lamp for my office.  Oh!  Or maybe for my new market booth.  Hmmm.

I am currently obsessed with all things bird, so this Pretty Bird Wall Art from Blue Cricket Design is definitely calling my name:

I think this Picket Fence Headboard from Addicted to Decorating makes a fantastic quick and cheap room makeover.

Now, if aren't afraid to use tools, or you have a husband who will help you, or your brother-in-law has a woodworking workshop in his garage {all of which are true for me}, this Driftwood Candle Holder from Restoration House may be for you:

Of course, if you don't live near the ocean I think this would work just as well with any branch.

And finally {my very favorite project that I am now dying to try}, this fab-u-lous IKEA Rast Dresser Makover from Marcus Design:

Is that not the cutest thing you have ever seen???  She made two of these dressers for just under $125 people!  That's ridiculous.  I love it!

Who else is inspired to get a little messy???

Why I Shop at Nordstrom: Part 2

As promised {and before I begin my rant} I have the winners of last week's contest!  Thank you so much to all who participated.  I had no idea when I started this contest how much all your comments were going to bless my week.  It was wonderful to hear all the accolades for my friends.

Now, the winners.

The blog/shop owner that got the most comments was

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Lisa from Jomestic Doi!

{You may be confused because it looks, by numbers, like Paige actually got more comments, but there were several commenters there that deleted their first comment and wrote another one, which made it look like there were more than there were.  It was a very close call though... Paige ended up with 25 comments, Lisa with 28.}

Congrats Lisa.  I can't wait to send you your new calendar!

And as for the commenters... Amy had our winning comment with:

I read Lisa's blog regularly and what I love about it is the wonderful mix of fashion and style posts, handy kitchen and cooking recipes and information, family life posts and real sharing from her heart. I am fortunate to be an IRL friend of Lisa's and I think she's fabulous :). And when I made her refried beans, I am a rock star here at home!!

Amy, please contact me so I can tell you how to claim your prize!

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Okay, now on to my regularly scheduled rant. 

A couple of weeks ago I was at the mall and I had parked outside of Macy's {which I rarely do anymore because I hate even walking through that store}.  On my way back to my car I was walking through the Men's Shoe department and I noticed that their Converse were on sale, and Nathan had been asking me to get him a new pair.  I decided to try something different and get him the lace-less kind {since it takes him an inordinate amount of time to tie his laces}.  Well, it turns out that lace-less shoes are really only cute on kids.  Which meant... ugh!... I had to go back to Macy's to exchange them.

I arrived at Macy's on Friday morning already in a pretty foul mood because I was having a rough week.  Of course, there were no sales people to be found.  Anywhere.  I stood at the register for about 5 minutes waiting for someone to show up, thinking maybe they had gone to grab some shoes for the gentleman that was perusing the sale rack.  But when I finally asked him if he had seen any sales people, he said that he had not.  So I walked over to the back room door and yelled back there...  hello??? 

Of course, a salesman came right out.  What the heck was he doing back there???  Who leaves a sales floor empty for several minutes without at least peaking out to see if anyone is waiting?  Rule #1 of customer service, dude!

Anyway, I told him that I wanted to exchange the lace-less shoes for the one with laces.  Of course, they didn't have the laced ones in Nathan's size, so he told me he would ship them to me.  He processed my return {which took a while}, and started ringing up the purchase to be shipped.  Immediately I noticed that a $9.95 charge came up on the screen for shipping.  $9.95 on $39.99 shoes???  I said, I'm not going to have to pay shipping, am I?  {Thinking in my head that I know that my beloved Nordstrom would not charge me for shipping.}  Oh no, he promised.  There would be no shipping charges.

The next 10 minutes {I had now been there about 20} were spent spelling and re-spelling my address.  Finally, he was ready to take my payment.  Only, once again, the $9.95 for shipping showed up on the screen.  I thought I didn't have to pay for shipping... it is still showing the shipping charge.  Oh... he says, the shipping is only free if your total is over $50. 

Are you kidding me???  At this point, that man needed me to get out of Macy's as fast as possible.  I was not full of Christ's love in that moment.  Nope.  Not even close.

He gave me my card back and I informed him that this is why I shop at Nordstrom and I stormed out of the store and over to Nordstrom.

Nordstrom had the same shoes, for $64.95.  I asked the salesman {who immediately asked if I needed any help} if they would price match.  Sure! was his response.  They also didn't have Nathan's size, but guess what???  They shipped them to me for free!  And the entire process, from arriving in the department to completing my transaction took three minutes.  Three.  And you know what else?  I ended up buying three more pairs of shoes there. 

Nordstrom knows what they're doing.  One more reason why I shop there.

If you own your own business, think about these things.  What can you do to offer the very best customer service?  I follow the Nordstrom philosophy, and know excellent customer service always pays off in the long run.  I strive for people to one day say, that is why I shop at Much Ado About You.