Washington National Cathedral

We spent one morning at the Washington National Cathedral. My mom recommend it, and we were not disappointed. It is the second largest Cathedral in the United States and sixth in the world. It was built by HAND. Just Fascinating! It is a house of prayer for all religions in our country. It was damaged by the earthquake this past summer, thus the net at the top in the second picture.  There are so many elements in this church, you could look around for hours. There is a stain glass with a solar system and has a moon rock in it. There are gargoyles carved in the top and one is darth vador(a student won a contest to draw a gargoyle).We went to the 7th floor where we could look at the city below. There is so much more that was so neat about this place of worship. Enjoy the pictures and I have included a hymn that was in my prayer book this morning that I really touched me. 

A Prayer

Inside, net at the top

I'm the little blue dot in the center door to the right. Hows that for feeling small?

View from the Street

J in the tunnel on seventh floor taking pictures

Us in the top of the cathedral recording the moment with our iPhone.

"All who seek to know and serve God,
See the past and understand;
None who hoped were disappointed;
Rich the blessings from God's hand!
None who waited were forsaken;
None who trusted were deceived.
All who asked his gracious pardon,
Gentle mercy have received.
If our God does not condemn us,
Who against us then will stand?
Will the Lord who died for sinners,
Who is now at God's right hand?
What could take us from Christ Jesus?
Neither hunger, sword, nor pain!
Neither life nor death shall part us
From the Lamb for us once slain."
Hymn from Magnificat, Author unknown. 

Moonlight Tour of DC

We took a moonlight tour of DC.  The monuments we saw were so moving and seeing them illuminated at night was incredible. I have posted a few pictures to give you a glimpse of what we saw.

Home from DC

We arrived home late last night from our trip to Washington, DC. This was a much needed getaway after a very tumultuous month at work in January. We had a wonderful time visiting many sites, and also visiting my BFF family and newest addition,  baby girl M. I have to say that 2 year old A was the show stopper. Our hotel was the Lorien in old town Alexandria, Virginia. It was a great hotel in a great, historical location. It was a short train ride to the heart of our nations capitol. I was moved and inspired by many of the sites and memorials. Over the next week I hope to post pictures and some of my commentary of a deeper meaning. I found a Lenten meditation book that I plan to use to resume my daily blogging during lent. I wish I had another week to visit, and if we had stayed a day longer we may have been iced in! Today, I am back to reality which means lots of laundry and no groceries. Good thing I have some great memories to make the chores worth it!

Some Photos, I will post more later.

King Street in Alexandria. Our hotel was on this street.

King Street dead ends into a Wharf on the Potomac River.

Paige and stroller at the wharf. The land on horizon is Maryland.

Tea Party with A

A, Baby M, and Me

J at Wharf acting silly after a nice dinner of "famous Maryland lump Crab Cakes" !

Christ Church, George Washington's Church, not far from our hotel.

More A, she is just so Cute, and Sweet!

Christmas in My Hometown

This is what christmas is all about....kettle corn, hot chocolate, shopping, music, and time spent with good friends in my small town.

Christmas Kitty

Hot Chocolate

Letters to Santa

Silliness

Friends

Kettle Corn sure is Yummy

Red Balloons and Garland

Christmas Card Photo that won't be sent in time

BFF

Birthday Week

Well, another week, and I am another year older. It's funny how birthdays make you look back reflect on your accomplishments, reflect on what's missing, and hope for next year.  I had a nice lunch with my friend M, and my friend J and K baked me a pie. J, who was in Key Largo for work, sent me a picture of a key lime pie!(husbands, gotta love em). Nature gave me a few more gray hairs on the side(seriously, overnight), and I now have an appointment with my hair dresser next week! My favorite gift was a hug and smile from my 4 year old friend K.L.   The love and joy of a child is priceless. I did work on my birthday, and I have decided I will never do that again!

My birthday week was very eventful. We started at the tapestry conference in Irving. It is this giant free adoption conference. It was incredible. We reconnected with friends from our adoption orientation. Some who are now parents, and some who are still waiting. I learned so much great information about raising an adopted child. I'm so excited, it is so hard to wait and be hopeful. I will say that every birthday you celebrate while waiting definitely brings up feelings of infertility loss, adoption loss, and time spent waiting. I guess its just one of those things you have to power through and focus on the positives. We did find out some friends matched with a birthmom and we are so happy for them. They are going to be incredible parents and please remember them in your prayers as the time from match to birth to bringing the baby home is exciting, stressful, and exhausting. (sounds like all the description of parenthood I have heard!)

Monday of my birthday week was Halloween. This year I helped my friend with a Trunk or Treat at her church. We did a cat and the hat theme and kids had to do games based on the book to get a prize. The little ones loved it! J and I also had fun planning and putting on our trunk. I have attached the picture but I am warning you, I look very scary. I tried to tease my hair and paint it blue, I'm surprised the kids were not to afraid to approach our trunk! I made both the cat and thing costume. J was a great Cat in the Hat, the kids loved her! This was one of the highlights of my week!

I will wrap up my birthday week by telling you about a gift my parents got me for my birthday. It was a cross necklace that my mom ordered from Washington National Cathedral. I love it. It's funny how I get stressed or sad during the day and I find myself subconsciously touching the cross on my neck. I have thought about it often. I think this is God trying to remind me to have faith, remember what Jesus sacrificed for me. God has a plan for me and it is his timing not mine. Its subtle, but it is a real reminder. 

First 9 patch

I attended my first quilting bee this week. It was interesting to say the least. I learned a lot and attempted a patch this weekend. This is it. I'm proud it's finished, but oh it is bad!! The squares are uneven, the grain is not consistent with each patch, but you know what, I did all by myself! I conquered the sewing machine, and won. Meeting some women who have been quilting for decades is pretty amazing. There are lots tricks and patience is required. I really want to create something beautiful, but I guess I have to start with baby steps. Its funny how this applies to life. How often to I want the "beautiful, finished product", but don't want to put the time and hard work required to get that product. I feel my journey to become a parent is like this 9 patch. I want it to be perfect now! God is working on me, he wants me to practice, to be patient, and not give up! That is what I will have to do with my adoption journey (and quilting) if I want to eventually have the end products I dream of!

Sunrises and Stuff

You haven't seen me in awhile, but only because life has gotten in the way. I have been so tired from work that all I want to do when I get home is take a break. I don't want to even look at a computer! I love October. If I had to pick a favorite month this would be it. The weather starts to change, I celebrate my wedding anniversary, youth group at church gets in full swing, Rangers baseball in post-season play, and the smells of pumpkin and apples permeate my house. 

One topic I have blogged about, is what waiting families(including us) should do during our adoption wait. It seems like be the end of this journey to parenthood I'm going to be very well rounded(or have lots of new projects that will never get finished!). Newest activity up is quilting! I plan to start a beginning quilting bee. When the nice woman called to give me options for which bee to pick, I said "I would like the one for people who don't know how to sew!" She paused, but then found a place for me. What a nice lady!  I have a sewing machine from when I was gung-ho about this same activity about 7 years ago. Machine is still in the box and I dusted it off this weekend. I have found that I have the same road block, and that is, HOW DO I USE THIS SEWING MACHINE?  I will update you as this journey continues, lets hope I can figure this out!

Another activity I started about 3 months ago is Crossfit. I get up and go to this workout class at 630 almost every weekday and have really started to enjoy it. For those of you who are looking for a great workout that really improves strength, and doesn't take very long I would recommend this. I will be fit and ready to chase a toddler around when we get to that stage!  Getting up that early can be difficult, but the reward is great! For instance today, the sunrise was spectacular. What a great time to pray and reflect! 

I have included something I saw that made me laugh! Hope you laugh today too...

Just Peachy

Today J and I attended the annual Parker County Peach festival. It was HOT and there were lots of peaches, and peach flavored goodies like ice cream, tea, cobbler, etc.. Despite the excruciating heat we had a good time. I was very excited to find a handmade quilt courtesy of the Davis family of Waxahachie. I have wanted a quilt for quite some time but have never found the right one. Today I found the right one! We also found a pedestal bird bath. J has really enjoyed creating a bird haven in our back yard. The only thing missing was a bird bath. This year, due to the drought we are seeing incredible activity at our feeders. It is amazing how peaceful it is to sit and watch birds..Who knew? Enjoy the pictures from today!

Isn't This a Hoot!

I was playing with the photo booth app on J's computer and snapped this gem of him playing Rock Band!  I couldn't stop laughing! I used shrink mode to create this silly picture. Enjoy!

All About Mi Amor

This week began the celebration of the birth of my husband! The week began with a nice dinner out with my parent's where we also celebrated father's day and Mom's birthday. The next big event for J's birthday was  a cool gift from our friend who visited legoland for his own birthday. He thought of J and brought him a Boba Fett Lego key chain. Boba Fett now resides at J's work cubicle where it has been admired by many!

 Yesterday, the actual birthday happened! We both had to work but we did a little celebrating once we got home. J opened his gift and was very happy to get the camera he has been wanting for 2 years now. This camera should cover me for  at least 2 birthdays, 2 Christmas's, and I think I can throw in an anniversary! Enjoy the pictures of him opening. Those are all his real expressions! J is going to pick a photography project and hopefully I will be able to post some of his pictures on my blog in the future.

After J looked at his gift and set the battery up to charge we went to Dinner. We came home and topped off the night with some chocolate dipped cake balls(thanks groupon!). 

Happy Birthday, J! Love you!