Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Help Me Stock my Kitchen!!!

I'm having a Pampered Chef Party on September 17th to help stock my kitchen full of great cooking products. If you live in the Nashville area, please come by and shop a while. However I realize most of you do not live near me, but you can still shop! Go here and click on "shop online"...then type in my name as the host (Amy Maze) and shop away! Everything you order will be delivered to your home and I will receive credit for it at my party! There are some great specials like all the stoneware pieces are 20% off and there are some wonderful new products for fall. So go ahead and get shopping! My goal is to get a set of this:

and this...

so I really need a lot of orders! So go get a cup of coffee and browse the online catalog and get shopping. Don't forget to put my name as the host of the party so I can get credit for your order! Please leave me a comment if you would like to come to my party or if you order something online. Thanks so much!!

30 months paper pregnant


Yesterday marked my 30th month of paper pregnancy...please pray for a speed up in China!
LID 2/25/2007

Thursday, August 20, 2009

looking forward to fall...

these are just a few little things i'm lookin' forward to decorating my home with this fall! i know, i know...the summer heat is still upon us and fall doesn't officially begin to mid september but i've already got my creative juices a flowin'! my summer decor is coming down and fall decor is about to go up!




but, before this goes up i am planning a birthday dinner for my sister:) and a baby shower for one of my besties at the end of august! i'm going to spend the weekend working in my front yard (i did my side yard this weekend). i've got a lot of weeding to do and some planting/digging/ and replanting! should be fun!

the first week of school is almost to a close and i think i've got a pretty good group of kiddos! there are always exceptions to the rule, but i think i'm going to like them!

Saturday, August 15, 2009

i've been thinking

i've been in my house for about a month now and i'm still adjusting to change and living alone. i love my house, my neighbors, being the sole decision maker (sometimes), and most things but i cannot get used to not having someone to turn around and talk to. not just anyone, mainly i'm missing mom. as i've mentioned before, we have a special relationship. we've been each other's support for each other ever since my dad passed away nearly 17 years ago. that is a long time to build this relationship we have with each other. the good news is...we are only 3 miles apart. the bad news is...i feel like i've abandoned her when she may have needed me most. i don't think either of us realized how much we leaned on each other for support. she said she hasn't sat in the den to watch tv since i left...it's just not as fun watching tv alone. i understand. i also overheard her tell someone it's as if one more "brick" in her foundation of life has been removed...i understand that too. it's so shaky, unsettling, unnerving to be alone and have the weight of everything resting on your shoulders. i guess we were more of a support to one another than we knew.

all this has gotten me to thinking (A LOT) about adopting and what it will be like for Molly. i can't imagine the sadness, grief, and adjustment she will feel when I adopt her and move her thousands of miles from the only home she's ever known. i've said before, i've never moved. this 3 mile journey to home ownership is probably the farthest I'll ever be able to handle. if nothing else this could have been the sole purpose in my move...to be able to sympathize with my daughter in a real way. although i would never compare moving from china to Nashville, tn to my 3 mile trek...it has given me something to consider.

don't worry...i'll be ok! i haven't even cried about it since my first two days. school has started and my regular work routine has begun. it is nice to be able to come into a quiet house and not to walk through a daycare of 12 kids! but, i GREATLY miss my welcome that i had when i arrived home to mom's house from the kids...especially eddie and maddie. they ran to me everyday and had to go inside to the house with me until their parents came. and in the mornings they greeted me and usually eddie didn't want me to leave for school.

but, i'm putting on my big girl panties and am growing up! enough of all this whining!! i'm so thankful to be able to have bought a house in this market. and i'm very thankful i have a stable job! Praise Jesus!

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Maddie's first trip to the ER



I wasn't there...but woke up this morning to find these two (adorable) pictures on my email. Apparently Madison was jumping on a chair last night and fell and hit her head. She only needed two staples and Ambre said she was so brave at the hospital. I'm amazed she didn't cry, but Ambre said she was good the whole time. When they were in the waiting room she said...."mommy, I wonder what their going to do to me?" so cute! I'm so thankful it was nothing more!

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Coincidence or God wink?

I've had some amazing moments of confirmation in my life assuring myself that I was on the right path at any given time. For instance when I graduated from college and needed a teaching job a close friend at church knew a local elementary principal and put in a good word for me. I LOVED teaching at that school during my first three years of my career. Such a good thing, a coincidence, a God wink, a confirmation that I was on the right path in life!

Then again, when I wanted to get into my current school my mom had a friend who knew the principal and put in another "good word" for me! I cannot tell you how much I love, respect, and admire my principal! He is an awesome person. Another God wink in my life! (fyi...I have gotten jobs without a friendly phone call...but it helps to have an "in" sometimes too!)

Then, when I decided to pursue adoption as a single parent I was SURE I should get the paperwork in to my agency in 2006 but knew I was not ready to financially cover everything. I had just turned 30, the age of "acceptance" in the adoption community. I had prayed about adoption for years and always said...if I'm still single at 30... So I felt God leading me to go forward with it in faith and let him deal with the rest even though I couldn't understand his timing. Later that year we heard that China would no longer be accepting applications from singles, but I was already "in". Coincidence, God wink, or confirmation that I was on the right path?!

After my "log in date" with China I began to journey down this hurry up and wait train called adoption...some days are smoother than others, but God continually sends things my way to confirm I'm going to be ok. I was shopping one day and overheard a woman speak of adoption. I introduced myself and we discovered we were both single, adoptive, teacher moms and had chosen very similar names for our daughters...(Holly H. and Molly M.) because since we were both teachers we both had this odd thing about the first letters of their first name and last name matching. I can't explain why, but it's just my thing...evidently hers to!

When I've been reaquainted with old friends from the past, or someone calls or emails right when I was thinking about them...God winks!

When I moved into my (new) house my sweet neighbors gave me a book called When God Winks
and it's about things in life NOT being just coincidence but being little signs that God is looking down on us and "winking" as if to say stay the course, good job, you are in the right direction. Inside the book my neighbors wrote..."Amy, you are our God wink! welcome to the neighborhood". Wow! Talk about confirmation! I read that on one of the first days after my move...you remember when I was crying for 2 days straights and an emotional wreck! I read a few pages of the book and could actually breathe a little easier. God was winking at me!

I've had a few people wink at me in my lifetime. My dad and grandpa probably winked at me the most in my life. Little Eddie has learned to wink (sort of) and it absolutely cracks me up! But, I've had a few winks from other guys too...yes, real guys that are not related to me! Heartfelt winks tend to make a girls heart go pitter pat! Guys (if there are any guys reading my blog...) wink at the woman in your life and see where it gets you! I'm telling you it's a great feeling to have someone wink at you for the right reasons! But to think that God, in all his glory would care about even me enough to wink at me is amazing! Even when I do wrong on a daily basis and when I stray away from his word, he is faithful and just to never give up on me! He is an amazing God and I'm so glad I serve him.

Tonight mom and I attended an adoption gala/benefit for my agency. It was a great night of worship as we listened to contemporary Christian artist Britt Nicole and heard several adoptive parents speak. Again I felt confirmation, a God wink, assurance that I'm on the right path. Thank you, Jesus!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Julie and Julia








You have to go see this movie, it is adorable! It combines my two favorite loves...cooking and blogging. I want to buy Julia Child's cookbook and Julie Powell's book right now and read more. It was a great ending to my carefree summer. Monday begins my inservice days and school starts on Friday...aaahhhh the working life again:(

Monday, August 3, 2009

The Details...

Welcome to my home...grab a cup of joe or a glass of sweet tea and join me as I show you a few of my favorite things. You may have seen some of it before, but it's all been freshly cleaned and set up for your viewing pleasure. Think of it as an open house in blogland, come on in and sit a spell!

I've got some new things to show you all! Finally I found a great couch and chair for my living room! I also purchased a white stove and microwave to replace the black dinosaurs that were in my kitchen! They look soooo much better. There is still (always) A LOT to do, but for now I am stopping to enjoy my new digs for a while. I constantly keep a running list of projects and shopping to do, but for now I'm turning my focus onto the start of school. So browse my pics here and enjoy yourself!




































Manicures with Maddie



I brought Madison over for a manicure one afternoon. We went shopping for the perfect shade of pink nail polish first, then a perfect after manicure treat...chocolate ice cream! What a great fun "Amy date"! (she calls special treats "dates" with whatever person she's with...so it could be mommy dates, daddy dates, etc.)
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