Tuesday
Adoption Fundraiser - Thirty-One
Our first Adoption Fundraiser kicked off yesterday and runs through September 20th. Our friend Alison is a consultant for Thirty-One. She graciously offered to donate 25% of all retail sales to our adoption fund!! This is a great opportunity to get some early Christmas shopping done. Everyone needs a bag for something; a work bag, gym bag, beach bag, diaper bag, sports bag, a bag to put all your "junk" in. I mean who doesn't love a cute personalized bag? Don't shy away guys, your wife, mom, grandma, girlfriend, sister, or any other special lady in your life would LOVE a personalized bag from you!! The September SPECIAL is: For every $35 you spend you get an All Day Organizing Tote for just $15 (regularly $45)!!! That is an amazing deal, not only are you getting something cute but you are also donating to help bring our baby home to us. If you have any questions please feel free to contact either myself or Alison. Go to our Thirty-One Adoption Fundraiser to help us reach our goal.
How cute are these new fall prints? I adore all of them but my absolute favorite is the owls!! Nothings screams fall like cute little owls.
Here is a look at some of the new products that were just released in the new Fall 2014 catalog.
Thank you to everyone who has supported us by either sharing or donating to our fund!! It means so much to us that all of you believe in us!
Welcome to the world Lily Marie
On Monday August 25th our best friends welcomed their 1st baby, Lily Marie Morrell into the world. Babies aren't born often here in GTMO and to make it even more rare, Lily was born during our 1st hurricane of the year. It started out as a tropical storm but the storm was upgraded to a hurricane as it was passing over us. The power went out all over base and the hospital was running on a generator.
She is absolutely beautiful and perfect in every way!! She weighed 8lbs 6oz and was 19.25 inches long.
We have a great community here on base, whenever there is a new baby born the community gets together and schedules dates to take them a meal. Our scheduled date was Monday August 25th which is the day this little beauty decided to make her way into the world. So we rescheduled for Saturday so they could get home and settled. We made Beef Enchiladas, Strawberry Cheesecake Muffins, and Brownies!!
We can't wait to watch this little beauty grow!! We are definitely proud to be her GTMO Auntie and Uncle.
Friday
Help Us Grow Our Family
I have to admit this is scary, exciting but scary. Adoption has always been on our hearts, even when we were hopeful of having a biological child. We always knew that we wanted to adopt and give a child a life that they otherwise might not have. So here we are opening up our lives and our journey to all of you. We hope that you will join forces with us and help us make our dream come true. We are still in the very early stages of the adoption process. Adoption is not cheap, the road to adoption is full of ups and downs and filled with many challenges, adoption is pouring your heart and soul into something and BELIEVING it will happen, but, most of all adoption is LOVE. We ask that you consider helping us spread the word throughout our journey. We ask that you bare with us and be understanding of our consistent need to raise money. We have never asked for money from anyone and we would not be asking now if it was not needed. Although the goal amount may seem incredibly high to you, it is actually only half of what a domestic adoption from a legal adoption agency in the United States costs. If we can raise even half the cost it would be a tremendous help, we are hoping to start a family without going into a substantial amount of debt. We have been brain storming ways to fund-raise and have come up with a few ideas. If you are looking for a way to help aside from making a donation you could consider some of these ideas:
*Bake Sale - Get your kids involved, they LOVE to help. Make it a family fun event. Bake some cupcakes, cookies, muffins, cinnamon rolls, brownies, ect and then package them up individually. Consider selling them for a donation at your local sporting events, churches, groups, organizations.
*Candy Bar Sale - Consider purchasing a package of candy bars from a bulk store (Sam's Club or Costco) and then selling them for donations. This is great to do in the office!! Everyone is always looking for a mid afternoon pick me up.
*Lemon-aide Stand - Again the kids LOVE this type of thing.
*Pie Sale - The holiday season is quickly approaching. Consider baking pies and selling them for a donation. Let's face it, everyone is so busy this time of year. Friends and Family will love you for doing the work for them. All they have to do is make a donation and they walk away with a delicious pie and feel good about donating to an amazing cause.
*Frozen cookie dough - This is another great fundraiser for the holiday season. Do you love to bake but don't want to put on weight by eating all of those delicious treats? Consider putting your love for baking to good use by making cookie dough. Here is an example of what can be done:
For $3.50, you can buy a pound of peanut butter cookie dough or a pound of snickerdoodle cookie dough(or whatever you choose to make). If you buy two pounds of either kind (or one of each), it's just $6.00
*Bake Sale - Get your kids involved, they LOVE to help. Make it a family fun event. Bake some cupcakes, cookies, muffins, cinnamon rolls, brownies, ect and then package them up individually. Consider selling them for a donation at your local sporting events, churches, groups, organizations.
*Candy Bar Sale - Consider purchasing a package of candy bars from a bulk store (Sam's Club or Costco) and then selling them for donations. This is great to do in the office!! Everyone is always looking for a mid afternoon pick me up.
*Lemon-aide Stand - Again the kids LOVE this type of thing.
*Pie Sale - The holiday season is quickly approaching. Consider baking pies and selling them for a donation. Let's face it, everyone is so busy this time of year. Friends and Family will love you for doing the work for them. All they have to do is make a donation and they walk away with a delicious pie and feel good about donating to an amazing cause.
*Frozen cookie dough - This is another great fundraiser for the holiday season. Do you love to bake but don't want to put on weight by eating all of those delicious treats? Consider putting your love for baking to good use by making cookie dough. Here is an example of what can be done:
For $3.50, you can buy a pound of peanut butter cookie dough or a pound of snickerdoodle cookie dough(or whatever you choose to make). If you buy two pounds of either kind (or one of each), it's just $6.00
For $4.00, you can buy a pound of chocolate chip cookie dough or a pound of oatmeal cookie dough ( or whatever you choose to make). If you buy two pounds of either (or one of each) , its just $7.00
for $4.50, you can buy a pound of chocolate chip with nuts or a pound of oatmeal with nuts. And guess what? If you buy two pounds of either kind (or one of each), its just $8.00
*Do you know someone who is crafty and makes things? Consider asking them to put their creativity to good use and donate items to be auctioned off.
*Do you have a bunch of things cluttering up your home? Consider having a yard sale or adding items to craigslist and then donate the money to our fund. If you live in GTMO please feel free to drop any items at Villimar 2159A, we plan to have a yard-sale in the future.
*Are you or anyone you know a consultant for a company? (Thirty-One, Jamberry, Scentsy, Stampin up) Consider allowing us to host an online party and then donating a percent of the profits made to our adoption fund.
*Photography Session - Are you or anyone you know a photographer? Consider hosting a mini session event or just a general photo shoot and donate all or a portion of the fee to our adoption fund.
We are open to any and all ideas, if you think of anything please let us know!! Every penny counts. We hope you will follow along as we post updates on our family blog throughout our journey. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all your love, support, and encouragement!! It means the world to us, YOU are our biggest motivators!!
5 on Friday Volume: 1
I am linking for my first ever 5 on Friday post! Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I am busy planning a huge dinner for about 15-20 of Tom's military co-workers
1. Thanksgiving and Lions football go hand and hand for this family!!!
2. This will be my 1st year making a huge dinner on my own. Every year in the past we have always gone home on leave for Thanksgiving. I have tried to stay organized and plan ahead as much as possible. I created a menu, collected recipes, and made a grocery list. I am hoping our 1st Thanksgiving in our own home looks as delicious as this!!
3. Our Menu
4.
I plan to give this Raspberry Wine Spritzer a try!!
Here is the recipe:
Combine Equal parts Barefoot Moscato White Wine(chilled)
and Diet Sprite (chilled)
add frozen red raspberries
Serve Chilled
5. Thanksgiving is going to be so different not celebrating with your family. I am so thankful we have such awesome friends here with us to celebrate with. One things is for sure, we will certainly be missing our family.
Thursday
Random facts about me
1. I dont have any of my wisdom teeth, not because they were removed but because they never grew in
2. In the past 5 years I have moved 5 times.....life of a navy wife
3. I went to school for medical assisting and 2 months before graduating we found out we were moving out of the country.
4. I have a starbucks frappa addiction, we have a coffee shop here on the island that "sells" starbucks......I...t is not the same!!
5. I didnt get my drivers license until i was 18
6. The first time my husband told me he loved me was on new years eve, he wrote I love you in the snow
7. I hate driving.....especially on bridges, at night, and in traffic
8. I am a planner, i have lists for EVERYTHING
9. Our last name means Dairy or yogurt in Arabic.....we learned this last year while my husband was stationed in Bahrain.
10. I have lived in 3 different states and 2 countries
11. I dont know how to drive a stick shift
12. i have fractured both of my ankles
13. I have an eye sensitivity to lights
14. I have never been to Disney
15. I survied a hurricane, earthquake, and tornado........all in the same week
16. I am obsessed with decorating for every holiday
17. The first thing I do in the morning when I come downstairs is open the blinds......there is nothing like the sun pouring in to start the day off
18. I get hives every single day.....I really need to get an allergy test
19. I am absolutely horrible at sending things in the mail. I will buy cards, birthday presents, write checks, ect. I will even get it all packaged up and then it will sit for days/weeks/months. Thank goodness for online bill paying
20. There is a 5 year 4 month and 3 day age gap between my husband and I.
21. My family did not "like" my husband when we first started dating. They thought he was way to young for me. They quickly realized he was AWESOME and now sometimes I think they love him more than me
22. I have an unhealthy love for our dog, I worry about him constantly. I talk to him like a person and treat him like he is my baby.
23. I taught my husband how to dive into a pool
24. One of my biggest fears is that by the time we finally are blessed with a baby our parents will be to old to enjoy them.
25. My mom is the strongest most beautiful person I know. Every day I see myself becoming a little more like her and I couldnt be prouder.
2. In the past 5 years I have moved 5 times.....life of a navy wife
3. I went to school for medical assisting and 2 months before graduating we found out we were moving out of the country.
4. I have a starbucks frappa addiction, we have a coffee shop here on the island that "sells" starbucks......I...t is not the same!!
5. I didnt get my drivers license until i was 18
6. The first time my husband told me he loved me was on new years eve, he wrote I love you in the snow
7. I hate driving.....especially on bridges, at night, and in traffic
8. I am a planner, i have lists for EVERYTHING
9. Our last name means Dairy or yogurt in Arabic.....we learned this last year while my husband was stationed in Bahrain.
10. I have lived in 3 different states and 2 countries
11. I dont know how to drive a stick shift
12. i have fractured both of my ankles
13. I have an eye sensitivity to lights
14. I have never been to Disney
15. I survied a hurricane, earthquake, and tornado........all in the same week
16. I am obsessed with decorating for every holiday
17. The first thing I do in the morning when I come downstairs is open the blinds......there is nothing like the sun pouring in to start the day off
18. I get hives every single day.....I really need to get an allergy test
19. I am absolutely horrible at sending things in the mail. I will buy cards, birthday presents, write checks, ect. I will even get it all packaged up and then it will sit for days/weeks/months. Thank goodness for online bill paying
20. There is a 5 year 4 month and 3 day age gap between my husband and I.
21. My family did not "like" my husband when we first started dating. They thought he was way to young for me. They quickly realized he was AWESOME and now sometimes I think they love him more than me
22. I have an unhealthy love for our dog, I worry about him constantly. I talk to him like a person and treat him like he is my baby.
23. I taught my husband how to dive into a pool
24. One of my biggest fears is that by the time we finally are blessed with a baby our parents will be to old to enjoy them.
25. My mom is the strongest most beautiful person I know. Every day I see myself becoming a little more like her and I couldnt be prouder.
Monday
Halloween 2013
Halloween weekend was a blast. I got in the spirit by wearing my skull tank top, I thought it was pretty festive!
I made Halloween swirled sugar cookie for Tom's section at work.
Halloween day I decided I was going to try to wear a scarf. I have so many cute scarves that I haven't been able to wear here because its just to hot for something wrapped around your neck. I gave it a try on Halloween and 30 minutes in I ditched it. It's just way to hot for scarves here.
Tom had to work on Halloween from 6am-6pm. Trick or Treating on the island was scheduled from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. I had invites to tag along with some of our friends who have kids and to pass out candy with friends who live in a smaller neighborhood. I decided I wanted to stay home and see how many trick or treaters we would get. I dressed up at Batman and Dakota dressed up at a little pumpkin.
It was about 6:45pm before our first trick or treaters arrived. We live to far up the mountain for anyone to want to trick or treat at our house. Our favorite kids did stop by to visit and load up on candy. Dakota was over the moon excited to have kids to play with.
Of course I couldn't resist a fall photo shoot with our little pumpkin. He absolutely HATED that stem on his head.
The only trick or treaters we got all night. We spent 15 dollars on 2 huge bags of candy and we only got 5 trick or treaters. Pebbles, Ariel, a pirate, Belle, and a superhero!!!
When Lindsey and Lionel brought the kids over so we could see them in their costumes we had to take a minute to snap a picture of the two of us all dressed up.
The Saturday after Halloween was the base MWR costume party. We dressed up as Batman and Robin. Our costumes were last minute things I threw together so we could go to the party. I think they turned out pretty cute considering I didn't spend a single cent on them.
We headed over to Brittany and Andrew's house for a few drinks and then headed out to the party. Our plan was to take the bus so we didn't have to worry about drinking and driving.
As we were walking to the bus stop we watched the bus drive past. We had no idea when the next bus was scheduled to come so we just started walking. It's a few mile walk to the Windjammer where the party was happening. We looked pretty funny walking down the road in costumes. We were all sweating to death so we decided it was time to try to hitch a ride the rest of the way. We finally flagged down a van, we all climbed in and arrived at our destination in one piece (only in GTMO can you safely hitchhike).
We danced the night away, laughed, and tried to keep the creepers off from us. It was such a fun night. When it was time to go home we had to figure out which bus would take us to our housing neighborhood. We had to wait about 45 minutes for the bus to finally arrive and then walk about half a mile from the bus stop to our house. It was an awesome night, my most favorite Halloween to date!!
I wore my Halloween spider socks to Step class the day before Halloween.
I made Halloween swirled sugar cookie for Tom's section at work.
.
I missed all of these cute little trick or treaters more than anything!!! Thank goodness for Facebook updates. I was beyond excited to see their sweet faces flooding my news feed Halloween morning.
Halloween day I decided I was going to try to wear a scarf. I have so many cute scarves that I haven't been able to wear here because its just to hot for something wrapped around your neck. I gave it a try on Halloween and 30 minutes in I ditched it. It's just way to hot for scarves here.
Tom had to work on Halloween from 6am-6pm. Trick or Treating on the island was scheduled from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. I had invites to tag along with some of our friends who have kids and to pass out candy with friends who live in a smaller neighborhood. I decided I wanted to stay home and see how many trick or treaters we would get. I dressed up at Batman and Dakota dressed up at a little pumpkin.
It was about 6:45pm before our first trick or treaters arrived. We live to far up the mountain for anyone to want to trick or treat at our house. Our favorite kids did stop by to visit and load up on candy. Dakota was over the moon excited to have kids to play with.
Of course I couldn't resist a fall photo shoot with our little pumpkin. He absolutely HATED that stem on his head.
The only trick or treaters we got all night. We spent 15 dollars on 2 huge bags of candy and we only got 5 trick or treaters. Pebbles, Ariel, a pirate, Belle, and a superhero!!!
When Lindsey and Lionel brought the kids over so we could see them in their costumes we had to take a minute to snap a picture of the two of us all dressed up.
The Saturday after Halloween was the base MWR costume party. We dressed up as Batman and Robin. Our costumes were last minute things I threw together so we could go to the party. I think they turned out pretty cute considering I didn't spend a single cent on them.
We headed over to Brittany and Andrew's house for a few drinks and then headed out to the party. Our plan was to take the bus so we didn't have to worry about drinking and driving.
As we were walking to the bus stop we watched the bus drive past. We had no idea when the next bus was scheduled to come so we just started walking. It's a few mile walk to the Windjammer where the party was happening. We looked pretty funny walking down the road in costumes. We were all sweating to death so we decided it was time to try to hitch a ride the rest of the way. We finally flagged down a van, we all climbed in and arrived at our destination in one piece (only in GTMO can you safely hitchhike).
 |
We danced the night away, laughed, and tried to keep the creepers off from us. It was such a fun night. When it was time to go home we had to figure out which bus would take us to our housing neighborhood. We had to wait about 45 minutes for the bus to finally arrive and then walk about half a mile from the bus stop to our house. It was an awesome night, my most favorite Halloween to date!!
Pumpkin Carving
We had some of our most favorite people over for an impromptu dinner and then pumpkin carving. I first met Brittany through a mutual friend, she told me that Brittany and Andrew would be moving to the island and that Andrew was also an MA like Tom. I was so excited to learn of a MA wife coming to the island!!! There aren't to many of us. I messaged Brittany on Facebook and we hit it off right away. They arrived here in GTMO September 21st, we met them at Ferry Landing to welcome them aboard and later that night they came to celebrate my 30th birthday!! We became island besties very quickly!! We all just get along great. The guys work the same days of the week, although, Tom is working days and Andrew is working nights we still get to hang out together on their off days!! We have had many double dates with them. They are such an awesome couple and we value their friendship very much.
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