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Sunday, August 30, 2009

God is Good!

I just have to say that it is incredible how God works. It seems that when you least expect it He sneaks up on you and has this amazing plan all in order that you could not have put together better if you tried! That being said, our plan is still in the works. But, there are so many things that are coming together and surprizing details that 'pop' up....it is AMAZING~which seems like a terrible understatement at this point.

But with all of this we need to pray and then pray some more. There are many details that are lining up, but still many details that need to be worked out and we covet your prayers. God knows the answer, and I tend to get impatient...but His timing is the best and that is what needs to come around!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Customer Service

So this is a big *rant* post...customer service to me is worth much more than a good deal. Unfortunately today, with all of these big corporate owned businesses customer service isn't a huge need for the company...they will get your money whether they are good to you or not and if they don't get my money they will get someone else's!

We had a terrible experience with AWFUL customer service at a hotel recently that just makes me sad to think that we live in this country with this kind of people 'serving' us!

We stayed at a hotel in a tourist town and received a good price for a nice room...nice meaning it could accommodate the 6 of us very well...not meaning exceptionally clean or modern or something to that affect! We got into the room Friday evening around 7:15 and decided it would maybe be best to go swimming since we had all day Saturday to 'be tourists' around town! The pool wasn't anything fancy, but it was nice enough and we enjoyed our chance to let the kiddos swim. We went up to the room and decided to go for a night stroll on the 'boardwalk' in town. It was a beautiful evening. We arrived back into our room at 10:00 and turned on the TV...we had 3 or 4 channels. Handsome went to the front desk to ask what we needed to do to make it work (thinking there was a button or something) and he was treated very rudely and told that in fact the satellite had been out since the last storm...which was before we reserved the room...and no one felt the need to let us know that when the reservation was made OR when we checked it. While he was waiting there the woman turned to the guy behind the desk and said she was tired of the walking noise from room #205 and wanted him to call and fake a noise complaint...#205 happened to my our room number and my husband (who she didn't know) happened to be able to hear this. He came up stairs to check and see if we had received a call and immediately returned to the front desk...long story short she was caught and scared, she actually called the manager on his personal cell and talked to him...but after talking to him her attitude returned and my husband was yelled at! He lined up a time to chat with the manager in the morning before check out.

That morning we all went down about an hour and a half before actual check out (they didn't have continental breakfast and 2 two year olds are hungry in the morning!) We were able to 'chat' with Chris and he was not so nice either. On an expensive room they first were going to do nothing and they didn't think it was a big deal. We asked to talk to someone with some pull...and he got offended and short. We turned in our room keys with the understanding that we wanted to talk to someone about the kind of service this hotel was providing to its guests and said they had not authorization to charge the card that was used to 'hold' the room at reservation. We had no intentions of not paying, but we wanted to talk to someone to at least hear they were sorry for their staff being so rude and untruthful! They said they would call us after talking to the general manager. When he called about a half hour later he told us that he didn't see the problem and if we were not out of our room in short order we would be double charged! We were already out! We walked back to the hotel and were told that they had charged the card that we told them not to and when we challenged the legality of doing that and asked why we were being treated so terribly after proof of their staff lieing to us he tried to kick us out of the hotel. We asked them to call the cops, he refused...

To make a long story short they ended up refunding the charge on the card, allowing us to pay for it the way we wanted (we were going to split it 3 ways) and gave us $10 off! Never once did they admit that someone screwed up or that their staff had done something wrong...

How rude!

On the plus side...buy all the good.y hair products you could ever want! My daughter uses the classic.goody.barrettes (lots of them) and I cannot find them ANYWHERE around here any more. So I called the company and asked how I could order some and not only did they give me a phone number where I can talk to a REAL person and order how ever much I wanted they sent us two packages of them for the inconvenience! GO GOOD.Y!

Monday, August 10, 2009

Seven Years

*So you may not think this to be a normal Anniversary post...and you may not even like it...but you don't have to read it if you do not want to!*

So today is our anniversary, EXCITING I know. But the thing is that it wasn't all that exciting or for that matter grand. Not because we aren't OKAY or anything, just because the last year has been so upside down.

You see when you are married to a person for seven year, you all of a sudden do not just figure them out...no, quite opposite actually. Just when you have them figured out they go and change. Sometimes it is a good change that the Holy Spirit has been working and sometimes it isn't such a great change that happens because, well because you have been stomped on too many times and you aren't going to let it happen again.

Enter where I am...I have struggles that are medically fairly difficult to cope with emotionally anyway (thank you extreme PCOS) but throw the junk that we have been through in our face and it is melt down. I don't even know who I am any more. The things I used to love I despise and the things I used to want do not matter any more. This makes it difficult to plan...

I am not gonna lie, the hurts that have come from the church *family* that we have been a part of over the course of our seven years have about killed me...I was once a VERY trusting person and now have a very difficult time buying one word from anyone! Face value seems to mean nothing to anyone any more, and when you {Jason & myself} are who we are no matter what it seems to cause troubles. You see folks just because we do not hang our heads on the ground and mope around because the cards delt to us stink (and we have had some stinky hands handed out) doens't mean that we are okay...doesn't mean that you can take more...and doesn't mean that we are going to just keep going with no trouble.

No that is not the case. I am a real person and I have no shame in hiding who we are. I just ask the courtesy from you that you PLEASE be honest with us and that you PLEASE take us into consideration when making plans that involve us.

So, after seven years we may not have celebrated in a fancy fairy tale manor (we don't have money in our checking account so we couldn't have if we wanted to!) but we do know that while we have seven years under our belt...we have many more to come because we are there for each other. God was too good to us when he put us together...we have the same ideals (mostly, mine include some things that most people never could afford~my poor husband still puts up with me) we have the same beliefs...we both try VERY hard to be who we are and nothing less...we both want to love each other for the rest of our earthly life.

God has plans for my husband...great plans, and I do pray that those plans unfold quickly...because the faster they unfold the faster we can get on to His service! Thank you for the seven years together honey...they have been a rollercoaster, but at the end of the day we are together whether it be at the top just about to fall or at the bottom making the climb...we are side by side and that makes the world a better place!

For those of you that are reading this and feeling something...you need to know that this isn't written with names or faces in mind, but if you are reading it and feeling like you are sinking a little lower in your seat...maybe you have some things that you need to deal with...just sayin'

Friday, August 7, 2009

J.E.N.E.

So this is going to be a rather random post...maybe a rant post...about several things that are roaming around in my mind that really do not make up enough of a post on their own.

~Read at YOUR own Risk~

*So I don't know what is going on with BLOG.GER lately...when I upload my pictures to my blogs they come up in the <.html.> print or something and not the actual picture...this makes it difficult to rearrange them according to order because all I see is letters and numbers that make no sense. I have found where my picture title is and I use the persons 3 initials and then the date followed by the letter of the alphabet. {Complicated I know} Say your name was Alice Gertrude Hansen and the picture was taken on August 10th 2007 and it was the 5th picture of Alice that day it would be labeled: AGH8-10-07e

Does that help? Anyway, since I have found where the title of the picture is in that mess of code I can have my photo program open and at least put a caption under the picture...but it is more work than when the picture itself was just there. Also, I can no longer 'justify' 'center' or 'right side align' my text any more...what happened to this? And then there is the choosing of 'extra small' 'small' ect. ect. font size and the type of font I want to use is gone too. Anyone know what is going on here? Moving on...

*I have been blogging and reading blogs for about 1 year and 4 months now and in that time my trend of types of blogs I read have changed drastically. I know have a HUGE list of blogs I subscribe to and magically they 'pop up' when there is a new post and I read...SO THANKFUL FOR THE RSS FEED! But my blogs of choice are now of people struggling to become parents...the infertile, adoptive parents in waiting, IVF, IUI, PCOS victim, would do anything to have children blogs. Not because I am a depressive person...but sometimes it is nice to know that you are not alone, and in knowing that you are not alone (having been through a good chunk of that stuff) trying to be some sort of an encouragement to those that are not yet blessed with children. Which brings me to...

*Why is it that just because we have two children that should make me happy and we do not need any more? Seriously, it never ceases to amaze me at the boldness of people that either A) have a quiver full of their own that any time he looked at her she was great with child or B) had their 2 and took care of business so there would be no more children....SERIOUSLY just because I am different and cannot carry children to full term means that I should be limited to 2 and be happy? Now do NOT get me wrong here...I am more than happy that the Lord has blessed me with the two best children in the WORLD that I so do not even deserve...but even they are desiring Baby Emi or Baby Owen to come home SOON! I digress...my heart goes out to the ladies that have been hurt badly this week with miscarriages...MOandWill, Susan, Kate

And then there are these ladies that are doing everything humanly possible to keep their babies in just a little longer taking it one day at a time to be able to hold their precious ones. MiaandPeter and Carrie and this lady our prayers are with you!

If you have been there before or are just an encouraging type person check them all out and leave an uplifting note...

*So there you have it, there are so many more things rolling around in my mind, but it is late and we just had a great time this evening with some GREAT friends....so will save some for later!

Happy weekend!

Saturday, August 1, 2009

What August 1st means to me...


Today is a wonderful blessed day! Today was the 1 year mark from the day that we were able to finalize our Boo Boo's adoption! We celebrated family style.

We woke up and brought the kids into our bed for some Saturday morning cartoons...I love it when we are able to start out a little lazy on Saturdays! We then got the kiddos breakfast, gave them a bath, got ourselves ready and gave Boo is gift....his very own smell good like Daddys!

After that we went to the rest-a-want of his choice (it just happens to also be Mommy's favorite!) Then Daddy took Boo on their first father/son hike, we had just gotten one of those hiking backpacks for kids to ride in and they enjoyed their time together...even though they ended up in the middle of several rattle noises (I would have freaked...those snakes scare me silly!) Apparently Boo said his famous, "wats dat?" and lifted his feet up a little higher! They were gone about 2 hours and the Princess and I enjoyed some shopping and chatting with a friend while they were gone.

We all came home a took a nap...woke up and went to Dairy.Queen for supper and ice cream, came home and had some family fun and now the kiddos are sleeping very soundly in their cozy little beds.

If any of you know us IRL, you know the fight we had to get to a year ago today...to legally make him ours. Now he would have been 'ours' forever even if the state would not have allowed us to adopt him, when you bring a little one home at 6 days old and have him for 21 months he WILL be yours forever...

Thankfully that day ~August 1st 2008~ came and we had a BIG celebration! Boo managed to fill the courtroom and then some to standing room only because there were so many people that were so excited that this was finally going to happen! Then we went home to have an open house celebration with cheezy turkey sandwhiches, yummy cake, and punch...after which we had a smaller time with close friends and family at the very same rest-a-want that is now his favorite!

The day was filled with so many memories...how mad I was at my father for missing the first part of the hearing (adoption hearings aren't very long...15-20 minutes tops) what could be so important that he HAD to be on his phone NOW! It was my Aunt from Chicago and her daughter-in-law with 2 daughters and the brand new baby boy and they didn't have directions to the courthouse! I forgave my dad and burst into tears because I didn't know they were coming and it was a nice suprize! How the judge reacted when our lawyer said what the adoption was costing us (a wopping $75 ~ it is good to make your lawyer your best friend...thanks Eric! You can have all the pork chops you want on us...any time!) All the wonderful people that we had with us that day. And the pictures that we took because our lawyer had our son drinking out of a shot glass...thankfully it was only lime juice! The fact that DSS was SHOCKED at the number of people that showed up to the finalization, and the fact that DSS just didn't know what to say about that.

Oh I could go on forever and ever, and that is just about the adoption process. Not the health fight and eventually victory that Boo went through, not the process of terminating his cleary not so capable birthmother's rights (I wish more than anything that when the Lord brings us another baby, that this time we will be able to have a HAPPY story to tell our child about his/her first mother.) And then the battle with DSS about the fact that my husband was a pastor and we were not giving Boo the freedom to make his own religeous decisions (hello...he came to our home at six days old and at finalization he was 21 months old...what kind of religeous thoughts does a child of this age have?)

Anyway, the Lord had greatly blessed us with our Princess and our Boo. Now we just keep praying for EDH and/or OOH to come home soon! We love you already and cannot wait to meet you one day and learn your story/walk your journey with you!