Hi Abba!

I got behind on my Gourmet to Go sales this quarter due to preparing for our move and all. Anyway, the end of quarter is midnight tonight and I've got about $65 worth of sales to get in by then. I've e-mailed all our friends and family as well as sent out e-mails to all my auction winners this year that have bought food from me to see if they can help me out. I'm praying that I'll make quota...please help me to do so, Abba. Thank you. I know that You'll help me out.

If anyone wants to order, you can order through my ebay store at
http://stores.ebay.com/E-Bears-Treasures?refid=store and then once that page loads in click on "Gourmet Items." You can also e-mail me your order. Thanks!

A Push for Deidra...

Abba, please help her auctions and animals do well today.


She put some of her stuffed animals up on ebay and her auctions end today. Take a look! She's got even more of them in my store in the "Stuffed Animals for Adoption" aisle.

Jessica and Deidra
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Check out my ebay auctions at:http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/andesbear/
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Visit my ebay store at:http://stores.ebay.com/E-Bears-Treasures?refid=store

A visit with Dad...

Dad came into town last Thursday and spent the night with us. It came with a lot of emotion and Mom didn't want him at the house. He wound up there for a few minutes to see Zach and Jimmie wanted to change and Mom was disappointed in me about it. I didn't feel right just blurting out that Mom didn't want him at the house and I knew she wasn't there so it waasn't like I was making her see him or anything. He stayed outside at the picnic table for the most part and when he did go in to say good-bye to Zach he stood in the living room and tears just filled his eyes. I brought him back here along with Jimmie and we had dinner and had time to catch up. It was nice having him here and I hope that we can see him more often. I told him that I'd more than willing travel to the other truck stops...he just had to give me directions. I can remember many a time traveling 1-2 hours away just to go see him for a couple of hours at a time. He wants us to go visit him in GA sometime and I'm not quite sure that I'm ready for that. Jimmie is my security blanket when I don't know what to say or a topic got too close or hurtful...Jimmie would butt in and change the subject. So, I guess when the time comes for a visit to see him and I know that I'll have to meet Vette (his wife now), I'll make sure to take Jimmie with me. Anyway, I wanted to say thank you for a chance at visiting with him since I hadn't seen him in about 2 years. I hope that we're able to see him a little more often though from now on. The visit was a good one. Thank you, Abba. And thanks for helping Mom to understand where I was coming from as well.

Nickels and Dimes...

Hi Abba. Here we are back at the first half of the month when all the bills are due again. There's not a lot of room to move in the first half of the month money wise. We have to stick to the budget pretty closely and then there's only a little wiggle room. It just seems like we've had one thing after another go wrong in the past few days. I had car trouble and the battery needed to be replaced. Then, I was way overdue for my oil change so that needed to be done. Deidra had a bladder infection so I had to take her to the doctor and then to get a perscription. Andy's oil change was way overdue so I had to take his car in today. His serpentine belt needs to be replaced so now we're having to deal with that too. So frustrating. Andy told me the appt was at 10 am, I get there and they're saying I'm a half an hour late and was supposed to be there at 9:30 so they put someone else in front of me. Mom (the part's manager) is trying to get the cost of the belt for me and I don't know anything about Andy's car and she gets all flustered at me. Then, she finds out that they need to know something else that I had no clue on and she gets mad at me again. At this point, all I want to do is sit and cry. She's all flustered at work because they're busy and she's short a person. I blew up and asked her what I had written on my forehead that made everyone take out their frustrations out on me. I'm tired of it. I called Andy back and he told me just to get the car and he'd deal with it over the weekend. Mom says "well, I don't get how people can drive around cars and not know what they're driving." I told her that Andy knew all the info...it's his car...it's not mine. I can tell you about mine. Anyway, they were doing the oil change and she had sent someone to pick up the right oil filter so I couldn't just take the car. So, we sat and sat and sat. 2 hours later she tells me the price of the belt and if we want it done. They had to wait for the car to cool down before they could do it. I tried to get Andy on the phone and couldn't, so just as I told her to just do the oil change and we'd worry about the belt later, she starts to lecture me. I told her that I wasn't going to have Andy get miffed at me if I didn't have his approval and just did it as the budget is pretty tight at the beginning of the month and we were looking at paying all the bills for the next 2 weeks out of these paychecks that we're getting now. Andy called and told me to go ahead with it. I had to go out and give service the go ahead and they got us a ride home. I went to leave without saying good-bye to Mom and she called after me down the hall. She asked me to go to Bible study with her tonight and I said right now I didn't know what I wanted to do and that I'm sick of being everybody's scape goat. I started crying and she told me that she was sorry and that bible study was just what we needed. She didn't mean to be so hard on me. She said that it was hard for them when they made the move too and I told her that we've been managing ok, but it's just really tight budget wise right now because rent and all our bills are due in the first half of the month. I'll feel better once we have our emergency fund established again. Please help us get through all this, Abba.

Prayers for a couple of friends...

Hi Abba. Sarah's sister's results came back as pre-cancer. Please be with her during treatment and let everything turn out ok. It's great that they caught it early, but please give the doctors treating her your guidance so that she will be healed and have no more cause for concern. Please be with her family as well as they are all naturally worried for her.

I also want to lift up Jen's Dad in prayer. He's in the hospital right now and they think that he may have had a heart attack. I pray for a quick recovery and for guidance with the doctors treating him. I pray that everything will turn out ok there as well.

Thank you for watching over us, Abba.

Save a marriage...

Hi Abba! Emily at work has taken a leave of absence. She doesn't know whether she'll be back or not. She's left her husband and gone back to Louisiana. They've been together for almost 10 years and he was her first boyfriend and all...she just turned 25 years old this past month. Anyway, she said that the only way she'd come back was if he came to his senses and went to LA to bring her back home. Please bless this marriage and help them work through their issues. Be with them both during this difficult time and give them peace and comfort and realize why they wound up together in the first place.

Fighting with Spouses

Hi Abba. Andy and I got into a pretty hurtful argument the other day. This losing weight stuff has had me pretty emotional lately, I find I cry really easily. I'm not sure if that's because of the extra estrogen being given off during fat burning or what's going on. But, I noticed even last night that we were both pretty standoffish to one another. We weren't arguing or anything, but we were both quiet and not very touchy feeling with one another. Please help us to understand one another and know what the other needs from each other. This marriage stuff is so hard sometimes.

The Five Variable Love Test

http://www.blogthings.com/thefivevariablelovetest/

Your Five Variable Love Profile

Propensity for Monogamy: Your propensity for monogamy is medium.In general, you prefer to have only one love interest.But it's hard for you to stay devoted for too long!There's too much eye candy to keep you from wandering. Experience Level: Your experience level is high.You've loved, lost, and loved again.You have had a wide range of love experiences.And when the real thing comes along, you know it! Dominance: Your dominance is low.This doesn't mean you're a doormat, just balanced.You know a relationship is not about getting your way.And you love to give your sweetie a lot of freedom. Cynicism: Your cynicism is low.You are an eternal optimist when it comes to love and romance.No matter how many times you've been hurt - you're never bitter.You believe in one true love, your perfect soulmate.And if you haven't found true love yet, you know you will soon. Independence: Your independence is low.This doesn't mean you're dependent in relationships..It does mean that you don't have any problem sharing your life.In your opinion, the best part of being in love is being together.

The Five Variable Love Test

What's Your Religious Philosophy?

You are a Believer

You believe in God and your chosen religion.Whether you're Christian, Muslim, Jewish, or Hindu..Your convictions are strong and unwavering.You think your religion is the one true way, for everyone.

What's" Your Religious Philosophy?

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

You Are a Chocolate Chip Cookie

Traditional and conservative, most people find you comforting.You're friendly and easy to get to know. This makes you very popular - without even trying!

What Kind of Cookie Are You?

http://www.blogthings.com/whatkindofcookieareyouquiz/

Please let my till balance...

My mind was everywhere but work today. Andy and I got into an argument last night before bed, I wound up going to church to pray in the peace and quiet and I cried my eyes out. I came home and neither of us were talking to one another. I asked him for a hug before bed and he couldn't even give that to me. He went to sleep and I tossed and turned. Finally, he talked to me a little bit and I felt better and was able to get some sleep. I went to work today still feeling unsettled. I'm sorry about how I spoke to him yesterday, Abba, but I can only handle so much negativity and giving giving giving with nothing being given to me. I know I was wrong though and I'm sorry. Anyway, he called me at work today to tell me that his oil light had come on and he was down 2 quarts of oil. He called me again to ask if I'd bring some down to him when I got out of work and then got frustrated with me when I didn't want to drive in traffic for an hour one way just to bring him oil when he could go to the gas station and get it. He's fine with it now, but I don't know what our problem is. Anyway, I had a situation right before I was supposed to get out of work where this guy had hundreds of dollars spread over my counter. I thought I had scooped up all of it and counted correctly, but after I put it into my till I looked down and there was a $20 laying on the counter. He thought it was supposed to go with me and I thought it was his. Anyway, I wound up keeping it and letting bookkeping know that if my till was over $20 it went to that guy. But, please let it balance. I guess I just have too much on my mind today.

My sweet girl...

she's addicted to little bibles that our her size. She picks them up from all over the place and she absolutely loves them. Anyway, she got a little orange one yesterday (because it matches Home Depot) and a red one (because it matches her dress and she could wear her dress and bring her bible to church and they would match). Anyway, she's sitting on the couch flipping through the pages and she runs into the office where I'm getting pics to put on ebay ready saying "Mommy, Mommy, I spelled God....I sounded out the words...look...G-o-d...God." I'm so proud of her! I just thought that was too cute not to share. She sure does love you too, Abba. I can only imagine how proud you must be of your little children too, especially when they marvel in You or things that are of You.

Signed my baby girl up for kindergarten today...

Wow! Where has the time gone? Seems like yesterday that I was just pregnant with her. They had started taking sign-ups this week so I took her up to the school. She was a little bit nervous and we talked a bit on the way up to the door. She did stop and let me take her picture in front of the school. We went in and found the office and a few other mommies and kids came in. She started to take care of the other kids and interacting with them. The mom behind me said "you have the sweetest girl. She's so beautiful and look at how she's taking care of the other kids." That must be the part of her that has gone to daycare as I've never seen her gather in the kids like she did, but I was definitely proud of her. She got them playing and she was having fun and so were they. I filled out her application and gave them the documents that they needed and the whole time other moms that came in all I heard was how sweet Deidra was and how polite she is and how good she was at pulling the other kids in and reassuring them that they were all going to be ok. I have never been more proud of her.

I attached a picture of her school. It's huge and the weird thing is that it's not an elementary school full of different grades. This school is only for pre-k and kindergarteners. I was pretty impressed. The gym is huge, they have a huge room by the office that is filled with dining room tables and chairs and Deidra asked what that room was. I thought it was the teacher's lounge or something. Nope, that's the room where they learn about nutrition. She'll have nutrition classes, gym class, spanish classes, weekly library visits, music, and a lot more. I was very impressed with the school and the staff that I met today were very nice. We go to meet the teacher night on August 3 and she'll start kindergarten on August 8. She's excited now to go now that we went to the school. Dropping her off that first day is going to be hard, but I know she's going to do well, and that makes me feel better. Help her to do well there, Abba, and make lots of new friends and let her have a good relationship with her teacher and the staff. Help her to learn all that she needs to and more!

The Truck Chase

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14003757/

Well, we had a hostage situation here yesterday. We had gone to visit my Mom yesterday and show her the DVD of our China agency and Deidra wanted to watch Aristocats, but we were watching something on weight loss (it was actually something that Oprah had put out). Anyway, I took her into my Mom's room to watch it on her tv and I saw breaking news of someone that had taken a truck driver hostage near us. My Dad's a truck driver so this just really hit me. I ran out into the living room and told my brother, Andy, and my Mom and we immediately went into prayer that it would end safely. An African American guy had taken a female trucker hostage. He had robbed a Lowes and fled with one of the victim's cars. Something happened to that one, so he tried to get a male trucker to drive him to Dallas. Apparently, the guy wouldn't so he took the female driver hostage and made her drive all over Dallas with a gun pointed in her side. When, they tried to intercept and got him on the phone and whatnot all he could do was go on about how African Americans were targeted by the government and none of them had jobs and nobody was doing anything to help them and how African Americans were never going to get anywhere in this country and he wasn't going to end this thing. All I could do was wonder about who he was and I kept wondering about the lady driver and who she was and if she had a family waiting for her back home, if she had little kids, where she was from, how she was coping, and what must have been going through her mind. When, we left to go to the park, they had managed to get him stopped (shot at the engine), but he had taken her to the cab and closed the curtain. Mom and I prayed again for her safety and I'll admit that I thought it was over for her the minute that we saw him take her back into the cab where they both weren't visible. When, we were driving home, they said that she had made it out of the cab with her dog and after a round of tear gas, the guy came out unharmed too. All I kept thinking was thank God she was safe. As for him, it went through my mind that he could say good-bye to ever having a job again after that. Why do people do these things? Thank you, Abba, for letting this end peacefully and that no harm was done to this lady.

Lifting up some Home Depot folks...

Hi Abba. I have my Home Depot gang that I'd like to lift up in prayer today. Especially, I'd like to lift up Corey (my FES from my old store), his grandpa passed away and I pray for peace and comfort for all of them during this difficult time. I'd like to pray for Laura, whose husband was in a pretty bad car wreck this week and she's been out of work this week. I pray for a quick recovery for her husband and that she's back to work soon. I also want to lift up Emily. She's out on a leave of absence to deal with some family problems that have come up and won't be back until the end of August. We don't know much more than that, but I just want to say a prayer that everything will be ok for her and her family. I also want to say a prayer for Dino. His daughter wrecked his car and they don't have any money to replace it and he's been having some rough times. I pray that you will give him another car, Abba, and help them through this rough spell. Watch over all of us, Abba, and thank you for helping me out in my new store to feel more at home and more comfortable there as well.

Thank you, Abba!

The France lady reimbursed us for the $160.50 today and we feel so much better about things. Our ebay fees are paid now and are adoption things are taken care of as well. Thank you for looking out for us.

Jumping Through Hoops...

Abba, please help us be able to get this money back soon. We're still dealing with this France package that was missing. The buyer e-mailed me on the 17th to let me know that her husband went that morning to go pick up the package from her post office. I immediately called paypal to see if we could get the money back. It was still only showing attempted delivery on the customs update, so they told me that they couldn't do anything until it either showed that it was delivered or that they heard from the buyer saying that she definitely received the package. I e-mailed the buyer asking her to contact paypal and haven't heard a thing from her, just that she wants a refund of the difference between airmail and surface mail as she feels that it wasn't an airmail delay, but a surface mail one. I have the receipt showing that it was sent airmail. Anyway, customs was finally updated and it says that it was delivered and we called paypal again yesterday morning to tell them, they asked for proof of postage and we sent over proof of postage, the customs form, the receipt, and the customs information showing that it was delivered. I'm trying to practice patience on this whole thing, but at the same time, I'm also very stressed about it. We have ebay fees to pay out of that money, as well as a couple adoption items to take care of with that and we're completely stuck until we get that back. Please bring the money back to us soon, Abba.

Thank you for bringing peace...

I went to the doctor yesterday to see the OB-GYN. I was way overdue for my pap (it's been 2 years since the last one). Anyway, it was the first time I've met the doctor down here and Abba he was wonderful. He put me at ease, he was great with Deidra, and he was even from up north (although he was from Canada). Anyway, he talked to me about my history some and he saw that I was on clomid earlier this year. He asked me if I wanted to get back into that (he's also a reproductive endocrinologist) and I was so shocked to hear myself say "I think we've made the decision to stop all that. We're going to adopt." He said that was good, I was too young to give up having more children when I obviously wanted them. He let me know that he was always there for me if I had any problems or if one day I did decide that I wanted to pursue treatments again. We did the exam and he made me laugh during it (first doctor that's really tried to put me at ease during an exam like that). He really was great and as we were leaving it again struck me that I wasn't that upset to admit that we were going to stop doing treatments and we were going to adopt a baby. Abba, you definitley work in mysterious ways and take such good care of me. It was like you were confirming to me once again that we're supposed to go this route. Thank you for taking such good care of me.

A little girl and her dresses...

Our beautiful Deidra loves to wear dresses. My Mom found this dress for her and gave it to her over the weekend to wear for the holidays this year. She absolutely loves dresses and loves to be a princess in them. We always tell her that she's our princess no matter if she's in a dress or not, but to her she can't be a princess without the beautiful dress. She begged to put the dress on today and got herself dressed. She wanted her picture taken by the tree in the sun. The pictures don't do the dress justice as it is a beautiful dress with lots of detail and there's a jeweled bow that comes across the velour and then the tulle on the bottom that just is beautiful too, but you can't really see it in the picture. When I was looking at her though, I realized that she really is a dream come true. I always wanted a little girl and I always wanted to be able to dress her up in pretty dresses and put ribbons in her hair. Maybe cuz I always loved that when I was little, but I'm so glad that she's a girly girl and that she has so much fun in her dresses. She loves pretty things and to me she's just one beautiful blessing from above. Thank you so much for my beautiful little girl, Abba, she is so precious to us.

She asked me today if we could show her picture to her baby sister or if she could wear the dress in China. I told her that I wanted to get them matching silk dresses from China if it was possible to get their pictures taken in. She immediately got so excited and I showed her the beautiful dresses that a friend of mine is auctioning off for her auction to help pay for their China adoption. You can see the beautiful dresses if you visit her website www.langadoption.com . I'd love to get some while we're in China and dress the girls up for pictures in them.

The day of our adoption orientation is finally here!

And I am so so excited. My heart is already starting to swell and I hope I don't get choked up while we are at the meeting this afternoon, but I am just so excited to finally begin this journey. Deidra is just as excited and I noticed over the past couple of nights that she has begun praying for twins. I had told her that China only lets us have one baby at a time so we'd get her baby sister this time and then go back one day for their baby brother for them. Later that night, she had begun asking for twins. Abba, bless all of us on this journey. We know that some parts of this journey aren't going to be easy ones, but we ask that you be with us on this journey to China and help us throughout the way. We are ready and willing for your plans for us and for the babyor babies that you have chosen for us. I already feel so much love for the Chinese children, that I can't imagine what I'm going to do when we get our referral. I am just so excited and I think Andy is too. Deidra is going to be one amazing big sister too, that's for sure.

God bless the little boy...

Hi Abba. I just wanted to share a sweet little story and ask for your blessings for this family. I was in lumber the other night at Home Depot. I hate being down at contractors, but this one family that came in that night just made it all worthwhile. A father and his little boy came down to get swingset stuff and I asked the little boy if that was for him and he said "yeah, it's for my sisters and new baby brother too who's coming home tomorrow." The father looked at the boy and said "how do you know he's coming home tomorrow." The little boy said "I prayed about it and asked God and that's how I know." The father said "ok, then I guess he's coming home tomorrow." The father looked at me and told me "we lived in LA and were Hurricane Katrina victims and his little boy has sisters, but always wanted a little brother. Apparently, the doctors told them that they couldn't have any more kids so they never thought it was going to happen. Well, when they relocated to TX after Katrina hit, lo and behold, the doctors told her that she was pregnant and later they found out it was a boy. He asked God and his prayer was answered and they were thrilled." I got tears in my eyes from that story. The father left to drive his truck up to the doors and the little boy was trying to haul his slide and stone wall out the door by himself and I offered to help him. While I went to help the boy, the father's cell phone rang...."the mom and baby boy were coming home tomorrow." I don't know why, but this was such a sweet story and it hit me that we have to continue praying for our baby and that you will provide for our needs. It may not be in our timing, but that you will take care of us. But, I ask for blessings for this family and especially for the little boy that had no problem going to you and asking for what he wanted most. You do take care of all things, Abba, and are such a loving God.

Prayers for Hal

Hi Abba. I'd like to lift Hal, Andy's step-father, up in prayer. He had a very bout of sickness that left him in the hospital for 6-7 months and then was able to come home in June. Andy's mom just had to take him back to the hospital the other night as he started bleeding pretty badly. Please watch over him and bring him back home safely and soon.

Prayers for a friend's sister...

Hi Abba. Please be with Sarah's sister as she goes to the doctor to have tests done. Help the colposcopy to go well and please let the test results come out well. They're naturally scared right now as they don't know for sure what is going on. Please be with them and give them comfort and peace as they wait for the results. Thank you, Abba.

Thank goodness it's payday soon...

I'm just waiting for my pay check to post into our bank account (sometimes it'll post on Thursdays although technically Friday is actual pay day) so that I can order my Medifast. I'm so excited. Mom has lost 16 lbs in 2 weeks on this stuff. I'm so excited to see myself begin to shrink. I so want to be healthy again and a healthy size and it would be awesome if I could get off my meds for my hypothyroid and PCOS and diabetes. I keep looking at my high school graduation pictures and telling myself "I could look like that again." Help Mom and I in our weight loss goals, Abba, and help me be able to get off of my meds.

Missing Packages

Hi Abba. This whole thing with the missing ebay package to France has turned into a huge nightmare. Why would you file a claim with paypal and then the next day leave for vacation? The package has now been attempted to be delivered 2-3 times and still nothing. And when I got home from work yesterday I found out that paypal had sided with the buyer and we were out the money. I called them and explained what was going on and they said that they'd see if they could put in an appeal on our behalf, but if we lost and the package did wind up being delivered that hopefully the buyer would repay us. Andy and I were both upset as the price in question that paypal took from us for the buyer was $160. Please help us get this money back. The thing that I'm worrying over now is how long her post office will hold the package for her as I do not know when she is returning from vacation and I do not want to have to pay return postage on this thing which is $72 by itself. I pray that she comes home and gets her package and we can get the money back very soon.

Add to my stress levels yesterday as well that I had ordered some Gourmet products for a friend of mine that needed them for a party on Saturday. I had specifically stated that I needed it drop shipped directly to her and normally this company is really good about that. I came home for lunch yesterday on break to find her package on my doorstep. I freaked, called the company, and then got the package ready to ship out to her and had to run it to the post office, deal with standing in that line to be told that it should arrive by Friday or Saturday but they won't guarantee anything but Express mail. I told her I'd take a chance on Priority, but I'm going to feel so bad if it doesn't make it there in time. I had about 10 minutes of lunch left to make it back to work, charge a candy bar and pop to scarf down, grab my apron, and head back to the front to go back to work. Abba, please give us Godspeed on this package and help this situation with France get taken care of in our favor as well. Thanks!

Money crunches...

The first two weeks are when all of our bills are due. The 2nd half of the month we have a lot more room to move and splurge and save. But, the first two weeks are tough ones. Something we didn't budget for this month was paying for some unexpected doctor visits so that knocked our budget out of whack. Deidra wound up with a bladder infection so I had to take her to the doctor this morning and then go and get her perscription. I know we'll be fine, but I just hate the first half of the month. We had talked about getting some due dates changed to the 2nd half of the month on a couple of the bills so we had a little more room to move and I think we need to go ahead and do that. Just watch over us and our finances until payday on Friday, Abba. Help us make it through the week and help Deidra to feel better. I have a bladder infection myself and am trying to push the cranberry juice and pills until my doctor appt to get my yearly next week. Thank goodness that payday for the both of us is on Friday.

Money Update and Ebay Update

Well, the stuff with the ATM deposit was cleared up. Thank you, Abba! The clerk didn't understand why it wasn't processed and although the investigative team wanted us to wait a few extra days, we weren't comfortable with waiting so Andy called the branch that he made the ATM deposit at and the clerk was there that processed the deposit the night before. She said it should have gone through and didn't see any reason why it shouldn't have and processed a credit for us right away. Thank goodness that we didn't have to worry about that anymore. Thank you, Abba, for taking care of us.

As for the ebay update with the missing package to France....I continue to pray that this will work out and we'll get the money back soon to our account. It's really messed with our finances for the ebay business this week. But, I called paypal this morning and since I hadn't heard from the buyer she went ahead and escalated it to a claim. She saw that we added the customs number and low and behold she put the number in today and it showed that the package arrived in France on July 6th. I was so thrilled to know that it wasn't lost after all and she should be receiving it any day now. They also e-mailed the buyer and told her that she had 72 hours to respond. Paypal told me that will also work in my favor if she doesn't respond right away and we'll get that hold on our account lifted sooner. I'd just really like it if the package was delivered within the next couple of days and the buyer went in herself and closed the claim. So, I pray for quick delivery of the package and that the claim will be ended soon in our favor. Thanks, Abba.

My cousin, Dale

Hi Abba. Dale is the one that was put in jail after that whole fiasco with his lack of sleeping and my aunt was trying to get him some help. Anyway, he's applied for a release date from jail of July 26, 2006 and my prayer is that you will help him to get that date if not release him sooner. He doesn't deserve to be there. Thank you, Abba. Please watch over him and keep him safe as well and I pray for blessings for him and for Aunt Jerri too with all that she's gone through. Please bring Dale home this month.

Insurance stuff...

Abba, help us to figure out what the best options are so that it helps us to where we're not spending a ton of money on insurance, but yet it's not going to hurt anything with our upcoming adoption either.

I'm looking to quit my job at the end of the month. I can make the same amount of money that I make from work after paying out expenses and spend the time at home with my little girl. Anyway, we're just about the start the ball rolling on this adoption thing. We're signing on with CCAI on July 15. Anyway, my husband's job offers insurance but only as a health savings plan and it's going to be expensive to put us all on that. We had looked into just buying health insurance from Blue Cross Blue Shield for my daughter and I, but because I'm a diabetic I just found out that I wouldn't be eligible for their insurance. I'm starting a diet next week and she said that if I could show that I was off all my medications for 6-12 months that they could underwrite me into the Blue Cross Blue Shield plan then. I told my hubby that I'd go without insurance for that long, however I got to thinking that if I do that is that going to look bad on our homestudy if I'm not insured? I'm insured now through my work, but I don't want to have to stay there just for the insurance. The baby could be added once we got her, so that's not an issue?

God bless the astronauts...

God bless the astronauts on their journey. They had a successful lift off yesterday. Be with them on their journey and bring them all back home safely.

Some pics from the 4th!

The picture to the left is of Deidra in her 4th of July clothes. The picture on the right is of Deidra and a kitty that likes to come visit us. We've nicknamed her Marmalade, but don't worry she stays outside. Hope everyone has a good 4th of July! We're off to Granbury (an hour and a half away) with my Mom, brother Jimmie, and family friend Margaret. It should be a fun day! I guess they always have a huge celebration with festivities and arts and crafts. I pray for safe travels for us and that the rain will hold off until later on.

In honor of the 4th of July...

Thank you so much, Abba, for our freedoms in this country. Thank you for giving us a wonderful place to live. Thank you for holidays too where we can spend time with our loved ones and for the beautiful fireworks that we are able to see. I also wanted to say thank you for the beautiful rainbow that you gave us yesterday afternoon. What a beautiful thing in the sky! I also want to thank you for my hubby. He's a blessing in my life and I am so thankful for him. We'll always share a special memory on the 4th of July (read below).

What is your favorite 4th of July memory? (If you aren't in the U.S., then use your own national holiday.) 8 years ago today, my hubby proposed to me after the fireworks. It was pouring down rain and we were walking back to my apartment along Lake Michigan. Big waves would come up over our feet and we would just laugh. He asked me to marry him and we were both so soaked, but it was so sweet of him and a moment that I'll never forget.

Fireworks- love them, hate them or somewhere in between? I love them! I get choked up sometimes in the middle of them and just want to burst into tears. I'm very thankful to live in this country with all of our freedoms and choices that we have.

Jess

More Money Stuff

Andy got his first paycheck on Friday and he went to deposit it after work. It still hasn't shown up as a pending item in our account. He called the bank yesterday and they wanted him to wait to see if it showed up after 7pm last night. It didn't. I know I shouldn't worry, but I'm stressing. We've already sent our checks out for rent and for bills and I don't want anything to bounce because that money isn't showing up. That money should be there. Andy said if anything does happen, the bank should reverse the charges as it is a problem on their end. We deposited the money into the account...it should be there. I'm just hoping that nothing happens and if it does that the bank will be behind us and do the right thing. I guess the bank told Andy that they could just be backlogged because of the holiday weekend, but I still don't understand why it's not showing up in there. It should have shown up by Saturday and that's of course the day that the bills were sent out. I just hope and pray that this doesn't turn into a nightmare and that by tomorrow the money will show up as being posted. I'm just worried...help us, Abba. Thanks goodness Andy still has the deposit receipt.

Got to see the fireworks...

Thank you, Abba, for letting them work with me last night. I was able to leave at 8:30 and go see the fireworks with my family. They were pretty, but I have seen better displays. Deidra was so excited about them, so she made it all worth it. I didn't like getting bit by fire ants either. I learned that we need to invest in some of those chairs that you can carry around with you. I bought Deidra one last year. I need to go buy 2 of them for Andy and I. Anyway, I just wanted to praise you for an answered prayer. :-) Thank you, Abba.

Fireworks

I have the 4th and 5th of July off of work. Andy has the 4th off. I thought we'd be able to go see the fireworks tomorrow, but everyone is doing them tonight (the 3rd) instead. I'm supposed to work from 12-9 out in garden today. Garden closes at 8, so I'm going to see if they'll let me out early to go see the fireworks with my family. I'm so tired of missing stuff because I have to work. So, I pray that they will let me out early. Please Abba, let them spend time with my family so we can see the beautiful fireworks together. Thank you, Abba.

Ebay

We've had a situation with ebay come up. I sold some scrapbook punches about 6 weeks ago. The total with shipping was about $160. She paid for airmail to France...she hasn't received them yet. All the customs form tells us was that they were accepted at our post office at the end of May. She opened a claim against us on Friday through Paypal and paypal took the $160 from us. It's totally messed our ebay system up as we've had to dip into our own personal funds to pay for shipping on other orders and such. I pray that this gets wrapped up soon in our favor, Abba. Please help us to figure out where this package is and that it gets to her soon.