Blessed and Loved...

 

Blessed and Loved.  Who doesn't like those feelings?  I think we're happiest when we remember and acknowledge just how blessed we are, and also when we feel loved by those around us.  I was honored to receive this Blessed and Loved collection from the fabulous folks at DaySpring to review here on my blog (and I figured it's about time I hop back on this blog-wagon).

This set is absolutely gorgeous and would make such a great gift!  It even comes with a gift wrap bag that includes tissue!  Could it be easier than that?!  I am "gift-wrapping-challenged" so this is perfect.

Image courtesy of dayspring.com

Image courtesy of dayspring.com

For your friends that might enjoy a little daily pick-me-up, there is a wonderful perpetual calendar. I've always been a fan of calendars (I get it from my sweet Grandma Marilyn), and the simple, modern colors and pattern on this one make it quite lovely.  Each day holds an inspirational quote or scripture, and it is now a part of my morning routine to flip the page and read the day's nugget of encouragement.

Image courtesy of dayspring.com

Of course, while enjoying that encouragement, I am sipping coffee or tea from this adorable 8 oz. mug!  It's so petite and cute, and even comes with its own cover which can be used as a coaster.  I feel so dainty when using this beautiful mug.

Image courtesy of dayspring.com

As much as I love the other pieces of this collection, my favorite piece has to be the journal.  Each lined page contains a scripture verse (LOVE this!). This would make such a great prayer journal.  Don't you love going back through prayer journals and seeing how God has answered prayers (sometimes even after we've long forgotten about them?).

Quick, go check out some of the other reviews on the inspired deals page.  This is such a fun way to learn about new dayspring products while seeing them in action!  This month featured four different collections, all of which would make great gifts for your loved ones!  And when they each include matching gift wrap...the work is all done for us!

Pssssst . . . . DaySpring gave me this product free to review, and all opinions stated in this here blog are my own J

Photo Contest!

So...before this whole failed adoption #2 thing, I entered us into a photo contest here with a local photographer (hoping that we'd have a fun new family pic once baby came). She actually forgot to put us on the facebook portion of the contest, so we're really behind (other pics got "likes" that she's counting, but we weren't included).  After facebook slapped her hand for holding a contest there (who knew?), she's continued the contest on her blog instead (using comments as votes).

We need to catch up!

Would love for you to go comment here on Amanda's contest blog post

(if those quick links didn't work, copy and paste this into your browser to get to the contest post and make a comment):

http://ww...w.amandaeatonblog.com/category/uncategorized/november-session-giveaway-3/ 

and leave a comment voting for our picture (I think we're #11, but hover over our picture to be sure before you comment)...we could win a free photo session with Amanda Eaton Photography valued at $500 :) 

Ends on Sunday 10/16...please, go comment! Help us catch up and win! 

Tell your friends!

Thank you!

Winter Wonderland!

We have had a winter here in Kansas that makes me reminiscent of my Minnesota days…lots of snow! I typically am not a fan of snow (mainly driving in it…I've actually realized that I do love snow if I don’t have to go anywhere!). Steve and I were excited to break out the cross country skis my parents gave us for Christmas a few years ago. We went to Shawnee Mission Park (of course) and forged some trails. It was absolutely beautiful. Fresh, fluffy snow and a bright blue sunny sky! It couldn’t have been a more perfect day. Here are some pictures documenting our adventure. This adventure actually happened January 20, and I figured I’d better blog about it soon or winter will just keep hanging on (come on, spring!).

Steve was the super manly one that forged the path. I was so bundled up, it took me awhile to get my camera out to take a picture of him in action…see him way down there?

Enjoying our own seemingly private tour of the park, we made fresh ski tracks, and even came across some deer tracks!

Anyone who knows Steve well knows he is an AMAZING downhill skier. So he humored me and pretended to get into his tuck. Haha. He's a good sport.

Then we found an actual hill! Well, not quite a Black Diamond run, but good enough for me! And Steve was definitely a fan of the “fresh powder”

Here are our tracks!

I was wondering where the ski lift was…

But I made it!

We had so much fun, but after several runs down our hill, we remembered we had to trek all the way back home...

With a few photo ops along the way…

P.S. That little love note in the snow was done by my amazing husband. He's so romantical. I just love him! We had such an incredible afternoon together, and after we got home, we hobbled walked around our apartment complex with Norman, so he could enjoy the nice day, too. Then, being the hip young couple that we are, we settled in for a nice late afternoon watching some Jeopardy. That evening, we got the phone call that (almost) changed our lives forever…

Fun with Friends in January...

Yeah, I know…it’s February…which is why I'd better finish this post pronto! We were blessed with TWO visits from friends in January, both of which were fabulous!

Our first visit was from the Calvarese family. Jessica is one of my closest friends from Oklahoma. We met Jessica and her husband Justin in our Newlyweds flock at Henderson Hills Baptist Church back in 2007. My friendship with Jessica flourished over email, actually, as we would encourage each other through tough work days (and then when Jessica was done working, she’d encourage me through tough work days while I could encourage her in her new job as a mommy!). They have two precious boys, Ian and Owen, whom I call my “Oklahoma nephews.” It just melts my heart when I hear Ian call us “Aunt Liesl” and “Uncle Steve.” LOVE, LOVE, LOVE that.

The Calvareses came for New Year’s Eve weekend and we had a blast, despite some very cold temperatures! Since our favorite activities revolve around Shawnee Mission Park, it was a bummer that it was so cold! But Justin, Jessica, Ian, and Owen were troopers and we were able to show them a little bit of the park.

We also went to some fun local places that I hadn’t seen yet, like shopping at The Legends, and lunch at Winsteads, a super cool (and tasty!) local diner. I was so excited to introduce Jessica and Justin to my favorite coffee in the world…Caribou Coffee! They loved it.

(Photo courtesy of Jessica)

We also went swimming at their hotel, and just enjoyed each others’ company! We are so blessed by them!

Here are some more photos courtesy of Jessica...

A couple weeks later, we had a visit from our friends Jen and Jason, as they passed through Kansas City on their way to visit some more friends in Arkansas. Jen is actually one of my sister Christi’s college roommates and Marching Band buddies from the U of MN, and during my sophomore year at the U of MN, we all lived together as my sister finished medical school, Jen went to grad school, and my friend Julie and I were undergrads. So Jen has always been like another big sister to me. When I followed Christi’s footsteps and joined the U of MN Marching Band (I’ve always looked up to her and wanted to do things she did!), Jen was on staff and I can’t even tell you how much that put me at ease during my first weeks at college.

Jen and Jason were married just 5 weeks before Steve and I were, so we have that fun bond as well! Jen and Jason are avid outdoorsmen (outdoorspeople?) and I could not wait to show them “our” park. I knew they were going to love it. Even better, we had gotten some snow right before their arrival, so that added a whole new adventure! Jason especially enjoyed collecting acorns at the park so he can plant his own tree.

We had so much fun hiking and laughing. And, since Jen works at an environmental learning center in Northern Minnesota, their visit was also very educational!

Jason taught us about deer markings on trees...

Jen found a bird nest with a nice little blanket of snow on it...

Jason displayed his love for trees...

And Jen and I met a new friend!

Such a fun day of hiking through a beautiful snow-filled park!

We really enjoyed our time with our friends! Thanks, guys, for coming to see us!

Another fun park adventure!

I know...more pictures of our favorite park. But seriously, this is our main source of entertainment, and if you lived here (hey, you should move here...we could be neighbors), you'd spend as much time at the park as possible, too! It's incredible. Plus, it is a great way to tire Norman out for the night, so it's a win-win!

Temps were in the mid-40's today, so we took advantage of the warmth (well...that is a relative term) and decided to tackle one of the non-paved paths. The uneven terrain makes it more exciting. We have often seen deer while on these trails, and today was no exception! Look at this guy...he didn't even seem to mind us there while he chomped on something very crunchy.

Then, one of his friends came to join the party!

They blend right into the trees, so it was hard to capture the awesomeness (although I was using my new camera that I got for my birthday - thanks, Mom and Dad Irwin!!). There are lots of great settings on the new camera that I'll need to learn about.

Here are two of my favorite subjects on which to practice my budding photography skills:

It's a good thing we have such a great guard dog. Ok, so anyone that knows Norman knows that was not the most accurate descriptive word for our "scared of the world" dog...but it sounded cool. In this picture, he's actually intrigued by someone that just rode by on a horse.

During this hike, we decided to take a fork in the trail that we hadn't used before. We assumed it was another loop and wanted to check it out...what can I say, we're adventurous. After about 1 1/2 hours, we came upon this:


Oops! Our hiked turned a bit longer than originally anticipated, as we turned around to retrace our steps. But we did manage to make it back before the sun went down, taking only a slight -- ahem -- detour along the way. And the end of our journey, we were rewarded with this gorgeous sunset on the lake.

I love our park.

November Adventures…

Whew! What a whirlwind of a month! This is gonna be a long one, I'm warning ya. November 2010 probably ranks up there with one of my favorites of all time, I think. It started with a visit from my sweet cousin Chelsie, who is now 21 and has grown into such an incredible young woman. I just love her. I babysat her when I was a teenager (she was definitely one of my favorite sitting jobs) and I am so thankful that we have stayed close (gotten closer, even!) as we’ve gotten older. What a blessing to have family that you can honestly say are friends, too! While Chelsie was here, we spent some time at the park (of course). We hiked about 5 miles on a beautiful day. Here we are at an overlook at the top of our hike.

Chelsie is tall! Not that it takes much to be taller than me. I think I am the shortest of all of the Larson cousins, even though I am far from the youngest...I say they took all the tall genes, haha. Here are some more pictures of our Shawnee Mission Park excursion.

This picture was taken with my camera lens half closed, but it actually turned out pretty neat!

Don't worry, I have now put a new digital camera on my Amazon Wish List. My 7 year old Kodak Easy Share is no longer cutting it. Hehe.

Chelsie and I also had some tasty cooking adventures (poor Steve missed out since he's on a different meal schedule with his crazy sleep schedule). We made some gluten-free stuffed green peppers, and they were delicious! See?

The best part about Chelsie’s visit was that I didn’t have to say goodbye to her when it was time for her to go home…I just went with her! Chelsie, Norman, and I had a road trip to MN! It was so great to have company for the 7 hour trip up there. We had some great talks, and wonderful laughs. We also decided that we are going to run a half marathon next August. I don’t know, maybe I was delirious from being on the road for so long? But I’m sticking to it…we’re even trying to get some of the other Larson cousins to join us (with limited success so far…hmmmm). The cool thing is that the race route goes through our own hometown, within a block of my parents’ house, and right by Chelsie’s parents’ house (so our family can give us Snickers bars as we pass the 11 mile mark set up a little cheer party there). It should be a great time…anyone want to join us??

Ok, so back to the MN trip. I hadn’t been there in over a year, so I had quite an agenda and still didn’t get to see everyone I wanted to. I was able to get some important visits in, though! On Thursday, I got to see my cousin swim in the section swim meet (go Amy!), after having dinner with my aunt, my brother and his wife, and my dad. Friday, my mom and I had a fun afternoon shopping together, and we were able to meet up with my friend Julie whom I haven’t seen in 3 years (she has had 2 kids since then!). Julie was one of my bridesmaids and is probably one of my oldest longest friends. We were in kindergarten together! I love my friendship with Julie because it’s the type that, no matter how long it’s been, just picks up where we left off. Love that girl!

Friday night, I helped my dad cover their motorhome (with a 30’ x 50’ tarp…in the dark…we made memories…haha). We had to be sure to get it covered because overnight, we were looking to experience the first snowfall of the season in MN! Norman and Rosie (my parents’ 15 year old greyhound/lab mix) loved it!

Norman and Rosie get along so well…though I’m not sure Norman is a huge fan of Rosie sleeping in his bed.

Now I usually am not a fan of driving in snow, but that 8 inches sure wasn’t going to stop me from a breakfast date at the Mall of America with one of my besties, Kazia. She and I go way back…all the way to a junior high slumber party. Kazia is the friend that could talk me into all sorts of crazy adventurous things back in high school, and we have such a history together. We’ve supported each other through so many things over the past 17(!!) years, and I am so thankful for her. Here is the gorgeous Kazia and her yummy Cinnabon treat (did you know they now make “just the middle” as a menu choice? That is, after all, the best part of any Cinnabon). My mouth is watering just uploading this photo…

I was also able to join some of my family for their traditional Sunday lunch at Perkins. They go there every week after church. Here are my cute grandparents. I just love them! Such a great example of an awesome Godly marriage…60 years and going strong!

After lunch, we headed back to “the farm” to see my grandparents’ newly-remodeled bedroom (their kids did a sort of “Extreme Makeover Home Edition” for their anniversary gift) and spend some more time together. See how adorable my grandpa is…doting over his beloved.

Sunday night, I was able to meet another one of my besties for dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants (yay for Margaritas!). My friend Stephanie and I were the 1999-2000 Miss Richfield Ambassador Princesses…whew…10 years ago already! Our year was honestly a bit of a “dud” for the program as we were stuck in the midst of a coordinator switch with little direction (they have since picked back up and are going strong again! Yay!), but I have to say my friendship with Steph is the best thing I could have gotten out of that year. She has become one of my best friends and we, too, have been through a lot together over these 10 years. She has become such a blessing to me and I am honored to call her a friend and sister in Christ.

Monday morning, I had coffee with a friend that I haven’t seen since high school! That’s over 10 years, people! Man, it was great to reconnect with her and hear about what God is doing in her life. Thanks for the great coffee date, Krickey Mae! After she had to leave for work, I stayed at the Mall (yes, I was at the Mall of America again…and I already miss it!) and met my BFF Gretchen and her little boy Aden (who had his 6 month shots that morning…poor thing). Gretch and I had a day full of adventures. Since Aden was in the car sleeping and we needed some more drive time, I hopped in and we made the trip to White Castle…YUM!

Oh my goodness, their sliders are incredible. And they’ve also started making sweet potato fries, which of course we had to try! After our tummies were pleasantly full, we headed to the Minnesota Zoo. It was chilly, but that wasn’t going to stop us from seeing the bears, beavers, wolves, and other animals on the trail. We also got to see the brand new baby dolphin! It was fun to be there pushing a stroller…can’t wait until it’s my kiddo in that stroller, though! When it was close to the zoo’s closing time, we headed back to the Mall (we had to, I promise…my car was still there) and got a little crazy. Gretchen’s hubby Ryan met us there (to be on baby patrol), so Gretch and I were able to go on a couple rides (pictures to come…they are on her camera) and we also got to try out the new Xbox Kinect as we danced the night away in front of a stunned captive audience. After Ryan was too embarrassed to be seen with us anymore needing to get home because he was tired after a long day at work, Gretchen and I wrapped up our day with some gelato and, of course, shopping. I couldn’t resist a couple cute outfits for the future baby Irwin (it’s hard to shop for a baby when you don’t know gender OR time of year he/she will be born…just sayin’). It was a great way to spend my last full day in MN.

After a morning walk with my parents and Rosie, and then breakfast with one of my theater buddies, Meredyth, we (Norman and I) hit the open road back to Kansas. We made it home just in time to see Steve before he headed off to dreamland. While we were gone, Steve had put up lots of fun pictures and did a lot around our apartment to make it more homey. I loved seeing what he’d been working so hard on all week! It was a quick turnaround, as I got home Tuesday night, and we left again Thursday morning…this time for our Waiting Families Workshop at CPO in Tulsa, OK. What a great weekend! We were hosted by the most amazing family. They actually haven’t adopted through CPO (they have 5 biological children, though), but they wanted to be a part of the ministry and have opened their home to families that come in from out of town. They even let us bring Norman! Their kids were so sweet and so respectful. And they LOVED Norman. Their middle boy Luke (who's 5) especially took a liking to him. We woke up Friday morning and as we were getting ready, we saw little fingers come under the door, passing along a doggie treat (which Norman was happy to eat). He also drew a few pictures for Norman and made the cutest little gift…a dog treat with a face drawn on it, gift-wrapped in a paper towel decorated with marker. Precious. These kids were so well behaved! They were very much kids and had tons of energy, but they were also such ladies and gentlemen. No arguments when their parents told them it was time to get PJs on, and sweet Luke even took Steve’s bowl for him after dinner! What a great host! We just latched on to everything we could while watching this family. I’m so glad God blessed us with new friends. Thank you, Wyatts, for opening your home to us for the weekend!

Our workshop was great. We were able to meet 16 other couples that are in the adoption process (actually, two already had their kiddos). It was so cool to listen to the different stories of how God brought each couple to CPO. Many already had children, and a few did not. Some had already been matched with birth moms, and most had not. There was even a couple that met with a birth mom while we were there that weekend! It just makes it so much more real and exciting that it could be us soon (we hope!). We were also so blessed to finally meet the director of CPO in person. What an incredible woman. She is such a servant and Christ’s love just radiates from her. She is funny, blunt, feisty, genuine, and such a Godly woman. After our workshop, we were even more excited to be a part of the ministry. I sure wish we lived closer so we could be even more involved. The workshop covered basically everything it could, from adopting a baby in the NICU, to trans-racial adoptions, to relationships with birth moms. They even brought in the attorney that we’ll use (for both birth parents’ termination of rights, as well as adoption finalization) and she has such a heart for these girls. They also brought in the doctor that takes care of the girls during their pregnancy (an awesome Christian guy who also has a clear love for this ministry) and the therapist (loved her!). We heard from several birth moms, adoptive families, and even some adults that were adopted (as infants) through CPO. Such a neat thing to hear all of the different perspectives. These birth moms are amazing to choose life for their babies, especially in a society when an unplanned pregnancy is often seen as an inconvenience that can be easily terminated. They are truly heroes, no matter what their story is. As the director says, “I couldn’t even give someone a kitten, much less a child,” so what these girls are doing is the most self-less thing, carrying a baby to term, knowing she is going to be placing that baby in someone else’s arms in order for that child to have a life that she isn’t able to provide right now. Just awe-inspiring.

Wow, so that’s our November so far. Super busy, and 100% wonderful. Things should slow down for a bit now…the next adventure up is the great 2010 Irwin Christmas Tree hunt. Stay tuned!