I got this in an email that I had to share with our blog readers. I hope you enjoy!

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me..
It is the most-requested column I've ever written." My odometer rolled
over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.
Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their
journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood.. But the second
one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take
no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.
Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain .
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words -- In five
years, will this matter?
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you
did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,
we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

May you find the sunbeams in your life and share them with someone else!

OOOH, THAT smell!! Gotta Love that smell!!
Sierra and Penny have found the art of rolling in freshly cut grass to be so enjoyable they do it every dry, hot summer day! Check them out!

First, find the perfect spot...


Taking turns... me then you...


nose dive...


back roll...don't be shy


Dry grass + Back Scratch= Happy DAWG!!


Happy Dawg + Grass Clippings + another carpet will be vacuumed= priceless!!

Tonight, we are going to 37Main, a bar in the old part of Buford, to see DEPARTURE, a Journey tribute band, play. The really cool part is, Doug Ballard, a guy that Matt goes to his Monday night Bible study with, is the bass player. So, we are going to go see them play. It should be a lot of fun. Plus it is a chance for Julia to meet Doug and for the wives to meet. We will, no doubt, take some pics and post them to the blog.

Carol's Delicious Banana Bread

Oh MY Sweet Goodness! Yummy to the tenth power! Oh my gosh! My mouth is watering just looking at the picture. Okay, Okay, Okay, so... I was recently introduced to the most wonder banana bread I have EVER tasted! YES!YES!YES!! And, Thank you Carol for passing along the recipe!

I have now made two loafs of it and I have only had the recipe four days! Let me just say, I make banana bread! I make it often...that was BEFORE I tasted this loaf! Now, I will make it until we get sick of it. Which, believe you me, won't be any time soon. Would you like the recipe? I have to share it. You have to make it. You will need to make it over and over again, so beware: ONLY make this if you are willing to make it over and over again, because it won't stay around long enough for YOU to get a piece!!



Here I bestow upon you the golden recipe
Carol's Banana Bread
1 stick of room temperature butter or margarine
2 eggs
1 C sugar
1 & 1/2 C bisquick
3-4 medium bananas

Soften 1 stick of butter @ room temperature. In a bowl, cream the margarine with a fork. Add sugar and mix. Then add eggs and mix. Then add bisquick and mix well (still using your fork). In a separate bowl mash your bananas then add them to the other mixture. Put in a loaf pan that has been sprayed with pam. Bake for 350 degrees for 50-60 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Introducing.... BINGO


Bingo (Uno, Dingo, Big Boy, Monster Butt, Tubby) was Nacho & Sierra's FIRST litter February 11, 2003. Did you read that correctly? He was the only one in the litter...and as he grew we quickly saw why. Matt and I gave Nancy (Matt's Mother) Bingo for Mother's Day 2003. When Nancy passed away Matt and I requested of Ed (my Father-in-Law) that we re-unite our Chihuahua Family. Matt and I have both enjoyed having Bingo with us. He reminds us daily how he loved and cared for Nancy and we feel like a piece of her is with us.

Bingo has fit in perfectly! He seems to be a calming influence on the clan. He is the biggest of them all. Though he is not fat. Just Big "Boneded", lol. Unfortunately for him, he is the low man on the totem pole. Even his much smaller sister has authority over him. However, they willingly share a crate!! To our surprise the two walk into the same BIG crate to spend their mornings together. Is it possible that Penny was kicked out of her Mother's crate?? We may never know.


Bingo arrived with three VERY important personal items...Stairs, for easy access to the couch. "HIS" fluffy pillow. And, "HIS" Fiddle! NO ONE, I mean NO ONE is allowed to even look at his pillow and God Protect you if you attempt to play with his fiddle. We have caught him more than once licking his fiddle with love and laying his head on his fiddle like it is a pillow! He rarely plays with his fiddle, but he will not let it out of his sight. A couple of times a day he requests for us to make it play music so he can nibble on it with great pride.


Nancy, being an extremely talented dog trainer, taught Bingo a couple of tricks we were unaware of. However, one night as he waited (rather impatiently) for us to pass out their nightly "vitamin B" (our affection term for dog bacon)Bingo "Moon Walked"!! Oh, My! YES! MOON WALKED!! We have not figured out what the name of the trick is, so he hasn't done it on command yet. But, when he gets excited and really, really, really wants something he will shuffle his back feet backwards over and over again. It is precious. We must get it on tape to share with all of you.

Also, in Nancy's wisdom she taught Bingo how to "Whisper"!! YES!! He has a horribly loud bark so she taught him how to use his "inside voice" on command. Totally another you tube moment! His mouth makes the movement of a bark but nothing comes out. The first time he did it I thought he was trying to bite my nose off- then we quickly figured out he was whispering, again, in an attempt to receive vitamin B early! What a silly, intelligent, loving, crazy BIG BOY he is!

Playing in the dirt continued...more gardening. Herbs!!

Ed, my wonderful Father-in-Law, is a Master Gardener with his County. And, the MG Club offers educational gardening classes for the community. In May, We attended the Herbs class. I have always been interested in Herbs and found this to be the perfect opportunity to learn from the pros! The day After class Matt and I were off to our local garden center. We went in search of herbs suitable for our space and empty containers!

Among other things, I learned to plant Mint in containers because they will take over your yard. Mint is drought tolerant (important to me since I tend to be inconsistent in watering outdoor plants). Also, mint grows well in shade or sun!! My favorite mint is the Chocolate mint that the instructor displayed. I had a difficult time finding chocolate mint for sale but eventually found it at Hamilton Mill's "Natures Fifth Season".

And, I'm sure you KNOW I had to find Lemon Balm for my tea cup! Unfortunately my Lemon Balm leaves are turning brown around the edges. I am not sure why. Also, I added Bee Balm to attract humming birds. However, I have yet to see it bloom. Which is okay because I have failed to keep the humming bird feeder full this summer. hmm...which reminds me, I need to make some more nectar.

Rosemary, Basil & Lavender in the yard garden...


Container Gardening: Lemon Balm, Chocolate Mint & Spearmint...


Basil popping up everywhere...Last year I planted Basil in a container, closer to the kitchen. This year I planted it in the yard. However, several pots are sprouting basil!! Which must have come from seeds from last years plant! In class the instructor mentioned you can harvest seeds from your Basil plants. Something I would not likely waste my time doing...at least that was before I saw these little guys growing in odd places....can you spot the basil?




I look forward to the December MG Club class on making oils/vinegars infused with herbs. Ooh, Can't wait!! It sounds like an interesting way to put all these herbs to use!

Summer Garden 2009

In the spring we moved our little garden to the opposite corner in our back yard. And, we decided to dress it up a little with a rock border. This year we decided to only plant tomatoes and cucumbers.

Spring Planting...


Summer Growth...


Late July we are finally seeing itty bitty tomatoes and flowers on the cucumbers. We can't wait for our first "harvest".

Hello Family and Friends!

Matt and I apologize for being MIA on our blog. Since Matt's Mother's death in April we have both experienced a myriad of emotions. Our pain is still indescribable and beyond words. We miss Nancy so very much. Every day we think about her and wish we had more time with her. And, we will always regret that she did not have the opportunity to meet her grand child in person. However, we feel confident that she is well aware of our adoption status and likely is keeping her watchful eye on baby Miller while we wait to meet her/him!

We Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts during our time of loss. Also, thank you for hanging in here with our blog and not forgetting about us! I am sure it has been discouraging to visit us here to find nothing new has changed. Now that some time has passed we are attempting to get back into the grove of life. So we will re-start our blog by getting some of our aggression out by going to our first ever live MMA fight night!

Yes, you read that right! LOL. We are going to fight night tonight at Wild Bills! We hope to get our picture taken with Wanderlei Silva!!! Also, Matt will bring a magazine that has Silva on the cover, in hopes of getting his signature! hehhee, this should be fun! I personally have never met a "celebrity" so I'm a bit nervous and anxious!



Here's a picture of Matt in his Ghee before his Ji Jitsu class. I am sure all those words are misspelled, but I shall leave them to give you people in the "KNOW" a laugh!

This is Matt. Just wanted to post here that, over the weekend, I ran the 40th Annual AJC Peachtree Road Race, which is a 10k (6.2 miles). I did the race in 1 hour, 10 minutes, 28 seconds, coming in 23971st out of 50,007 runners listed. At least I was in the upper 50% of runners. Pictures will be coming.

Here is the footage from the Mother-Daughter Tea Party from December



And here is a video of the dogs and us outside on the March 1, 2009 snowstorm

Rare photo of Mexican Navy Seal

Matt and I were feeling a little festive for St. Patrick's Day! So, we made these little chocolate-nilla wafer-caramel lollipops for his co-workers.

I found the recipe in the February issue of Women's Day Magazine. And, they were so simple to make! Here is the recipe:
pop sickle sticks
semi sweet chocolate chips
caramel square candies
Nabisco Nilla Wafer Cookies
Decorative candies
makes 16 lollipops
directions:
Melt approx. 18 caramel candies according to the pkg directions. Put a dollop of melted caramel onto one nilla wafer cookie. Lay a pop sickle stick thru the middle laying it from top to bottom of the cookie. Top sandwich with another nilla wafer cookie. Let cool. Mean while, melt semi-sweet chocolate chips in micro wave (stir every 20 seconds until melted). Dip cookie sandwich in chocolate until coating all sides. Dip end into candy pieces. Lay on top of wax paper and stick in the freezer until hardened (less than 10 minutes).

I am in a women's bible study with the Church we are about to join. The bible study is reading the book "Lord, Change my attitude, before it's too late" by James MacDonald. On page 178 of the book is this poem that touched my heart. And, I knew I wanted to share it with all of you too.

Doubt sees the obstacles.
Faith Sees the way.
Doubt sees the darkest night.
Faith sees the way.
Doubt dreads to take a step.
Faith soars on high.
Doubt questions, "Who believes?"
Faith Answers, "I".
Gospel Banner

Also, on page 168 of the book is a paragraph on "Irrevocable Promises. Let's get on the table some sample promises God has made...
* God has promised to provide for us. Philippians 4:19 says, "My god will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory of Christ Jesus."
* Goad has promised to protect us. Isaiah 54:17 says, "No weapon that is formed against you will prosper...This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord".
* God has also promised to prosper us- though, as some are quick to add, that doesn't necessarily mean financially. But Psalm 84:11 says, "No good thing does He withhold from those WHO walk uprightly." Your life will not lack one single thing that could increase your happiness if you will walk up rightly with the lord.
All three of the above promises, along with hundreds of others, are signed by God Himself. "

Though we are excited to finally have a date to look forwards to (for the adoption) it can be difficult to remember God's bigger picture for our lives. Our story is not yet complete. God is working behind the scenes to provide for us...to protect us... to prosper us. In one of Beth Moore's study she says remember... "God is who is says he is. God does what he says he will do..." Through our journey to parenthood our faith is growing, our faith stretching. Praise God!!

Adoption Update

This morning Matt and I spoke with our adoption agency to touch base regarding our upcoming renewal requirements. Our immigration paperwork is about to expire (for a third time). To renew we will need to do another home study update (back ground checks, physicals, etc.). So, we wanted confirmation from our agency that we were gathering the necessary documents with in a time frame that would keep us from having to re-do everything for a fourth time!! And, it appears we are right on schedule.

The most exciting news from our conversation is that we were given a guesstimate on how much longer we would likely wait until we receive our referral. And, their best guesstimate, based upon the current speed China is matching and the agencies knowledge of how many families are waiting- - MARCH 2010!! We are both thrilled!! Yes, another year to wait for a picture and travel plans. But, we are okay with it because that was what we anticipated (for best case scenario). This means we would travel to China May-June 2010!! Just around the corner!! Lots to do, lots to do!!!

Matt heard this quote on TAGG Radio dot com (interview with Roddy Piper) and we had to share. Read through the end, we hope you get a giggle!

Irish Blessing.
To those who love us, may God bless them. And for those who don't may God turn their hearts. And for those whose hearts He cannot turn, may He turn their ankles so we recognize them by their limp

I have another photo to share from our Helen, GA Valentine's Day get-a-way. I love this pic!!

Last month we met my (Julia's) father for a photo "contest". Something my sister and I used to do with him when we went on camping trips. I needed tips on how to work the fancy camera so we turned our outing into a game of who can take the better picture. Our subject- a rusted out Clipper. Here are some of the pictures I took from my camera.
The Clipper...


My winning photo:


A cool view:

Adoption Update...

This morning Great Wall Beijing confirmed with the CCAA the cut off date for the last batch of referrals. The CCAA informed us that they have completed the matching process for families with dossiers registered through March 6, 2006.

The cut off date issued by the CCAA is the date through which they were able to match referrals. For example, last month the CCAA’s cut off date was March 2, 2006, so all families with LID’s before and on March 2, 2006 were sent a referral. As for this month, the CCAA’s cut off date was March 6, 2006 so families with LID’s before and on March 6, 2006 were mailed their referral.

Reminder: Our LID is September 18, 2006

SNOW in GA!

Yes, it is SNOWING in GA! We are enjoying the beautiful scenery! Watching the snowfall is very relaxing. Before our satellite TV went out, we heard the forecaster dude say the last time GA had such a large snow was the "Blizzard of '93". All native peaches know about the "Blizzard of '93"!! It was the last significant snow fall we had! The difference in '93 and today is the temperature~ the ground isn't going to be cold enough for any of this white beauty not to melt.


Walking the Chihuahua's in the snow required 3 matches each (have we shared our match trick with you?! It's disgusting, but it works! All dog owners need to know how to force your pet to do his/her business in a hurry or in inclement weather! HAHAH!). Aren't they cute huddled up together? They do NOT like the cold, wet ground. Here they are begging us to let them back inside...