this is funny for 2 reasons

1. it reminds me of Adam Baca. Adam & Jess .. do you even read this blog? If not you should because Im posting a video for you - that made me & Free smile because it reminded us of how funny yall are.. and how Awesome (with a capital A) Adam is at dancing! (true story)

2. it is just funny. Especially when you see the end. (you always have to wait for the end. but its always worth it isn't it??)

its all about celebrating the small victories right?




I have a lot of things running through my itty bitty mind at the moment. This last week has been up & down & back around.. exciting and a blur all at the same time. As Im sure you all relate to because you probably have the same kind of days/weeks/months all the time too.

I started a post about it but I couldn't even make sense of what I was trying to say. So I will try again later. I will say this though - in just the short week since we have decided to commit to this trip we have both grown more than I imagined. We have already started to see how God loves to provide for his children & cares about the details. Ive become much more aware of how little I know & trust but how much more Grace (with a capital G) God has for me still. Its been overwhelming and crazy exciting all at the same time.

*Its snowed again last night.. not just any snow - another Thunder Snow!

spring cleaning

For your enjoyment: (make your screen the maximum size)

CLICK HERE TO SEE

(Meier - this is mostly for you - I knew it would at least make you laugh)

My computer screen needed a good cleaning.

If I was in an office with lots of people I would just leave this up on my screen.

Happy Friday.

Camille's Surprise Shower

As you have probably already read the other weekend Bethany, Sarah, & myself came up with the most sneaky sneaky plan. Since our lovely friend Camille is having a baby we wanted to shower her with lots of gifts.

But here was the thing you should know first - Camille is a trooper. Because of the timing of everything she wasnt able to go home (Louisiana) and have any showers with her family or friends there. So this was going to be her only shower. (I should note her awesome friends from home did send her a "shower in a box" which was incredible!) But like I said this was her only planned shower - and since its her first baby she deserved a good one. So that is why we really wanted to spoil her rotten and make it extra fun. (I should also note she never once complained about only having 1 shower which deserves applause. Im not sure every girl would have the same optimistic attitude she did)

So we told Cam that we were having her shower on the 28th of March.. and the best part was - we told her we didnt have anywhere to do it so it was going to have to be at her house!! Which means the whole time she was thinking she was going to have to be getting her house clean & ready for her own stinkin shower. (just weeks before her due date too)

Then on Sunday the 15th Sarah told Camille that she was having people over for lunch to celebrate Drew's Birthday.. and thats how we got her to come over on Sunday afternoon. So here are some pictures from the shower:

The invitation.

(bethany also made a fake one to send to camille with the wrong date/address on it)


The set up.. before food, people, gifts, etc.





we did cupcakes instead of cake. We tried to get petit fours so it would feel more like a "southern" shower but we decided cupcakes in the end.

Henry has some elephants in his bedding and a few around his room so we added little elephant details here & there


all the food which was SO yummy


Ive never done this before but its a great idea! We had people write their address on envelopes when they came in - that way her thank you notes are already addressed & she doesnt have to do it! Seriously who wants to think about that when you have a baby on the way!


some of the girls hiding behind the wall waiting for Camille to walk in

and then we got the call from adam that they were about to walk in.

The door opens..

Camille yells "Happy Birthday Drew" (still thinking she is there for his birthday)

and all the sudden we all yell "Surprise" back at her:


"wait what? so this isnt a birthday party?"


"wait is this for me?"





Camille cried. Bethany cried. I cried .. and maybe other people did too?! I didnt see but it was SO SO SO fun watching her walk in!

Then it was game time!

Of course we played the string game:







Then we played another one where we had a "chugging contest" and the first person to finish the bottle won! (note to self: poke larger holes in them if you actually want people to be able to drink out of them)









Umm okay after that we played another game. But Im not going to post too many pictures from this one because it will probably gross you out. But we melted chocolate candy bars in diapers. Asked for 3 volunteers, blind folded them (so they didnt know what they were doing) and had them taste the unknown food and guess what it was:






cam & everyone else when they realized what they were all doing & that they were eating out of diapers!

We also played 2 other games. One was where we asked adam questions in advance & Cam had to guess his answers.. which was SO funny. Lets just say at the end of it her mouth was full of blue gum & her teeth were also stained blue!

Then it was time for the presents!




Elizabeth wrapped Camilles in this cute bag!


One of the gifts from Camille's mom that she mailed up for the shower. The other one was an adorable sign that said Henry!!


The adorable gifts from Sarah! So perfect for little Henry!


Part of Christie's Gift! (she also made Thank you notes for Camille so she didnt have to buy any!)


The AMAZING gift basket from the Lecom Girls who came to the shower also!

After gifts we all circled Camille and covered Her, Adam, & little Henry in prayer. It was a very sweet time and a great ending to such a fun afternoon with Cam.

The shower was seriously SO much fun! I didnt want it to end. But Im a sucker for getting to hang out & celebrate like that.. I never want it to end. Im so glad that the surprise worked & everyone else was just as excited as we were. All the girls did such an awesome job showering Camille!

Thanks to Adam for also keeping it a surprise!

We love you Cam - and we cant wait to meet little Henry!!!

PS - Of course there are TONS more pictures. If you want to see them click here

Brooke & Freeland go to Africa!

PS - Freeland still isnt home yet but he emailed me and said he counldnt wait to share the news either .. so drum roll please .....

First we will do this:



so that we can go here:



and serve, love, support, and hug on lots of people together in Uganda.




so that he can serve, love, support, and hug on even more people in Kenya!

OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH!!!!!! As of yesterday afternoon we are officially going to Africa this summer! And we both couldn't be more excited about all of it.

we are so excited. no wait. .. seriously

WE ARE SO EXCITED.

Here is the story. Buckle Up. Its a long one:

If we sat down and tried to imagine exactly what we would like to do we couldn't have planned it this well. Don't you love how God works like that?

Like I mentioned before we were looking for a mission trip to go on this summer. Freeland & I have always talked about the possibility of doing mission work once he finishes school. But our conversation has always ended up at: "what will that look like?" "where would we go?" "how does God want to use us?" "what kind of medicine would you practice if we did that?" "do we even know what we are talking about?" I mean taking a 2 week mission trip is one thing.. but going and living somewhere doing mission work is another. And to be honest it scares the cookies out of me to think about it. But one step at a time right?

So after praying about it we felt a peace that this summer was the right time to take a trip and see how the Lord wanted to use us. In hopes that while we are there he would also begin to plant an even larger desire in our hearts about what we could do in the future.

As you remember, exactly 2 weeks ago today - I posted on the blog that we were running into a few bumps along the way since Freeland is still a student. Well, yall were all encouraging (as always) and it just so happened that Kelly left a comment telling us to call her Hubby right away because they knew of one we could go on.

Thank you Blogosphere ... and THANK YOU KELLY!

We called them that day and long story short the church they connected us with said they would love for us to join their trip to Uganda!! We couldn't believe it. Freeland could join their medical team and I could join their team working with the orphanage there. Its right up our alley and seriously just talking to the staff at the church we feel so encouraged. Their hearts align perfectly with ours & their desire to meet peoples practical needs, serve them, and just love them is exactly what we were wanting to do.

BUT THEN. Back up a second - The whole time that was happening we had still been talking to another family who is in Kenya about the option of Freeland going there to work with her husband who is a doctor. We really loved the idea of this trip because the family is there doing long term mission work so Freeland would not only get to see what it would be like to be a doctor in another country.. but he would also get to see what it practically looks like day-to-day doing long term missions!

This one was such a shot in the dark because I seriously just heard about this family, what they were doing, how they sold everything & put their lives on hold to go to Kenya and that the husband was serving at a hospital there. And I emailed the wife and in more or less words asked if it would ever be possible for Freeland to come and help.

Well we emailed back and forth. Then on Saturday we heard from them again. And Monday we followed up. The organization they put us in touch with was willing to make it work out for Freeland to come this summer!!!!!!!!!

We had a slight moment of panic. Now there were 2 trips. How would this all work out? What was the Lord wanting us to do? Is this seriously happening? Freeland talked to the organization he would be going through... explained that we were doing a trip to Uganda in June. And then asked what the chances would be for him to just stay in Africa and go to Kenya afterwards.

Longer story short... they said it would definitely work! At this point we really lost it. Or actually it was when we realized there wasn't anything stopping him from doing it and that this wasn't really going to cost anything different for him to stay and it was also going to allow Freeland to do what he is passionate about even longer .. then we lost it.

Of course there are more details of how it all worked out and it all still seems so crazy to me that it is actually working out. But as you all know God tends to work that way so I wouldn't expect anything different!

And thats our big news!

All of that to say this - Clearly were excited. And in no way do we deserve this opportunity more than anyone else. We feel so blessed and undeserving at the same time. Our lives are a mess. We are broken, selfish, and have more issues than I care to discuss. But we aren't going to let that get in the way of God using the passions he has given us and the opportunity he has created.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! For all your support, encouragement, emails, calls, advice, help, etc. Kelly - we never would have had the opportunity to go to Uganda and serve together as husband & wife if it were'nt for your help! Mom - Freeland never would have been able to stay and work in Kenya if you hadn't told me about the Mendonsa family and said you thought emailing them was a great idea. (Brenda Bailey - thank you too for emailing them also!)

There is still a lot more that will need to be done for us to be able to go. And everything is still in the works & all very new to us. This is quickly becoming a novel.. but as I know more and find out more details I will make sure to share them.

exciting news

to come.

sneaky of me huh!

I just cant help myself. I want to post about it right now .. but Im waiting for Freeland to get home so he can help me figure out what to say. (and lets just be honest - so he can also fix all my spelling and grammar too. See like just then I tried to spell Grammar - GrammEr.)

Don't worry.. it wont be like that other time I said we had exciting news and then didn't post for 7 days or something - just to tell you we got a cat! (sorry again by the way)

The Love Bench

The Love Bench, originally uploaded by aremac.

Happy First Day of Spring!!!

We woke up to a fresh blanket of snow this morning. It wasnt a think blanket.. so maybe more of a sheet?

But the sun is still shining. (and half of the snow is melted by now)

lovely

And do you just wish you could go sit on the bench?

2 things

1. They are showing the townhouses next to us like crazy these days. I guess a bunch of our neighbors all moved out at the same time. The woman who runs our little complex was next door showing the house all day yesterday. I seriously parked it next to the window for half the day just so I could see what our maybe future neighbors would look like. I kept wanting to walk out there and ask if she needed me to meet the people too. I figure its only fair if they are going to be our neighbors anyway that I approve of them! Unfortunately she didn't ask my opinion. But she did say that another person with a Great Dane would be moving in mid summer. Interestante?! Yes.


2. Etsy.. Etsy.. Etsy. SO I LOVED all of your recommendations. Seriously. I loved them. Im in the process of trying to get it all set up. Which scares me but Ive decided not too be scared of silly things so Im just going for it. Ive run into a few sad bumps with names. My favorites are already taken and/or too long or too short etc. But I will figure it out. I contemplating emailing said "BeFree" user and asking if she will give me her account since she isn't selling anything. (BFree, BeFree, BeeFree are already taken :( You shouldn't be allowed to take a name if you have never bought or sold anything in over a year. Just saying.

But thank you for all your help. I love all the ideas and have a list going. Im super NOT creative when it comes to fun names so yall really did help.

3. I lied. there are three things. I promise to upload the pictures from Cam's shower asap.

4. I cant help it! One more.. Plans for this summer are a-go! Looks like both Freeland and I will be traveling & serving. I will keep you posted. But were really excited!!

oh and I just made fresh bread and our house smells like heaven now. done.

snow ball fight

Im happy to report its still spring here. Although I just heard a bunch of thunder. It is still sunny at the moment. I think it will rain soon. But rain also means its spring so there ya go.

Like I told you before there are LOTS of pictures I love of the dogs playing in the snow. (back in November) So here are a few more for your enjoyment. I wish we could get the cats out there. They would sink though.

This is all of us having a snow ball fight:

getting my snowball ready. Im not quick like Freeland. I have to prepare a bunch in advance.


ready. aim. fire.


freeland getting maddie right in the face


my favorite of oliver. (bat dog)


the pups teaming up and trying to get me back.


freeland finally just let oliver eat it out of his hand ..

Here are a few of my favorite ones where Maddie is jumping up to "catch" the snow ball:


maddie catching the snowball.


jumping up to catch them. This is my favorite when she does this.


look at that air. Our own little air jordan of the family.

I love that freeland looks like a little kid having so much fun in this picture


and obviously she will just do this over and over no matter how many times it just hits her in the face.

More of us all playing:

The End.

Sike.

Of course I have more. But I will save them because this is getting rather long.

I do have the most insane picture of Oliver. I think I should get his dads permission first before I post it because it could be taken the wrong way.

Lucky Charms

Lucky Charms, originally uploaded by DodogoeSLR.

Happy St. Patricks Day.

I wish I made Irish Soda Bread or something for the holiday. But I didnt. Guess we will have to celebrate another way.

Guys,

not to worry. my toe is not going to fall off.

and I did not have to brace myself for any needles.

The doc did squeeze the tar out of my toe though! ouch.

and as expected I have meds to take and salt baths to soak in. But I will make it! :)

More exciting things to discuss later. I just wanted to update the 1 person that was probably checking every 5 minutes to see if I was okay.

Sorry my post keeping showing up twice. my bad.